I’ve used a chest pack, waist pack, shoulder bag, sling bag, and a fly box on a string around my neck. Each had their attributes and disadvantages. Each were chosen from experience and what I thought would work from fresh water experiences. My waist pack is my favorite and chosen purely from a salt water fly fishing perspective. I’m going to focus on a waist pack, any will do as long as you like it but this is the one I like and use when I was younger and the same one I use now. My carry gear is based on each part of my total kit working together. Everything has to accommodate a casting motion, walking, wading and maybe wearing a stripping basket.
All of my adventures involve driving, most include a short walk to the beach and a small portion of those trips include stepping outside of a beach house on the sand. If I’m barefoot but using flip flops to get to and from the beach, I’m going to use a bag that will carry them while fishing. If I’m carrying film gear, my bag will have to accommodate a heavy film SLR and possibly an additional lens. In that case, I’ll pull out fishing gear that I know I won’t use or I’ll use an additional sling bag with my waist pack. My bags can accommodate my cameras or lack of very easy by a little shuffling.
Over the course of the day, my distance walking the beach can vary. I’ve checked my Apple Watch after many beach fishing adventures and in the old days, the bread crumb trail in my Garmin GPS. 2-3 miles is a short day with 5-7 miles being an all day fish exploring the estuary and flats in the Sonoran area Sea of Cortez. Walking, casting, fishing the beaches can be some work. Not too strenuous but it can be tiring. Gear to carry other than photography and fishing would be water, shoes or flip flops. For those of you that park, walk across the beach, fish with very little lateral movement, compare and contrast. This is not a lesson, it’s just what I do. I like to write about the logistics of what I do, it helps me to be efficient.
Shoulder bags fatigue your shoulder, they want to swing forward when bending over. They can carry all the essentials plus your flip flops however are no good for carrying bulky items. Backpacks can fatigue your shoulders and back but a properly designed and loaded backpack is quite efficient. A sling bag is asymmetrical and can pressure one shoulder. A waist pack is limited in its ability to carry a lot of equipment, exactly why I use one. They sit in the small of your back, out of the way when not accessing. Rotating it around is easy. It does not interfere with a stripping basket and is easy to forget you have on. Un restrictive to casting and stable in motion, it’s my go to.
