The Mini Tool Tote is basically a scabbard for an X-Acto knife, tweezers and pick, three very useful streamside companions. It can be carried in a pocket, pinned to a shirt or vest or attached to a neck lanyard. The tweezers and pick are nested together in a tool which I have dubbed Tweez’n-Pik. which, like the X-Acto knife, are secured to the tool block by their rubber grommet mounts which allow insertion and removal with a reasonable force.
We are all familiar with the X-Acto knife for hobbyists. Its utility, I find, extends to the stream.
I especially appreciate having it when poor casting causes my fly to snag onto streamside tree branches and bushes. Often the jeopardized fly is a very effective one without a replacement in my fly box.
Retrieving the snagged fly is always an agonizing process for me. The fly is at least , it being at least a rod’s length away from my hands.. Poking at the snagged fly with the tip of the rod seldom works. I find myself flexing the rod to the max to get closer but that just further tightens the snagged fly mess but at least I can now finally grasp the leader. With rod tucked in underarm and stumbling about submerged invisible rocks I pull the branch and fly nearer. Now being able to actually touch the snagged fly mess I find it impossible to just unwind the snagged fly since it’s hard to even see the fine tippet much less figure out a way to unsnarl the mess. Here is where the X-Acto comes into play. Its long handle and razor sharp blade allows easy slashing away of the fly, leader, offending twigs and leaves…….fly saved!
And it is not only twigs leaves and tree branches that a fly gets snagged in, unfortunately ….. how about hat, shirt, vest, wader and yes, skin ……X-Acto to the rescue! It’s also nice to have for the occasional trimming of a fly or as a substitute line nipper.
The Tweez’n-Pik tool, shown at the right, comprises a tweezers and a pick, which is basically a fly tyers bodkin, shaped and sized for comfort in handling, and managing the tying tread, or fine monofilaments iu our case..
The long gradual taper terminating a sharp point makes it ideal for unsnarling wind knots hat invariably form in the line especially on a windy day.
It is also excellent for opening the eye of a fly in which the thread tie-off encroaches on the small opening in the eye of the fly, picking out the fibers on the body of a fly to restore the original fluffiness and light refracting and reflecting qualities, and for picking through a cluster of tiny flies in the fly box in search of the desired fly.
The tweezers are accessed and used as follows:
I find this small tweezers almost essential when tying on a tiny #22 fly to a very fine 6x leader tippet. Instead of grasping the body of the fly while threading the tippet through the eye I secure the fly to the tweezers at the bend of the hook and hold on to it instead of the tiny fly. Tiny flies are difficult to feel when held between the fingers and can fall away and disappears forever into the tall grass at my feet or float away in the water, often without my even being aware of it happening ….another lost fly…never even making its way to the end of a line!
Similarly, the tweezers is very useful in searching for and plucking out a tiny fly from the fly box amidst many others like it.
I find it useful also in tying barrel knots or clinch knots. In tying the barrel knot it conveniently holds in place the first half of the knot while the second half is being wound. In the clinch knot, clipping the tweezers onto the tag end twirling it around the line produces the desired 5 or six twists quickly and effortlessly.