What I carry in my fishing vest

Possibly the most unique piece of equipment used by fly fishers is the fishing vest. In this sport, we literally wear our tackle box. While many anglers carry their gear in a chest pack or fanny pack, most wear a vest. I wear mine on my wade fishing trips and carry it on the back of my seat when I am in the boat. I know that, whatever the problem I encounter on stream, there is a solution in one of the many pockets on my vest. The fishing vest that we use is credited to the immortal Lee Wulff, possibly the most influential angler this sport has ever seen.

I bought my vest a size larger than I need so that if needed I can pack it heavily and still be able to get it on in the winter when I am wearing several layers to stay warm. The vest is also the shortest that I could find, so that I can wade deep water when needed.

I am currently carrying six fly boxes. That seems like a lot of flies but remember that I am a working guide and I have to have a great variety of flies to cover any situation. I have to have several flies in most popular patterns in case my clients lose them on a good fish or an evil tree. Most anglers do not need to carry that many flies. I have a streamer box, a dry fly box, a nymph box and a nymph box. I also carry two fly boxes of experimental flies tied by myself and others. I use these on a good day when I have the freedom to experiment or on a tough day when nothing seems to work.

I carry a few spare seven and a half foot 4X leaders. I have found that leader to be the easiest to work with. I also carry a spool of 4X, 5X and 6X tippet. With the spools of tippet I can easily rig my leader for any fishing technique that I use. I use the 4X for woolly buggers, grasshoppers and other large flies. The 5X is for medium size dry flies, soft hackles or nymphs. The 6X is for tying on small dry flies, nymphs, soft hackles and emergers. I also carry a spool of strip lead, a small box containing a variety of strike indicators for fishing nymphs and a line cleaner pad to clean my fly line.

I carry a small set of forceps, a nipper, a whistle (for signaling danger, like rising water) and a small but aggressive pocket knife. All are securely attached to my vest on a retriever or D ring. I also carry a hook hone (to sharpen hooks) in a pocket. I have not figured a way to attach the hook hone to my vest and I occasionally lose one. In another pocket, I carry fly floatant and dry fly crystals for fishing dry flies. I have a stomach pump so that I can find out exactly what the fish are feeding on. I just match the stomach contents to a fly in my boxes based on size shape and color (in that order). I have a small tape measure to verify the size of big fish. Of course, there is my fishing license, trout stamp and guide license. In lieu of a fleece patch for drying used flies, I have a small lidded fly box that is attached to the front of my vest with Velcro. This helps prevent the loss of the flies.

The back of my vest has a small pocket and a large one. The small pocket holds my waterproof digital camera securely attached with a lanyard. I have found that, if I always have it handy, I will take more pictures. The large pocket is usually empty but is a handy place to carry a rain jacket or an extra layer of fleece. It is also a great place to stash a bottle of water on a hot day or trail bars on a long one. There is a large D ring to attach my net. I carry the largest net that I can comfortably carry. When you need a net, only a big one will do.

I know that this seems like a lot of stuff, but I use it all regularly. If you have what you need on a fishing trip, you are more apt to be successful and for me a fishing vest is the most effective way to carry it on-stream.

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