[brokeONE]

What is the best kind of box for small size 20 flies? The ones with small window compartments or foam boards.

[philthy]

I use the C&F Design Midge box that comes with the hook threaders and slotted foam. Works good, last long time. Kinda pricy (around 35-40 bucks), but they've held up real well.

Phil

[BigCliff]

I don't fish dries that small, so I can only recommend boxes for non-fluffy midges. Those with a magnetic panel on one side work very well. I found a very cheap Flambeau box at sportsmans whse that's quite slender and just has flat foam on one side. Its about 4"x7" and you can easily fit 300 midges into the thing.

One of the more popular magnet equipped boxes out there is Amazon.com: Days Worth Fly Box System: Sports & Outdoors but I'm partial to this one- Amazon.com: Cliff Outdoors Big Cliff Fly Box: Sports & Outdoors

[FISHN50]

Go with the C & F with the threaders. You can pre-load the threaders so you don't go crazy trying to tie a fly on in a hurry on a cold windy day when your hands are half numb... The magnetic boxes will flatten out the hackle on a small fly so I don't recommend them ...Besides the fact you you need tweezers to get the small flys out of the compartmented boxes & have to juggle them to get them around & ready to tie on there is always that big gust of wind that comes up when open one of those boxes up. Wheatly makes a small plastic box on a lanyard with foam & small slots in it that I used to use before C & F. so there is another choice if the C & F are too expensive for you budget.
I carry one of of those small plastic electronic spring loaded lead tester ends to snag the fly out of the box & aid in tying it on. They also double as hackle pliers...

[Wyatt]

Ditto on the C&F, I have 1 with threaders and 2 with out, and would recomend the threaders when cold or if the vision ain't 20/20.
Wyatt

[Fly2Fish]

I've got both a C & F threader box and a Cliff's Super Days Worth box. They both have their pro's and con's. The C & F threaders work great, and it really saves aggravation time on the water to pre-load a couple of the threaders with your small flies before going out if you're pretty sure you know ahead of time what flies will be working. On the other hand, the Orvis C & F model I have has compartments on the other side whose lid is kept closed by a magnet, and it drives me crazy when that magnet pulls small nymphs under it so that I can't get them out. I've learned to keep small indicators, etc. instead of small flies in those compartments near the magnetic closure.

The Cliff's Super Days Worth box is just what it says - it will hold everything from tiny nymphs and dries in the magnetic-floored one side that is compartmented, and larger dries and big streamers, etc. on the other side with its slotted foam. The only problem I have with it is that it is a bit bulky, although it still fits well in my vest pockets. And like it's named, you really just need that one box for a day on the water. I haven't had the problems with this particular fly box that some here have mentioned with magnetic compartment floors flattening hackle or making it difficult to handle flies; in fact, regarding small midges it's been a real "fly-saver" for me on windy days. You do need to be comfortable with using tweezers or equivalent to get the flies out, but then, that's always the case for me with these small flies anyway - the difference is that with the magnetic surface, it's easier to tweezer out just one midge instead of a cluster, and easier for me than trying with my fingers to insert or extract a tiny nymph from foam without ending up dropping it.