This fly box was kindly returned to me last week after becoming separated from my fly vest while scrambling around netting fish last week. Luckily, my phone number was written inside the box, which an honest angler found (most anglers are honest, apart from their fish stories!), and was rewarded with a dozen Speights for his efforts.
On another occasion, I was fishing in the North Island, and when meeting up with friends on the evening before our trip, was proudly shown a fly box by my mate that a friend of his had found washed up on a West Coast South Island beach. I was quick to point out to him my custom fly patterns, and thanked him very much for returning it – it was over a year since I had fallen in the Fox River and lost it! That time I didn’t have my name in the box, but it just goes to show what a small place New Zealand is!