SPANIARD’S BAY, N.L. — It’s been many years since I’ve worn a fishing vest — actually well over a decade.
You may be surprised because I’m sure you all know that I do plenty of fishing.
It is my main thing — trouting for brookies and sea run, salmon angling, as well as down-south fly fishing.
So yes, I fish plenty, but never to be seen again in the traditional fishing vest so deeply ingrained in fly-fishing tradition.
But I suppose, never should one say never.
Evolution can bring you back where you started sometimes.
I started fly fishing as a kid, in the 1960s with my dad.
He had no vest and neither did I.
I’d say Dad never heard tell of a vest.
We carried our bare bones essential fly collection in one of those leather wallets and kept it stuffed in a shirt or jacket pocket.
And our spool of leader or two we kept in another pocket.
That was it, all we needed, and very simple.
We had no knowledge of tapered leaders, dry fly floatant, strike indicators and so on.
We had no need of a vest.
If we intended on a boilup, we carried a backpack.
Dad’s fishing days ended with none of this changed.
It’s likely the same way he fishing long before I was born.
Broader world
In the early 1980s, my fly fishing world broadened and gradually grew more sophisticated.
I had way more flies, over various categories, dries, wets, nymphs, streamers and so on.
I designated a box or wallet for each, to stay organized.
Dad only ever fished traditional Old World wet flies.
Then there were different weight leaders and tippets to contend with.
I carried ultra light line for fussy trout days. And on it went, and a shirt has only so many pockets.
I bought my first fishing vest. It was fantastic.
It held all my gear easily, and besides that it was ready to go all the time.
I mean all my fishing stuff was in it, and hung on a hook in the basement.
If I decided to go trouting after supper all I needed was to grab my vest and rod.
All my gear was right where I left off last time.
Before the vest I’d be sure and forget something every bloody time.
Remember, my world had grown more complicated than my father’s. Good or bad, that was the reality, and still is.
As I lay in bed one night a profound thought floated through my half-awake head.
I needed two vests, one for trouting and one for salmon fishing.
It was so blatantly obvious.
There would be some overlap but for the basics, no.
The flies for salmon are all different, and the tippets and leaders much heavier.
So off I went and bought another vest.
Now I had it made in the shade of a salmon pool.
Grab the vest and go fish was off to he races.
That’s still my philosophy to this day, minus the vest. I’ll explain
Better shirts, gear
The companies began to make way better fishing shirts.
We discovered this in the late ’90s.
In addition to being so much cooler and breathable, they came with more and bigger chest pockets.
I figured I could fit the essentials into those cavernous pockets and store the rest in my backpack.
By this time I was using a neck lanyard for my nippers, file, and a few other tools.
It worked perfect for quite a few years but I was breaking my grab and go rule.
I didn’t like it.
Sometimes I forgot stuff.
I still used the vest for trouting.
But I was travelling light for salmon which is essential to my on-the-move, river-fishing style.
Problem, no solution in previous decades, but now in the new century there wasn’t any need to lay down one’s pack to fish.
Wow, a game changer, with new space-age materials like Gore Tex and Thinsulate, and so on, one could cast, wander and wade all day with a loaded pack.
That means you could fish a long run and not hike back upriver to retrieve your pack before heading further downstream.
I loved it.
I could carry all my angling stuff, a jacket, raincoat, lunch and more in a pack so light as to not hinder my casting and wading.
It was the dawn of a new age.
I’ve embraced it and have a new rule.
Unless I’m overnighting I carry all my gear with me as I fish.
For a while my buddies and I gave up backpacks in favour of lumbar bags. These are designed for angling and really free up you shoulders for casting.
I even used one in Florida for hunting snook on the beach.
This went on for a few years but there were problems.
First off, if you wade deep everything gets soaking wet.
That’s not good, having to dry out all your gear even when it doesn’t rain.
And saltwater is even worse.
On top of that the lumbar bag might be submerged while wading heavy water and can throw you off balance from the added pressure. I didn’t like it.
New bag
While browsing Simms gear one evening a new type of fishing bag caught my eye.
It was a sling bag.
A bit intrigued, I watched a video.
Like a normal sling it balanced primarily on one shoulder, figured it might be OK for a light load.
And my angling bag was light anyway.
What I really liked was the way it swung around to your belly and opened on top with a zipper.
So picture this: You are out to your waist fishing with your sling bag high and dry.
You decide to change flies.
You release a strap and you swing the bag around in front of you.
Now you have full access to all your gear and make the change. Wicked, and I bought one.
So that’s where I am now.
I have a sling bag for all occasions, adhering to my grab and go philosophy, and I’m also carrying all my gear while I fish.
And incidentally, those sling bags are fabulous for photography.
You can swing it around and grab a camera while out in the water, or even make a lens change.
I’ll never go back. I think.
You have to keep moving, like the water we fish in.
The main thing is to pack light with only essentials, so you can fit everything in the sling and stay mobile and agile.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. Tell me about your experience if you have already tried a sling bag
Another time I’ll tell you about what I carry in my bag these days.
Some of it I think you will find interesting at least, if not useful.
You have to keep moving, like the water we fish in.
Hey, I had a look at some new ultralite fishing vests today.
They have certainly changed since my vest days.
Oh my, I just might have to. Like I said, never say never. I’ll certainly keep you posted.
Paul Smith, a native of Spaniard’s Bay, fishes and wanders the outdoors at every opportunity. He can be contacted at [email protected] or follow him on twitter at @flyfishtherock
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