Vest and Bench Tips

VEST AND BENCH TIPS

1. Slip-proof Forceps. After a lot of thrashing around, you've coaxed that nice 16" brown to your feet. You reach for your forceps, only to have them slip out of your wet hand. Make them slip-proof by wrapping the finger holes with rubber bands. Or coat them with a layer of shoo goo. Why manufacturers don't furnish them with rubberized handles is a mystery.

2. Infinitely adjustable lightweight (nylon) hipper straps. Stitch a 2-1/2 inch length of Velcro to the strap, positioning it so that instead of the usual two-snap adjustment, you may snug the hippers up at any comfortable position. One would think that hipper makers would have done this years ago.

3. Lightweight waders creep into your wading shoes? Halfway into your fishing afternoon do you have to stop, take off your wading shoes, and tug the waders back up? Carry a roll of duct tape. Before pulling on your wading socks or gravel guards, strip off about 18" (half-width) tape, wrap snugly around wader just above ankle bone. (Bend back the trailing end about 1/2 inch to facilitate removal at end of day). This cinches the wader so that it can't creep downward. Another feature wader manufacturers should investigate.

4. Fly line keep tangling in those dangling hip boot straps? The solution is simple and makes them disappear! Cut off bulbous end, turn strap around, re-thread through keeper, and, voila, free end of strap now hangs inside boot! The "dangling strap" - still another useless tradition foisted on the fisherman by mindless manufacturers!

5. You've fished hard and long, and now it's pitch dark. And you've got a long walk back to the car along a narrow country road. How to keep from being run down by the farmer's joy-riding 16-year old kid showing off for his sweetheart? Hardware store reflective tape stuck to chunks of Velcro can be carried in your vest. Tuck several pocket flaps inside their pocket, stick the reflective tape/Velcro "markers" to the pocket closures and you'll light up like a Christmas tree in his headlights. Permanent reflective tape can be affixed to the back side of your vest.

6. Murphy's Law of the Vest: "If a tippet can get tangled, it will." Vest zippers are notorious for snagging fine tippet material. The part of the zipper where the pull attaches is rarely closed tight and tippets invariable get caught. Don't try to bend these tight with pliers - they are cast and may break off. Instead coat and close the opening with shoe goo or similar thick glue...even nail polish will do. Several applications may be necessary.

7. Most sheepskin patches come with a safety pin. Glue or stitch Velcro tabs to these, and place one or more mating pieces on your vest. Better yet replace the sheepskin with custom sized foam. Tradition says upper left pocket flap, but whatever works is OK.

8. Some of the best floatant now comes in handy squeeze bottles, with leak-proof snap caps. Carried right side up in a pocket, you sometimes really have to squeeze, especially in cool weather, to get the stuff out. And no provision is made to attach these bottles to a zinger. Solution: tape a small D-ring, key ring or whatever to bottom of bottle. Then wrap bottle with several turns of tape to prevent sliding. Hang from zinger and floatant is always ready to dispense. Still another feature manufacturers should incorporate into this essential fly fishing item..

9. One of the best small-fly fly boxes can be worked up easily from ordinary inexpensive Radio Shack replacement cassette tape boxes. Glue a thin layer of foam (available in most craft supply stores) to bottom, affix a piece of plastic tape to one side for a hinge. The slim profile means several can be carried in place of one standard size. Great for midges, other small flies. And cheap!

10. Make your own side shields for your fishing glasses. Leatherette or leather cut to your preferred shape, then holed with ordinary paper punch, and slipped over the bows of your fishing glasses keeps side reflections to a minimum. Cheap, easily made, several sets can be distributed among your gear.

11. Custom dubbing dispenser: Most commercial products provide for only a limited number of mixes. Make your own. A piece of 3/4" foam, drilled with 3/4" holes, and sandwiched between two pieces of Plexiglas (usually scrap at the local hardware store). Drill a 3/8" hole in one piece of the plexy so that they center over the 3/4" holes. Glue bottom plexy to foam, top plexy is taped on one side for hinge. 3/4" foam core art board is ideal. Wood also works. An entire dubbing package will stuff into each 3/4" cavity. A 60-mix dispenser measures about 8" X 14".

12. Better than bread crumbs: If you do any night fishing on un-familiar water, getting out at the end of the session can sometimes be quite a problem. On the way in, at each turning point or hazard (barbed wire fence, etc.), activate and tie around a tree limb one of the children's Glow Stiks. These last for up to 8 hours and can be seen from a long distance. A tube (100 count) of these can be found on eBay for about $1.00 (with $10.00 shipping, of course). Oh, on your way out be sure to pocket the Stik!

13. Bounce flies. I was searching for suitable synthetic wing material one day and happened across a box of dryer sheets ("Bounce"). Sure enough, cut to shape it makes wonderful wing material. Even better, it can be dyed. Even better still is that after a few dozen casts it begins to unravel and looks to all the world like an emergers wing case. The perfume - doesn't seem to make any difference. And while you are at it, take a look at the lint that collects in your dryer screen Especially if you have dogs or cats. Indeed, I've experimented with letting the dog sleep on an old army blanket for several weeks, then wash and dry. It's amazing how the pet hair automatically imparts just the right touch of guard hair. Obviously, colored sweaters, socks, etc., especially if made of synthetics, can be engineered in the laundry to give you just the color dubbing you need. I call any fly tied with these materials "The Maytags."

14. A lot of us know that Armorall can be used to make an excellent line cleaner. I saturate a small sponge with it and carry it in a small plastic pill bottle. Now, there is a new version - Armorall Gel. It promises to not only be a good line cleaner, but may also do double duty as a fly floatant.

15. There is probably nothing more laughable than a fly fisherman wildly slashing at the air with a bug net trying to capture an elusive mayfly. Right? I tried, in vain, to solve this problem by snatching off my cap and making a quick stab, but almost always the little critter would slip through the opening at the rear where the adjuster was stiched. I was at a wedding one day and all the reception tables had cute little favors wrapped in a thin, plastic netting. Voila - I got a sheet of this material at a local craft shop and stapled it into the inside of my cap, making sure to leave extra material overhanging the gap. Bunch it up so that there are folds. This irregular surface will trap the insect. The material is thin enough you don't even know it's there.

16. Making the invisible tippet visible. If your eyes are as old as mine, and if you're not using Maxima or similar dyed tippet material, come fly changing time (especially at dusk) the process can be quite arduous. Solution: carry an ordinary permanent black felt tip marker. Coat the last 3 or 4 inches of the fine tippet by pulling it through the pen tip held against your thumb. This helps me a lot. To coat the entire spool, do the same thing at your desk, but be prepared for a tedious re-wind unless you have a line winder that can be adapted. I use my cordless drill with a spindle of 1/4" bolt and appropriate washers. Slooooow speed.

17. If you are an "impulse" fly fisher, i.e., your rod and gear are always in your vehicle so that you can stop at any likely looking spot, then you probably don't like having to repeatedly rig rod and line each time you wet a line. With a vehicle with an attached luggage rack it's not too difficult to make a good car-top rod carrier. Get a 10 foot length of 1-1/2" PVC plumbing plastic pipe, cut it to length for your rod. It can be full-length or half or three-quarter - whatever works for you. A woodworker friend can cut a wide slot in one end on his router table to allow the reel to slip into place and stand upright. To prevent the rod from slipping out in transit, attach some sort of elastic to screws on either side (bungee or heavy duty rubber bands). The tube is lashed to the luggage rack with another set of short bungee cords. But be prepared for some wise crack comments from you friends and neighbors. Things like: " What is the range of your rocket launcher?" or "Are you in the plumbing business now?"

18. High gas prices putting a crimp in your fishing style? A lot of us do most of our fishing on nearby streams and the frequent visits do nothing to save on gas consumption. It occurred to me that perhaps a bicycle might be the answer. Lots of these are sitting around, collecting dust. I found an inexpensive used multi-speed and with a little fiddling around was able to come up with a pretty decent "Fishcycle."

The rear rack was cobbled together from scrap plywood and spare tubing, the rod holder is a piece of PVC pipe held in place by bungee cord and the basket stows a rain jacket. Ordinary hose clamps secure a flashlight to the handle bar for the after-dark return trip. Total modification cost was about $5.00. Off-the-shelf rack, etc. will drive up the price, of course.

A side benefit is that you will exercise leg muscles you didn't know you had. Another benefit is that you might find, as I did, that I've been hawling around a lot of extra junk in my vest. Solution? Switch to a fishing shirt with just one or two flyboxes and the minimum gear for fishing the evening spinner fall. Works dandy for the quick trip to the store for a loaf of bread, too!