Today many fly fishers don’t wear the traditional fly fishing vest, but there was a time when, if you didn’t wear one you could not be considered a serious fly angler. The proto-type of the modern fly fishing vest came from the creative mind of Lee Wulff. Lee designed a short wading vest for fly fishermen in the early 1930’s. He not only designed the first model, he sewed it himself.
Maybe it’s an age thing, but, I’ve tried fanny and sling packs and still come back to wearing a vest when I am trout fishing. I still have my original Stream Design which was my first real fishing vest. The first one I made out of altering one of my jungle fatigue shirts. I do have a waist pack that I bought from Recycled Waders that I use when warm water fishing and our annual trip to Florida.
Great article, which got me to thinking about the topic as well.
I began with a shoulder bag/creel much like the polar Creels of today.
After a few years I outgrew that bag and went to a “Field & Stream” vest that carried me through a dozen years at least. My Dad owned one identical to it as well and I think it lasted him nearly 30yrs.
I “upgraded” to a Columbia “salmon” vest with the upright front pockets while out west for a number of years…and then went to the Columbia 'Henry’s Fork" model when I moved back east. I still have both and they are very servicable. The Salmon vest is now my sons vest.
These days I fish most often with a shoulder bag again. Preferring to lighten things up a bit.
Thanks for the article!
Ralph
I started with a wicker creel that I bought from Herter’s in the 60’s. I now use a Patagonia vest for stream fishing, since I have not found anything else with the combination of comfort and capacity. I usually have 8 fly boxes, plus all the other stuff in it. For carp fishing and saltwater wade fishing, I use a fanny pack. I only have one or two fly boxes then and the fanny pack is cooler than a vest.
Ted