When it comes to packing for fly fishing trips, I have a longstanding tendency to pack way to much gear that I end up lugging around all the time wishing I had gone a bit leaner on what I brought. I am reteaching myself on this bad habit and might have found a solution. Start with a smaller gear bag to fill and it will more or less dictate what you have have room to bring.
A week or so before a recent trip to Michigan, a package arrived from
KORONGO with one of their new
Submersible Pocket gear bags to bang around for a few months. This is a solidly built dry bag but by no means is it big.
The Pocket measures 8.5 inches by 8.5 inches by 5 inches, is made from heavy duty 20 ounce polyurethane laminate and is outfitted with MOLLE webbing across the front and snap straps across the back.
I quickly figured out that the webbing on the front of the Pocket was perfect for attaching a
SmithFly 2X Pouch which greatly increased the capacity of this small but capable gear bag system. Add to this system a small
Topo Design Accessory Bag to keep track of the tools and odds and ends and this is a squared away grab and go gear bag.
The submersible Pocket, when zipped closed, is fully waterproof and this is a standard that I am finding more and more important in the gear bags and packs that I use while fly fishing because I always seems to have a camera, along with an extra lens or two, with me when I am on the water. I've dunked my Nikon DSLR twice over the years and have been scared each time that it wouldn't come back to life (burying your camera in a bag of rice works) which was lesson learned that I need to always keep my camera in a waterproof pack or gear bag to keep them dry when not in use.
The interior of the KORONGO Pocket is really clean with empty space when zipped open. There are no dividers, zippered pockets, or pouches to get in the way. This allows you to pack the Pocket with fly boxes and other gear that is easy to access. The SmithFly 2X Pouch zips open wide and is roomy inside with four pockets inside of the pouch and then four pockets on the exterior of the pouch with magnetic closure flaps. These pouch pockets are perfect for keeping track of tippet spools, fishing license, and extra leaders.
One evening I laid out just about everything that I had in the KORONGO and SmithFly system and this photo is still minus two smaller fly boxes, a second fly reel, and the Fuji X100s camera that I was using to take the photo with. Not to shabby at all and this is still certainly more fly gear than I needed on this trip.
For more information on this please check out the
KORONGO and
SmithFly websites. Both of these companies are building gear that is Made In The U.S.A. and built to last with durable materials, trusty zippers, and innovations that are proof that big things can come in small packages.
