The Kitchen Sink
"The more you know, the less you need." - Yvon Chouinard
I am a bit of a gear junkie. On a recent trip to Yellowstone, I carried 6 fly boxes, full to overflowing with streamers, dries, hoppers/terrestrials, and nymphs. Upon landing in Jackson Hole, I promptly went to the local Orvis shop and bought another two dozen flies for fishing mojo insurance.
Everything I read about fishing the park in August advised that I only needed to throw hoppers/droppers and terrestrials to be successful. One small fly box should be plenty. But my inner Professor Gadget compelled me to over pack.
In addition to the now seven fly boxes, 2 rods and reels, tippet, leaders and tools, I added buffs, bear bells and spray, rain gear, first aid kit, and fire starting kit. Oh and don't forget floatant, bug spray, snacks and water. Plus hats, sun gloves, wading boots and socks. A multi-tool, just in case I ran into MacGyver.
[caption id="attachment_1184" align="aligncenter" width="3622"]
The Sinews of War[/caption]
To carry all this, I purchased a SIMMs backpack. Otherwise I would have had to hire a Sherpa.
In my defense I have tried to de-clutter my life a bit. This week I have been donating and selling unneeded items from my garage, and reorganizing what I am choosing to keep. I actually feel pretty good about that. I normally purge my closet each year as well, choosing to donate clothing I haven't worn for a year or more. It's actually quite cathartic.
I even gave in to trying Tenkara, but it still pains me to go out with less than 2 fly boxes. Even though I am rarely more than 15 minutes from home or my fly shop when fishing our local creek, I am always fearful of being without the right fly.
I think most of us who pursue outdoors activities have stories of being stranded, stuck, or skunked because we lacked some piece of gear. So my defense was to add shovels, chain saws, tow straps etc. to most of my forays into the great wide open. Normally I don't need them, but I take comfort in being prepared, "just in case".
Frankly my over-packing paid off this time. The hoppers that were clacking their wings together when we hit the creek disappeared within 30 minutes as cool wind and gentle rain began to fall. No hatches, no rises. Our foam hopper counterfeits were ignored, as were the various droppers we tried. Finally I broke down and tied on a double nymph rig, even though I feared offending the Wyoming fishing gods. But for the rest of the afternoon we caught fish.
So, gentle reader, I don't disagree with Mr. Chouinard. I have just become comfortable recognizing I don't know enough to be a minimalist fly fisher yet. If you see me selling off a bunch of fly fishing gear you will know one of two things have happened. Either I have become enlightened, or I need to raise funds to up-level my current fly rod collection.
Come to think of it, I could use a bamboo rod for dry fly fishing. I wonder how much I can get for my Cabela's travel rod?...
I am a bit of a gear junkie. On a recent trip to Yellowstone, I carried 6 fly boxes, full to overflowing with streamers, dries, hoppers/terrestrials, and nymphs. Upon landing in Jackson Hole, I promptly went to the local Orvis shop and bought another two dozen flies for fishing mojo insurance.
Everything I read about fishing the park in August advised that I only needed to throw hoppers/droppers and terrestrials to be successful. One small fly box should be plenty. But my inner Professor Gadget compelled me to over pack.
In addition to the now seven fly boxes, 2 rods and reels, tippet, leaders and tools, I added buffs, bear bells and spray, rain gear, first aid kit, and fire starting kit. Oh and don't forget floatant, bug spray, snacks and water. Plus hats, sun gloves, wading boots and socks. A multi-tool, just in case I ran into MacGyver.
[caption id="attachment_1184" align="aligncenter" width="3622"]
The Sinews of War[/caption]To carry all this, I purchased a SIMMs backpack. Otherwise I would have had to hire a Sherpa.
In my defense I have tried to de-clutter my life a bit. This week I have been donating and selling unneeded items from my garage, and reorganizing what I am choosing to keep. I actually feel pretty good about that. I normally purge my closet each year as well, choosing to donate clothing I haven't worn for a year or more. It's actually quite cathartic.
I even gave in to trying Tenkara, but it still pains me to go out with less than 2 fly boxes. Even though I am rarely more than 15 minutes from home or my fly shop when fishing our local creek, I am always fearful of being without the right fly.
I think most of us who pursue outdoors activities have stories of being stranded, stuck, or skunked because we lacked some piece of gear. So my defense was to add shovels, chain saws, tow straps etc. to most of my forays into the great wide open. Normally I don't need them, but I take comfort in being prepared, "just in case".
Frankly my over-packing paid off this time. The hoppers that were clacking their wings together when we hit the creek disappeared within 30 minutes as cool wind and gentle rain began to fall. No hatches, no rises. Our foam hopper counterfeits were ignored, as were the various droppers we tried. Finally I broke down and tied on a double nymph rig, even though I feared offending the Wyoming fishing gods. But for the rest of the afternoon we caught fish.
So, gentle reader, I don't disagree with Mr. Chouinard. I have just become comfortable recognizing I don't know enough to be a minimalist fly fisher yet. If you see me selling off a bunch of fly fishing gear you will know one of two things have happened. Either I have become enlightened, or I need to raise funds to up-level my current fly rod collection.
Come to think of it, I could use a bamboo rod for dry fly fishing. I wonder how much I can get for my Cabela's travel rod?...
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