Revisiting the Fly Fishing Vest

Photo: Alex Stulce

For the past five or six years I’ve been an ardent supporter of the chest pack as the premier way to carry and store tackle while on the water. I’ve never liked sling packs, backpacks are too unwieldy, and all the vests I’d worn in my earlier fly fishing years weren’t great for my back, neck, and shoulders.

My current chest pack is on its last leg of life, though, and I’m not enamored with the other options on the market. So, I decided to revisit the fly fishing vest, mostly to see if any changes had been made in the years I quit wearing them.

I’ll have an in-depth look at multiple new vests coming out shortly, but in the meantime, I’ll just say this: fly fishing vests have made some decent leaps in the past decade, and I think I’m switching to one full-time.

Lower Profile

The main reason I’m stepping away from chest packs is my love affair for chicken wings and all the other unhealthy food that’s led to me putting on a few (read: way more than a few) pounds. The vest is a lower profile way to haul my tackle to the river, and I feel less like a doddering hippo than I do when wearing a chest pack.

On top of that, my fly line has less opportunity to catch on the vest since it’s closer to my body than the chest pack. It’s already led to noticeably fewer instances of grumbling and complaining while picking fly line off zipper pulls or tippet caddies.

Increased Storage

A chest pack is great for anglers who want to take a minimalist approach to the water, since they’re so often smaller than vests or slings. But even with that minimalist approach, you still need some spools of tippet, split shot, indicators, spare leaders, floatant, nippers, your fishing license, and some flies. Vests have more storage room than chest packs on average. It’s a bit more organized, as well, thanks to the bevy of pockets on a vest compared to a chest pack.

Light and Breathable

When I was still using vests, the material was thick and didn’t breathe well. Yes, there were some mesh vests on the market then, but they were either cost-prohibitive, lacked enough storage, or the mesh was of poor quality that likely wouldn’t stand up to long days on the water. Of the vests I’ve recently been trying, all of them are mesh-based and wonderfully light and breathable.

I’m excited to put these vests to more use in the coming months and see if my inclination to ditch chest packs turns out to be the right move.