How Stuff Works: Packs and Vests

As with most things in fly fishing, fishing packs and vests have come a long way over the years.  The great thing about that is you now have a seemingly endless array of ways to carry and organize your on-stream tools and accessories.  The bad thing is those seemingly endless choices can be a bit overwhelming.

There is certainly no right or wrong pack or vest.  The best option for you will boil down to how much stuff you plan to carry, where you plan to carry it (backcountry or more roadside), and how you want to organize it. As with fly rods, the more diverse your fishing adventures are, the more likely you’ll need more than one option. For instance, what might work well for backcountry trout fishing in the mountains may not work very well wading saltwater flats.  But for most folks, you should be able to find one system that works for all of your fishing needs.

Again, what works best for me may not suit you at all, so I’m not going to try to tell you the best product.  However, I have had the opportunity over the last 30 years to use most every style of vest/pack and will share below what I believe are pros and cons of each.

Vests: For decades, this has been the standard for carrying fly boxes, tools, etc. on the stream and while there have been some changes over the years, the basic concept is still the same and this is still the choice for many anglers.  One of the greatest benefits of a vest is that with individual pockets for nearly everything, it’s really easy to keep things separated and organized.  And the design of the vest is such that you can keep most of those items quickly and easily accessible.  Most vests will also have larger compartments on the back for items that you may not need to access as frequently, like a rain jacket or lunch. D-rings on the back of a vest also make a great place to attach a net where its out of the way but easily accessible with the addition of a magnetic or clip attachment.

While there have been numerous improvements over the years, the biggest complaint with vests still seems to be that they are heavy, with most of the weight being carried on your neck and shoulders.  Another downside is they do not wear well with a backpack.  If you like to do a lot of backcountry fishing, you may want to carry more safety and comfort provisions that necessitate a backpack in addition to your fishing gear.  It can be difficult to comfortably and practically wear a backpack when the straps are going over full, bulky pockets on a vest.

Hip Packs: These are often worn around the waist on the rear when not fishing, and rotated to the hip when accessing items in the pack. Probably their greatest advantage is that they stay out of your way when fishing and offer total freedom of movement when casting, etc.  There are also accessories you can add (or may be built in to some packs) for carrying a net.

The biggest downside to a hip pack is that it doesn’t keep items as organized and it can be more difficult to access those items.  Additionally, the hip pack, by itself, usually does not have the capacity to carry larger items like a rain jacket or lunch.  However, a hip pack does wear comfortably with an additional backpack. Many will use the hip pack alone when fishing closer to the car and add a backpack when fishing in the backcountry. Finally, these are not the best option for someone who does a lot of deep wading.  Although, there are a lot of waterproof options now.

Chest Packs: These, as the name implies, are designed to be worn on the chest and come in a number of sizes.  They organize things in much the same way a hip pack does but keep things far more accessible on your chest and high out of the water.  Many will have a D-ring on the rear of the neck strap for carrying a net. I would include a chest fly box (like I use) in the same category as a chest pack, except that there is no need for separate fly boxes.

Chest Fly Box

Some don’t like having a cumbersome item on their chest and some of the larger chest packs can be quite cumbersome.  Smaller chest packs are very comfortable but don’t carry as much stuff.  In either case, you won’t have enough capacity to carry large items but like a hip pack, you can easily wear a backpack with your chest pack to carry more things when travelling far from the car.  Some companies even make “fishing backpacks” designed in such a way that a compatible chest pack can clip to the front of it.

Sling Packs: These are the latest trend in fishing packs and are designed to be more accessible than a hip pack and more out of the way than a chest pack.  They are worn diagonally across your body so that they can be easily “slung” around to your front when you need to get to it.  It can then be “slung” around and secured out of the way on your back when you’re fishing.  They come in small and large sizes depending on how much you need to carry.

These packs are well designed and very comfortable but even the big ones don’t have enough capacity to carry everything you might want to take on a trip deep into the backcountry. On such a trip, I typically carry a rain jacket, lunch, first-aid kit and plenty of water.  I also regularly carry my wading boots in on long hikes. You need a backpack to carry those items and a sling bag just can’t be worn and utilized with a backpack.  The other downside to a sling bag is there just doesn’t seem to be a good place to carry a net (if needed) without it getting in the way.

Lanyard: A fishing lanyard is basically a necklace for carrying your essentials around your neck.  Most will comfortably carry and organize nippers, forceps, tippet, floatant and small fly box.  By itself, this is for the absolute minimalist.  For others, it may be a way to keep essential, frequently used items immediately accessible while carrying other less frequently used items in a hip pack or backpack.

The downside is fairly obvious with a lanyard.  It has almost zero capacity.  There is no place for rain jacket, lunch, water, camera, leaders, multiple fly boxes, etc.  In my opinion, the only reasonable use for a lanyard would be in a boat or in conjunction with another pack as mentioned above.

How Stuff Works: Fly Boxes

I’m a bit of an oddball. This is not exactly breaking news for most folks who know me.  But to paraphrase John Gierach, “If, from time to time, people don’t walk away from you shaking their head… You’re doing something wrong.”  I could certainly dedicate an entire article, or even a book, to my oddball qualities, but for this article, I am referring to one specific oddball quality.  I fish and guide with a set-up that combines a pack and fly boxes all in one contraption. You’ve seen it.  It’s my chest fly box, custom built by the Richardson Chest Fly Box Company in Pennsylvania.  It’s awesome and I love it.

Chest Fly Box

So, that makes it a little more challenging for me to give advice on individual fly boxes.  But I have over the years used about every kind of box and pack known to man.  And along the way I have learned a few things that may be helpful to you when purchasing or organizing your flies.  At the least, it might get you thinking about it.  And who knows?  Maybe one day you’ll come to your senses and buy a Richardson!

While chest fly boxes like mine are more common in the Northeast, they are hardly common.  Most folks go a different route.  They have a variety of different fly boxes that they stuff in a vest, hip pack, chest pack, sling bag, or some other carryall.  No matter how you decide to carry them, fly boxes are essential organizational tools in our sport and it helps to know a few things about them.

Medium Box with Foam

They come in a number of different sizes, from large, briefcase size boxes for boats to ultra slim boxes not much bigger than a smartphone.  When choosing a fly box size, you have to consider how many flies you need to carry, how you’re going to carry them, how big the flies are, and how you want to organize them.  For instance, a big, briefcase size box may hold every fly you have but it won’t be very portable when wading creeks.  Or a small, ultra slim box might be convenient to slip in a pocket, but if you plan to store bass bugs in it, you’ll only be able to carry a couple and you won’t be able to close the lid.

In addition, you’ll have to consider how you want to organize your flies within your box. There are countless options for securing your flies from slot foam, flat foam, and nubby foam to compartments, clips, and magnets.  Some boxes might even have a combination of both, with a type of foam on one side of the box and compartments on the other.  Certainly personal preference plays a big role in you box interior of choice, but there are practical matters to consider as well.

Compartment Box

Compartments tend to lend themselves well to beefier patterns, or large quantities of the same fly. For instance, if you fish a lot of Pheasant Tails and carry a lot of them with you, it’s far easier to dump them all into one compartment rather than trying to line up three dozen Pheasant Tails across multiple rows of foam.  I find foam more useful when I am trying to organize a lot of different patterns but small quantities of each.  It’s easier to see what I have.

Ultra Thin Magnetic Compartments

The type of fly may also determine the best way to store it.  Thin foam or magnetic boxes can be great for midges and nymphs but can crush the hackles on many dry flies.  On the other hand, trying to carry midges in deep compartments can not only be a waste of space, it can be difficult to grasp them with your fingers when removing them from the box.

Finally, when you’re on the stream, you don’t want to spend your time hunting for flies or digging through your pack for fly boxes.  Try to have a designated area of your pack or vest for boxes rather than burying them under a rain jacket somewhere.  And if you carry five fly boxes on the stream, try to make them five different, or at least different looking, fly boxes.  This will save you all kinds of time when trying to locate a specific box of flies.