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DIY Fly Tying Background Plate

May 16, 201213 CommentsDIY & Hacks, Flies & Fly Tying, Fly TyingBy Jason Klass

Even the most organized fly tying desks can have cluttered backgrounds that can be distracting when you’re trying to put the finishing touches on that perfect fly.  It can not only adversely affect the quality of the fly you’re tying, but also cause eye strain.  Here’s a simple, low-cost solution I came up with to block the complicated background of my tying desk…

 

The Problem

As you can see, I store my threads, wires, and tinsels on racks in the recess of my tying desk.  This creates a very complicated background right behind my vise that makes it difficult to stay focused on what I’m tying.

 

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 1

 

The Solution

I needed a way to block the background that wouldn’t take up too much space on my desk and be an obstacle to accessing my tools and thread.  I wanted something that would be easy to build, inexpensive, and would allow me to change the background colors depending on the color of fly I’m tying to produce the best contrast.  Here is what I came up with:

 

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 2

 

I made a simple stand that could hold a piece of foam board at a slight angle behind my vise.  All the materials were bought at Michael’s.  The base was $2, the dowel was 39 cents, and the foam board was $5 making this a great, sub $10 solution.  All I did was cut the dowel to length, drill two holes in the base for the supports, and glue another dowel in front of those to rest the foam board on.  This entire project took less than 15 minutes.

The foam board simply rests between the supports and the dowel glues to the base.  I didn’t want to permanently affix the board to allow me to easily change colors:

 

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 3

 

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 4

 

I cut three different colors of foam board to give me different options for background colors. For lighter flies, I use a darker background and vice versa.  Although, so far, I find the light blue color to be the most versatile and easiest on the eyes.

 

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 5

 

The Result

 

So far, light blue seems to be the best color with the least strain on my eyes.  It also makes a good background for photographs:

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 6

 

Further Thoughts

 

Of course, there are a million ways you could make your own background plate.  This one just worked for me.  If you don’t want to build your own stand, you might be able to find ready made solutions such as recipe book holders or other devices (though they may cost more).  If you do decide to make your own stand, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Rather than using foam board, you could use other materials such as regular cardboard.  Glue construction paper to to it to get the color you want.  You might also be able to get matting scraps from your local frame shop for free.
  • Be sure to choose a material that has a matte finish.  Anything shiny will produce glare that is distracting and can cause strain.
  • When considering colors, avoid extremes like black or white as these produce too much contrast and make it difficult to see fine detail in your fly.  Instead, muted colors like gray, light blue, tan, light green, etc. are best.
  • When cutting the plates, they should be 4″ – 5″ higher than the top of your vise for the best coverage.

 

DIY Fly Tying background Plate 7

About the author

Jason Klass

Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.

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13 Comments
  1. Reply
    May 16, 2012 at 1:25 pm
    Sean

    Fantastic idea! All these background plates you see for sale go for upwards of $20 so this is a nice solution, especially being able to change the colors when nessecary.

  2. Reply
    May 16, 2012 at 3:50 pm
    TJ Ferreira

    Nice and orderly fly tying station you have. tj

    • Reply
      May 16, 2012 at 4:09 pm
      Jason Klass

      Thanks TJ. And it always looks that clean and organized, absolutely 100% of the time. 😉

  3. Reply
    May 16, 2012 at 9:45 pm
    Tom Davis

    I love your desk with all the drawers! I use my Grandfather’s old tying desk which is nice but to have all those drawers would be heaven!

    -Tom

    • Reply
      May 16, 2012 at 10:06 pm
      Jason Klass

      Hi Tom, yeah the drawers are nice but the desk is so dark I feel like I’m tying in a cave. If I ever get another tying desk, I’ll get a light oak colored one more like Karel has.

  4. Reply
    May 17, 2012 at 10:18 pm
    Joe Egry

    Your fly tying area is a LOT cleaner than mine.

  5. Reply
    November 26, 2012 at 1:05 pm
    Anthony

    That’s just about brilliant!

  6. Reply
    January 23, 2014 at 9:32 pm
    mike w.

    i can see one of these in my future. great stuff jason. thanks.

  7. Reply
    January 30, 2015 at 7:31 pm
    Mike

    Where did u acquire the thread holders? Very, very nice.

    • Reply
      January 30, 2015 at 9:10 pm
      Jason Klass

      Michael’s in the sewing thread section

  8. Reply
    September 17, 2016 at 5:41 pm
    David Boyle

    Great idea Jason. I am a novice ,I particularly noted your suggestions about colour selections .Thank you.

  9. Reply
    September 26, 2016 at 4:13 pm
    Bruce Hamlin

    Very nice idea.
    What size is the background plate base?

    • Reply
      October 25, 2016 at 6:53 pm
      Jason Klass

      Hi Bruce, thanks. It’s about 10″ X 10″. But in retrospect, I should have made it a little bigger so that I don’t run out of room when taking pictures.

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About Me

Jason Klass is a former fly fishing guide & casting instructor based in Colorado. He was an early adopter of tenkara in the West and has been fishing the method for a variety of species since 2009. Read more >>

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