What Is The Best Fly Fishing Pack For You? (Fly Fishing Gear Review) 

One combo worth mentioning is the hip pack and sling together. It is good for days when too hot for a backpack, and both packs are out of the way when fishing. A lanyard holds the tippet and clippers which stays out of the way when doing things like Spey casting etc. I use the Simms G4 tactical hip pack and waterproof sling pack together successfully. When I’m all in on a big day, it’s the simms G4 shift pack.

Good video. 20 years a go I bought a fishing vest from Walmart and it never failed be. A year or two ago my wife got me a front chest bag from LLBean as a gift, and I love it, especially fishing in high water. Small yet holds all I need. I have more backpacks from other adventures, so I just modify them for saltwater fishing . Nothing wrong with nice gear, but fly-fishing to me isn't about the gear, it's about getting away and catching fish on my flys. Example, my casting basket is an old dishpan modified with an old belt. Might look silly, but I don't care. Near does a fish that just ate my fly😉

I have used all these styles and the fishpond cross current is the best for me. They carry a lot of boxes. All my gear is internal other than my nippers to reduce snags. I love the front magnetic compartment, I put a slim fly box to use as my working box and drying patch up there. I also store my tippet here not on a tippet keeper but flat in the built in slots. This allows me to quickly work out of the magnetic front flap mostly. I use a hydration bladder in the back pack. My hemos are on a zinger but stashed in the open back pocket. I really like how this reduces snags.

I use an osprey pack for anything over a day or 2. Especially because I mostly do Backcountry fishing. Then I just use a hip pack while I keep the pack at camp or lay it somewhere nearby.

Awesome, thanks for the overview.

I’ll take one of each. Please and thank you. Seriously though great review video. Think I’m sold on Fishpond

What about the Orvis bug out backpack? That is my favorite for longer days and hikes and works well with bike packing. Also has combo chest pack as well.

I need all the packs 😂

The best pack I have is a Umpqua chest pack. You can get the backpack with it but it is literally no better than a string bag, over priced for a single pocket. What I did was buy a cheap piscisfun back pack and got my aunt to sew the two together with the removable clips still included. Now I have the best pack ever. Way more pockets to store stuff to keep things separated. I've been through a lot of packs and one tip I have to say is avoid any sling pack at all cost. Super akward. Really hard to manage and impossible to attach a net. The biggest issue with them is they destroy your back and neck if you wear them longer than an hour. I had the fish pond one for 2 years and I have given it away.

This may save someone some trouble: One of the most overlooked feature, imho, is a dedicated h2o holder. I fish hard and cover a lot of ground so staying hydrated is mandatory for me. That being said, below has been my personal experience. Cheers Started with Patagonia sling pack- quickly noticed how the weight distributed onto one shoulder (right casting shoulder). Best feature- h2o bottle holder. Worst feature- difficult for net system Moved to a fishpond gunnison hip pack with shoulder strap. Wouldn’t stay in place (on hips) without shoulder strap which lead to shoulder fatigue again on one side. Best feature- water bottle holder. Worst feature- can’t wade deep without it getting soaked Fishpond cross current chest pack. This would be “the” system except for one detail- no dedicated water bottle or hydration bladder holder. The magnetic closure in the front pocket is awesome! Can’t believe more brands have not adopted this tech. Favorite feature: net slot and magnet closure pocket. Worst feature: no dedicated h2o placement Umpqua chest pack zs2 zero sweep. Tried this for the bigger backpack feature and attached the water bottle holder mole system under the backpack and it worked great! Could easily reach back and have quick in/out access. Favorite feature: h2o holder options. Worst feature: if middle pocket is filled, front pocket pretty useless except for maybe extra leaders and a spool of tippet Fishpond sagebrush vest and ridge line backpack combo- GameChanger. Bottom line is there is just no better organization system like a vest with dedicated pockets. You don’t need a roadmap to figure out where things are stored and it just makes things way more efficient. The ridge line backpack fits the bill for dedicated h2o holder, and the And fishponds tech to mix/match packs is phenomenal.

Bought a waist pack a few years ago. Biggest regret is its not waterproof. Always buy a waterproof pack if your wading a significant amount of time.

90% of my Fly Fishing is done out of cargo shorts/pants; Flybox in one pocket , floatant , line dressing and tippet in the other . hemostats and clipper on a paracord lanyard , net clipped to my belt.

Does the intro song have a link to the full-length version?

Where’s the love for us grandparents and our vest

Fishpond is very nice

Umqua for the win

I thinking of trying a sling bag this year. Are there a left and right shoulder options? I'm a left hand retrieve so I'm thinking I should go with the left hand sling bag to keep my right casting arm/shoulder free. Would that be correct?

Don't fool yourself. A fly fishing sling pack isn't a good functional replacement for a vest. I've been through that over the years and got fed-up with having to go through many more steps to dig out the necessaries. I just see it as a fad of the mistake-hobby-as-profession cult of consumerism. My brother in law is like this; he gets involved in something by buying TONS of crap and books on it. Reject. Reject. Reject. Fish instead of buy.

Not the best review? You cannot explain without showing how all these packs/slings etc fit on a model! Guys need to see how these things fit ON. Photography not the best. These gear packs etc need close up details especially when parting with hard earned cash. Such lazy or should I say badly researched showmanship. Cmon guys do better, oh and don’t take this lightly if you want serious sales $$$$$.