a necessary evil

the unfortunate reality is that the fishing bag or pack or purse

or whatever you wanna call it

around here, we'll refer to it as a fagbag

let's start again...the unfortunate reality is that the fagbag is a necessary evil

if yer serious about fishing that is

or ya can carry a daypack but we tend to overload those

simply because we can

there is absolutely nothing better than hiking into a mountain or canyon stream

with a fishing rod in yer hand

it is the finest our fine sport has to offer

often such fishing can carry us miles from the fishin' truck

parked  back at the traillhead

you get a sense where this is going...

years and years back an old timer gave me a wise bit of advise

everytime you go fishing carry yer raingear

the other thing yer gonna need to have is water

and maybe a bit or two pieces to stay warm

enough fuel to keep the machine functioning

plus we like to have enough carry room for at least two

but preferably three beers for lunch

let's take a look at this filson pack

loaded as is pack weighs in at a smidgen over 3lbs
a little over 5lbs w/ raingear

not much at all especially considering the effectiveness

of the elastic sling suspension employed

simply put, I've never felt such a comfortable set of shoulder straps

let's have a look inside...

I pulled the whistle floatant and stream thermometer out of the pocket for this shot

whistle can be a pretty important tool should you take a fall break a leg or the like

main pocket displayed

extra nippers and clamps on zinger tuck into sleeve

of which there are eight

two too small to fit my hand into but they will hold spare specs

you can see the size of the sleeves from the flybox (emergency nimps) 

and smallstream kit shown

customized w/ c&f design flypatch (GENIUS!)

and simms retractor to which I strap the camera

which sits in here

lonesome save for the company of a little flashlight

still lotsa room in here for whatever

backside pack

inside here I've got glove/mitts and water filter bottle

water bottle will hang from sling or on wader belt

I'm really pretty happy w/ this thing so far

then again I've only fished a long morning w/ it

oh yeah it's waterproof... hmmm?
I did dunk it a time or two nothing got wet or even damp