Tackle Tips: Organizing the Mess with Airtable.com

I don’t have a large space for fly tying, so I often have trouble remembering (and locating) what materials I have on hand. My solution is Airtable.com, a database tool available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS (or use it within any browser without downloading the app). If you’ve ever used a database tool and found it cumbersome and complicated, then you may like Airtable because it is very easy to use and intuitive. Best of all, it’s free! That is, it’s free to create as many different databases as you need (which Airtable call “bases”), and each base can contain up to 1,200 records. That’s quite generous for a free account. And since you can create as many bases as you want, you might also consider creating one to catalog your fly fishing gear. For me, it’s useful to quickly see if I have the materials I need to tie a particular fly, but it’s also handy as a reference or teaching tool. I add notes to my materials to remind me where different things are located, but also how the materials are used. One other potential use: create a base that lists all of your gear to track how much your stuff is worth. Handy if you ever need to make an insurance claim.

By Troy Kitch