I’m here again. Probably expecting a lot of things changed but it didn’t. Just got off track with every day. Let’s see… I moved. I shot two deer this season which was great. Subsequently bought a smoker and stuffer, stuffed two deer into casings, placed deer into smoker and ate delicious deer.  Plus bought a new truck and that’s about it.

Review: Patagonia Stealth Atom Sling Pack

Over the past year or so I have been on an journey to determine what best suites my needs and comfortability while fly fishing. Like most I started with a traditional fly vest probably a bass pro white river and then moved to the Orvis super Wading Tac-L-Pac. For the past 17 or so years of fishing that was the only option I really considered. Until my first chest pack, a William Jospeh, which basically turned me upside down in comfortability, I still consider this a great option. Then I went the absolutely minimalist fishing route using a Simms chest pack that contains two inner pockets. This option was very light and very comfortable and to be honest probably holds the appropriate amount of supplies needed for most of my fishing. The problems I have with chest packs are just that, they are on your chest. I think that is the most common complaint from any chest pack user. Enter the sling pack. Now this is my first sling pack and am very happy with it. I feel as though I have discovered the best comprise for everyday fishing. So onto the review.

First all the quality of the pack is excellent and to be expected from this brand and an item with the $80-$90 price tag. The zippers are sturdy and I love the semi rigid work station that I missed so much on my William Joseph. The Stealth Atom has quite of few pockets all of which I have found useful. Starting on the front there are attachment points for zingers or different tools. A small fleece lined pocket on the front strap would be good for small electronics (ipod nano???) but I use it for my lighter and knife which is way more useful. Unclipping the side strap and slinging the pack around your left side allows you to reach the 3 main pockets. The first is another fleece lined pocket big enough for large wrap around sunglasses or if you’re like me, your smart phone (I know, not water proof but convienent) The second is the large main pocket which contains another pocket which is waterproof and I find convenient for licenses and wallet. The semi rigid foam front compartment comes with a Velcro backed foam fly pad seen in nearly all chest packs. I do not keep flies on it for storage but instead find it useful when adjusting floats or adding weight. Instead I just keep my paged fly box there. Both have internal pockets with Velcro closures used to store anything from leaders to tippets to split shots. The main compartment is large enough to fit an additional large fly box or 2 small/medium fly boxes. So in short…lots of space.

The best part of the whole system is that’s its on your back, completely away from your casting. Even fully loaded it’s a pleasure to wear while casting. It’s simply an easy, organized, and very efficient way to carry a lot or a little gear.

Allen Trout 2 5-6wt Reel:

Probably the first thing everyone notices is the aesthetics of the reel and for good reason, they are very good. The machined aluminum is brilliantly done and definitely helps reduce the weight of this large arbor reel. Three vibrant colors are currently available to match or contrast your rod selection: burnt orange, green and titanium grey. I really love the burnt orange attached to my Redington CPX 9ft 5wt. The contrast between the dark carbon fiber and orange is very Hemi inspired and makes the rod look just as fast as the amount of line this reel can take up. Which brings me to the second selling point of this reel, the true large arbor design and extremely sensitive drag. The large arbor on this reel will allow anyone to take up massive amounts of lines quickly while having a fish on the leader. It’s fast and feels excellent in the hand. A slight click is heard while reeling which is very pleasant to the ear and is a sound associated with high quality reels. The drag is a sealed carbon disk drag that is very sensitive almost too sensitive for my tastes. The down fall is that you go past the correct drag many times thus causing to much or even worse to little drag. Numerous casts lead to spinning out many extra feet of line from the reel causing a gigantic knot. I will say that is probably user error and was quickly fixed after several uses. Other than that the drag is excellent with fighting fish. The number one and best-selling point about this reel is the price point. At $150 dollars this reel is one hell of a buy. With the looks of a reel at least double its price and all the technical details to back it up one can’t go wrong with this reel.

It is definitely heavier than my Orvis Barstocks but on 9ft and 10ft rods the reel will help balance the setup. Overall I think it is an excellent product at a phenomenal price point.

Last weekend was the start of the summer fishing season for my family and was it a good start. Conditions are near perfect for wade fishing almost the entire white and norfork. Water levels at the time were one foot below low water level for the white (451 ft). Naturally, we were looking for holes for fish to be held up in. Friday my brother and I had caught 40 some fish a piece. Most pound to pound and half bows with some smaller cut throat thrown in there. The next three days were met with nearly the same fishing.

Fly of choice was size 16 to 18 ( I preferred the smaller) green scuds and pheasant tail bead head nymphs. Since the water was low and currents were pretty fast weight was essential. Utilize tungsten bead heads or use micro bb size weights to get the flies down fast. A few hatches in the early morning and late evening were great for size 18 to 20 pale evening dunes and some darker flies. A few fish were also caught on fairly large elk hair caddis flies but with no repeatable success.

Yesterday was my first day back at Taneycomo. The SWPA held off the generators at least until 10:30 at which time the first generator came on then around noon the second one fired up.

Caught a few smaller fish on small (18) zebra midges below rebar hole and spent the remainder of the day on the flat area past shoot 3. Not much luck here. Although I was intrigued with the 2 guys below me who seemed to pull fish out every cast. One with an indicator and one without. They both seemed to have large wet flies or streamers on and would swing with the current and hold there once the fly was past. Some information from a local guide and outfitter said the streams about size 8 or smaller work very well. Needless to say I started tying a variety of bucktales, maribou and other streamers at home that night.