The internet has given birth to a fun activity called a fly swap which is somewhat like a cookie exchange. Groups are formed by someone taking the initiative to post a call for participants on a message board, newsgroup,  or website devoted to this sort of activity.

Groups are formed usually between 5 and 25 participants. Each ties a fly of his own choosing, one for each in the group, then sends it to the organizer of the swap. When all the submissions are in, the organizer arranges them into assortments and mails them back to the participants. It is a great way to fill your fly box, meet tiers from around the world, and to share fly tying techniques.

We have two swap in progress. One for smallmouth flies organized by Joe Cornwall and one for trout flies organized by Roger Corrado. Check the club's message board for details.

How to organize a fly swap

• Decide on the size of the group. Keep in mind that the larger the group the more flies each participant has to tie and the longer it will take to complete the swap.
   
• Set a deadline for all the submissions to be sent in. At some point in time your are going to have to mail out everyone's collection of flies at which time it will be too late for any "Johnny-Come-Lately". Having a set deadline will avoid hard feelings by those who are tardy and do not receive flies from the others. 
   
• When setting a deadline, take into consideration;
  • The size of the group (number of flies required to tie) 
  • Complexity of the flies being tied.
  • Geographic's of the group. International mail will take longer.
     
• Provide an address for the participants to send their flies to. Have them include a self-addressed, stamped envelope/container large enough to ship their return flies without crushing them. You might suggest to them that they send their submissions in a sturdy plastic container which you will ship back with their assortment.
   
• Have your participants attach a "toe tag" to each of their flies. This is return address label slipped through the point of the hook with their name, e-mail address/ phone number. This will enable others in the group to contact them to ask questions as to how they completed their tie or seek advice with problems that they are having with that tie.
   
• Select a theme for the swap
  • Flies for a particular species -  trout, bass, panfish, fresh or salt water
  • Style of fly -  dry, wet, streamer, nymph or even variations of a particular pattern
  • Material type -  rabbit strip, deer hair, bucktail, soft hackle, etc.
     
• Qualify your participants. If you have an open forum, which will include all levels of tying experience, then you may want to select a theme with an easy tie. For more intricate ties such as dry flies, you may want to qualify the experience level of your participants. There may be some reticence on the part of the more experienced tiers of receiving flies with incorrect proportions tied by beginners. On the other hand, you could make it an educational forum and the more advanced tiers can offer their constructive critiques.

 If there is enough interest in fly swaps, I will devote a section on our website to support your activities.