There are probably exceptions out there, but it seems to me that pretty much every fly angler on the planet is a "gear head." Do you know anyone who's been fishing with a fly rod for more than a year and owns only one fly rod? We have innumerable fly boxes, clamps, sling packs, waist packs, rod racks, tying vices, reels, and assorted gadgets. And there's always something new and shiny out there.
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| Photo from tackyflyfishing.com |
One of my favorite acquisitions from last year is a couple of Tacky fly boxes. My wife bought one in 2015. When I sat down one evening last year to put some new flies into it for her, I fell in love with the magnetic closure and the size. I now try to limit myself to carrying two of these at a time for any given wading session, rather than the rag-tag collection of water-tight latching boxes that were taking up too much space in my sling pack.
2016 was also the year of the wading staff for me. Parkinson's Disease can make you stiff and slow. If you can't move as fast as you used to, it's harder to keep your balance, even on normal flat surfaces. I don't dare set foot into a stream without my staff on my belt. And I've found that it doesn't cause any inconvenience at all! It's tethered to my belt, so I can wade into position and just drop it at my side to start casting. And I've found it essential for stepping down into or climbing out of the water. Even if I'm wet wading, I buckle
my Wingo belt (American made!) around my waist with the staff in its holster. When I get to the water, it's deployed in 10 seconds.
