Fly Fishing Vests & Packs

A fly fishing vest is the main tool that holds all of your stream-side fly fishing items such as fly boxes, leaders, tippet, various types of tools, fly floatants, weights, line cleaner, strike indicators, and many other things, depending on one’s personal preferences. Off hand, it may seem you couldn’t have too many pockets to hold things, but when it gets to the point you have to look through several pockets to find something you need, you either have too many pockets or you are not well organized. Too many pockets on a fly vest can also cause you to end up having more stuff in the vest than you need. An empty pocket seems to always get stuffed with something. Such also tends to make the fly vest heavier than it should be.

Traditional, solid fabric type vest can be too warm in the hot summer. Mesh vest and packs are great during warm weather because they are much cooler. You can always, and in fact should, add layers of clothing to protect against cold weather. I don’t think that should be a function of a fly vest or pack. Another advantage of mesh nets and packs is they tend to stretch a little more than solid fabric models.

Sling Packs are alternates to the fly vest. The “Perfect Fly” Sling Packs can carry everything a large fly vest can carry and even more items such as a water bottle. Some include a special pocket to hold your landing net. The back panel has a mesh lining to keep you cool. The shoulder straps are wide and some padded so that they distribute the load equally and comfortably. Most have a water bottle holder at the bottom that is out of the way of the fly fishing items.

Certainly, a very important things is comfort. Wearing a fly vest, vest and pack combination or sling pack all day that isn’t comfortable will turn what should be a good day on the water into a miserable one. The vest, pack and sling pack should be designed to distribute the weight equally and uniformly, in order to reduce the weight on your shoulders and neck.