The Marc Petitjean Fly Vice

This magnificent fly-dressing vice, designed by Marc Petitjean, is the most compact tool that I have seen in some 40 years of fly-dressing. The components fit neatly into a metal box with a sliding lid that measures approximately 5”x8”x1½” – and slides into a stout, cloth bag with a Velcro closing flap. The components are housed in a slotted foam body.

The vice comes with a small book of 16 pages of very clear photographic instructions and a video of short, concise “chapters” which may be individually selected to suit the particular technique that the user wishes to follow.

The head has interchangeable jaws that are grooved on the inner faces to suit each book shape, and hold the hooks remarkably firmly. Two sets of jaws will hold hooks from #32 to #9/0, and there is a tube fly attachment that accommodates both metal and plastic tubes. The head may also be rotated using a needle attachment that enables it to be set horizontally on the “centerline of the wind”. This system may also be used to carry out twisted dubbing in an ingeniously formed dubbing loop, which is very clearly shown on the video.

A tool that may well require some understanding and getting used to, but a tool that takes fly-dressing a big step further forward. It may seem expensive at £260, but bearding in mind the cost of many less sophisticated vices, I think it remarkably good value for money.