Nick Thomas looks at a couple of pieces of gear he has been using and shares his thoughts on them.
'Looks like you're going to have more fun today than me' said the man loading a folding suit carrier into the back of a big glossy black BMW and raising a questioning eyebrow at the folding carrier I was lifting out of my car. 'Probably' I smiled as I unzipped the wader bag and prepared to gear up. The new housing development built on the old railway sidings alongside the Taff is a convenient place to park for access to some nice pools and runs on my home stretch of the river. So it's not uncommon for me to be gearing up under the inquisitive gaze of the residents leaving for work in the morning. A short walk takes me from paved parking and plant pots down a short flight of steps and under the stone railway bridge straight onto the water. Sometimes it's difficult to avoid feeling rather smug as I leave the locals loading cars and herding kids for the school run.
After a good season of grayling fishing through the autumn and winter I can highly recommend two pieces of gear that have seen hard use. The first is the Wychwood wader bag - one of the most useful bits of fishing kit that I own. It's a close cousin to the folding suit carrier that the business gent was loading into his executive chariot; it stores waders and wading boots and folds neatly into three with a carrying handle. It's much more than just a folding bag however, after all a business suit doesn't finish the day dripping wet and smelling slightly of fish - or maybe I didn't get to go to the right sort of corporate meetings.
The clever thing about the bag is that the inside is made from rubber mesh and the outside of waterproof nylon. When the bag is folded up wet waders don't get the chance to drip water all over my car boot, but when I get home a quick pull releases a couple of Velcro straps and the bag unfolds to hang on the garage wall with the mesh side outwards airing the waders to dry for the next trip. Works like a treat. The bag retails at around £40 and is well worth the investment to care for an expensive pair of breathable chest waders.
It's not just a storage and drying system; it's also a great help when gearing up on the bank. In the middle of the centre section is a foam foot mat which puts an end to the traditional ceremonial dance involved in getting stocking foot waders on and into wading boots without damaging the neoprene feet on sharp stones. Unzipping the bag allows it to open out fully, the wader shoulder straps to be unclipped and waders laid out for easy access. It's then a matter of seconds to pull on the waders while standing on the mat and then step into your boots. This greatly improves my mood when getting ready to fish; I used to get really fed up getting all hot and bothered when layered up in thermal underwear and fleece and trying to wrestle on my waders without falling over. Now is all calm. Once the waders and boots are on, laced and zipped it’s time to don the second bit of gear.
Different types of fly fishing need different gear and on a couple of occasions in the past I've been caught out without a vital fly box or some other bit of kit that I hadn't switched into my fly vest. Now I have four organised sets of gear for stillwater trout, river trout and grayling, saltwater and for carp and coarse fly fishing. Now I can pick up a specific pack or vest and know that everything I need will be there when I need it. My river gear lives in a Simms Headwaters Sling Pack.
This is a fairly small sling pack as these things go, but it has ample room inside for two fly boxes for nymphs and dries, foam rig keepers with some pre-tied casts, a leader wallet with a collection of braid Czech nymphing leaders and furled leaders for fishing spiders and dry flies. There's also room for my polaroids, a cheap pair of supermarket 3X reading glasses which I need these days for tying knots in anything less than 10lb fluorocarbon and a small steel vacuum flask or water bottle in a pocket at one end.
When the pack is in use all of this is out of the way on my back and my front is clear of clutter with just my forceps stored in a tool holder on the shoulder strap. The pack has an adjustable underarm strap which prevents the pack from moving around as you walk or wade and clips into a neat sliding attachment on the main strap. Unclipping the stabilising strap allows the pack to swivel around under my left arm to access the contents and use the neat fold down workstation built into the front of the pack. This zipped hard shell pocket folds down to access provided holders for tippet spools and for bottles of Gink and sinkant. These are backed with Velcro and can be removed and stuck to the front of the workstation; very useful to avoid dropping them when changing flies or a leader midstream. Next to the workstation is a second tool holder where I store my nippers and a Smith Creek rod clip. This configuration allows me to hang my rod from the pack and then have both hands free and everything to hand that I need to change flies or fishing method without wading ashore. My net hangs from a magnetic link clipped to the plastic anchor point on the shoulder strap and hangs down nicely within reach of my left hand. The pack has an additional small outer pocket with a clip for keys, but in these days of electronic remote car keys I prefer to keep mine safely in the waterproof pocket inside my waders.
The pack provides a great way of storing and carrying river gear; at around £80 it’s not cheap, but it is very well designed and made and I highly recommend it.
Nick Thomas lives in South Wales. He started fly fishing on Scottish hill lochs many years ago and continues to design, tie and fish flies for trout, carp, bass and anything else that’s going.