# 18 Tools for Fly Fishing

Let’s talk about your tools for Fly Fishing, what you really need

Today I thought that we would talk about tools for Fly Fishing, you might call it “Tool Time for Fly Fishing”. Today more than ever the person learning how to fly fish is constantly being bombarded with ads, articles, stuff that’s constantly popping up on our phones, in a never-ending stream of “things”! Things of every shape size color, or configuration.  things we need, things we might need someday, and things we never knew existed, but might need someday. If you are new to the sport of fly fishing this can be overwhelming at first, you might feel you need to buy all of these tools, or your time spent fishing will be wasted.

Hopefully I can shed some light on this topic and give you a better understanding of the tools of trade. A quick but true story, I have a dear friend by the name of Haig G. whom I have fished with for many years. Now to give you a mental picture, Haig is all of about 5’-4” tall and weighs in at a whopping 125 pounds (soaking wet). Haig is one of those fisherman that is compelled to buy and carry on his person, every tool ever made for the sport of fly fishing. Haig will carry so much equipment, and so many fly boxes that his profile resembles that of a light bulb, skinny on the bottom and round and full at the top. I’m not exaggerating when I say if he falls over on his side, he will have a hard times getting back up.

Let’s go over some of the absolute necessary items that you “should” carry, and then on to the items you “might” carry, there’s a big difference between the two. Remember when you are learning to fly fish there is no need to go out and break the bank, start small and work up. With that being said I’m going to work on this list of terms of levels.

Level One: the basics

As you begin to learn to fly fish here are a few of the must-have items. I’m not going to go over personal safety items like hats, glasses, or sunscreen, these should be self-explanatory. But as far as items must have needed to fish, like nail clippers, or line nippers. You need some way to cut a tippet or leader, and your teeth should not be used for this. Next is Forceps, some flies can be very small and hard to hold, also removing a fly from a fish is very easy with this tool.  If you are Nymph fishing you will need to have on you some “strike indicator’s” these can be commercially made or just a piece of wool yarn. While Nymph fishing you might need small pieces of split shot to get the fly closer to the bottom.  If you are dry fly fishing, you will need some type of fly floatant. Most flies should be dressed before you fish them the first time. Since you are dry fly fishing, then it’s nice to have a means to dry off your flies when they are too wet to float correctly. This can be done with a small piece of microfiber towel a shirt, or some powdered dry fly desiccants, or similar products.

Next item you should consider is a few spools of tippet material. This material is a consumable supply and will be used during the course of a fishing trip. In the beginning you will only need just a few spools to get you going. Check with your local shop to see the most common size of fly, and you will be able to choose tippet correctly.

Last thing on the list is not a “must have” but it comes in very handy, and that is a landing net. Again, you don’t need to break the bank when you start, you could go to Walmart for about $15.00 and get a small simple net. When your quarry dictates a larger net, this is when you might consider getting a bigger or better net.

If you look on-line there is more than one company that will have starter kits, which contain most of the items listed here.

Level two: Upgrades

Now in level one I do not include a vest, or pack, because if you are starting out or on a budget you can improvise and use any fanny pack or other type of item to hold your equipment. As you progress you need to make a choice of either a fly fishing vest, a fanny pack, or a sling pack to carry your essentials. These are personal choices, and everybody is different. It will also be affected by the amount of gear you are planning to carry on the water.

Level two is where things can start to get a little crazy, but some of these tools are very useful at times. A nail knot tool is very handy when you need to attach a new leader to your fly line, even though it is used infrequently it’s a life saver when you need it. A magnet for your landing net is a cool item when you need your net. Simply pull your net and it’s released, when done, a simple reach behind the back and it clips back in place. Tippet spool holders, not a necessary item, but handy in keeping your tippets organized and tangled free. Clip-on magnifiers for tying on a new fly. If you have young eyes forget what I mentioned , but this will come into play as you get older, us older folks already know about these beauties.  Foam patches to hold flies outside of your box. It’s nice to have a foam patch on your vest or pack, to hold a few flies, so you do not need to go back into your fly box repeatedly, it also lets your used flies dry off before you use them again. Some manufacturers make small holders for both your fly floatant, and your fly drying patch, and these can be handy as well, but again not necessary in the beginning. There are companies that sell small retractable holders for your items. These can be very useful, but don't buy 20 of them and adorn to your vest and wear all of them like a Christmas tree, 2-3 will work just fine, one for your forceps, one for your line nippers, should be more than enough, I use one for my chap stick.

Level Three: More upgrades

This is the top level of items that a fly fisherman can carry on their person while fishing. These are things like folding wading staffs, if you need one, by all means use one. Small personal cigarette trash cans, if you smoke while fishing this is a must in my book. Things like thermometers and stomach pumps are useful but not a have-to-have item. Portable this and portable that, the list can go on forever. The point I want to make is, use what you need to use.

So many people I talk with on the water say the same thing over and over again, they very rarely use all of the items in their vests. So, I guess they take all of these items for a walk?

As you become a better angler and you find a legitimate need for a tools or gadget, by all means buy it and use it. Remember you have a finite amount of storage on your body at any given time. Now if you are fishing in a location that requires a 2–3-mile walk, then the rules change. If you forgot something in the car, you are out of luck. So, a backpack may be a better choice for the day’s fishing adventure.

To wrap up I’m going to tell you what I carry on a regular basis when I’m fishing. Keep in mind that it has taken me 40 years to decide what I do and do not need.

• I use a sling pack; I prefer the freedom of the pack as opposed to a vest.

• I carry about 3 or 4 double sided fly boxes; I change boxes to where I fish that day.

• A few strike indicators, a small pack of split shot for Nymphing

• Dry fly floatant, and dry fly desiccant for using dry flies

• A few spare tapered leaders, in case of breaking or need to change sizes.

• A tippet spool holder, I carry 7x-4x on me at all times.

• A pair of scissors, forceps combo tool.

• A tool for hook release, I very rarely use a net, to minimize touching the fish.

• Small chap stick, and small tube of sunscreen.

• A small Ziplock bag containing toilet paper for an unavoidable emergency.

• A few first aide bandages, along with a few aspirin. Hook removal is a real thing.

• And of course, let’s not forget our cell phones. Pictures = Proof, as I tell my buddies. If you carry a cell phone a waterproof case can be very valuable.

As you can see I try to keep things to a minimum, I carry what I need and try not to carry what I do not need. At the end of the day, my neck is not sore, and I’m not drenched in sweat from wearing tons of gear that I did not use. So, try to keep things simple as you begin.

I hope this helps you in making your choice as to what you need as to what you want.

Cheers

Gary