Fishing Articles
Value in Vests
Increase the amount of time hooking, fighting,
and landing fish!
Timothy Kusherets
It's possible to hook, fight, land, and release a fish without ever
looking into a single pocket of a fishing vest when time is taken to
load it correctly. Here I'm taking out a pair of needle nose pliers
to take out the hook from this fish's mouth. Streamlining the vest allows
me to act quickly to take a photograph and to return this fish to the
water thus ensuring less stress on the salmon.
Fishing is the last step in a series of events on any fishing trip.
I didn’t think about it for a long time until I was out on a river
where I found time to ponder fishing practices as I watched other anglers
make their way back to shore to change their leaders and terminal gear.
The amount of time that it took to get to the bank each time was over
three minutes and then to put everything together was about two more.
Ultimately the time spent not fishing was more than fishing itself.
Every fall, before I head out the door, I prepare for the fall run of
salmon and steelhead by memorizing the way my fishing vest is packed.
Tools, Fishing Line, and Backup Gear are general necessities that must
be considered when memorizing and packing any fishing vest. The time
of year dictates each available species of fish, and each species dictates
what tackle to consider when packing a vest.
The species of fish really dictate the kind of tackle to use and how
much to pack, but there are some universals that apply to every species
of salmon, steelhead, and trout.
Some of the basic components to packing a vest are Baggies, Scents,
Leaders, Terminal Gear, and Backup Gear. The frequency of which all
these basics are used show you how to pack a vest in sections and packing
in sections increases the amount of time spent fishing.
One of the most essential starts to packing a vest are baggies of various
sizes. The smaller the bags are the better off you’re going to
be. Each area of the vest should match each other, that is, tools with
tools, terminal gear with terminal gear, and so on.
The very first thing I think about when packing a vest is the kind of
scent I intend to use which has a huge impact of how the entire vest
will be organized. Scent tells you the species of fish, size of fish,
and the availability of fish, and that in turn will tell you the specific
location of scents. The foremost pockets of any vest is where you want
all your scents to go regardless of the location. Scent location on
the vest is the only item that doesn’t need to consider right
or left-handed people. Each scent should be packed in their own bag
and each bag should have its own pocket due to the adherent nature of
scents to plastics and fibers.
The single best way to approach packing a vest is to put frequently
used gear out in front where access is easy. If you’re right-handed
then terminal gear should be placed on the right side of the vest with
leaders on the left. The school of thought is on the basis of how many
times you’ll reach into your vest to retrieve something. Anglers
know from experience that they’ll be retying terminal gear more
than anything else and to that end will need the easiest access. Leaders,
for drift-fishing, should be on the left and more laid out than anything
else, that is to say, if the leaders are pre-tied then they should be
placed in a pocket that is both wide and easy to get to, but still out
of the way as to not interfere with fighting fish. When using leader
holders, like plumbing insulation, the holders should be placed in separate
pockets. All leaders and holders should be assigned positions on the
basis of water clarity and weather. Forecasting weather has never been
easier with the advent of the Internet and the intensity of the weather
will tell you the color of the corkies (lil' corky's), spinners, and
other artificial baits to use and those should be placed on the amount
of time you intend to fish with them.
Tools that are rarely used should be placed to the inside of the vest;
when I say tools I mean peripheral devices that have something directly
correlated to fighting, landing, and storing fish. Stringers, pliers,
screwdrivers, toothpicks, and hemostats are all tools that can be placed
out of the way but with easy access. Make sure to consider whether or
not the tools you intend to use, but not often, are not mixed up with
the tools associated with terminal gear, such as, needle-nose pliers,
tooth-picks, and forms of weight. After these things have been considered
then you can think about gear used for back-up scenarios.
Fishing line and reels are the very first things associated with backups
and the last things that go in the vest ironically in the back of the
vest. Almost every vest made with have pockets on the back on both the
inside and outside of it. Backup fishing line should be packed individually
and should vary by a couple of pounds in test. Scent will cling to almost
every form of monofilament and braided fishing line which is why they
should be packed individually. Reels are of the same mindset, but can
be less scrutinized due to nature of metals used. Backup fishing reels
should be placed in pockets that are low and out of the way. It is entirely
reasonable to expect that you’ll never actually need to use these
items so inconvenience is really not a problem.
After all the gear has been gathered and stored there is one more thing
to do that absolutely must be done to avoid wasting time out on the
water. Each vest, regardless of how it’s packed, must be memorized
and to do that you must take things out of the vest without looking
for them. Each vest that has followed the premise of packing like-items
with each other should have no problem with this. All tools are with
tools, terminal gear with terminal gear, scents with scents and so on.
Have someone who absolutely knows nothing about fishing ask you to find
something in the vest. Believe it or not the best way to do this is
without looking. The generalized locations of groups of items will help
you find things immediately. If you’re having trouble finding
anything at all then the packed vest should be reconsidered. The best
rule of thumb to follow is to consider frequency and that all starts
with scent, and finishes with backup gear. Memorizing a vest should
take a matter of minutes so the exercise really saves an enormous amount
of effort in the field.
There have been a few fishermen who told me that packing a vest is just
a big waste of time and that it takes away from the mystique of fishing,
but I take issue with that. By taking the time to prepare for the fall
runs of fish you actually increase the amount of time availing yourself
to finding, hooking, fighting, and landing fish; these are the foundations
of great fishing stories. Did you ever hear about an angler’s
tale that began and ended with how a fishing vest was packed?
Fishing really is the last act of a series of events that predicate
fishing trip, as it should be. Being in the great outdoors communing
with nature has very little with fumbling around a poorly packed fishing
vest when fish are in the water just begging to fight. A well thought
out packed fishing vest creates the certainty you’ll need to win
those fall battles with salmon and steelhead that you’re sure
to encounter.
One of the great things about fishing with a vest on is the portability.
No matter where I land a steelhead, I can always either release or string
it up right where I’m at; here you can see a steelhead take me
downriver.
© Timothy Kusherets, 2004/09
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