Having just recently, OK a couple of years ago now, joined the over fifty crowd, I find it ironic that I used to laugh at things that now make perfect sense. I started flyfishing when I was fifteen and all of my angling companions were older than me, some by a lot. Jim Dow, Terry Weyts and later on Nick Heemskerk, all warned me of the impending day of when I wouldn’t be able to thread on a size 22 fly with no trouble, wade across chest deep water or tell the fish 50 yards upstream was eating emergers or adults. Well they were right and the day has come when I will use anything in anyway possible that makes life easier on the water. Some of the gadgets that I’ve recently added to my war chest against age are:
Threaders:
If you choose to, or find it necessary to fish with small flies you owe it to yourself to get a threader fly box. These boxes come with three or four threaders, which are a diamond shaped piece of wire in a plastic handle. They come either separately, or in a fly box. The angler simply slides his fly onto the threaders at the kitchen table, under ideal wind and light conditions. Each threader will hold several flies and different patterns or sizes can be stored. When the time comes out on the water to tie on a fly you simply put the end of your leader through the large diamond shaped opening in the threader, slide the fly up the wire and your fly is ready for you to tie on.
Wading staff:
I used to wade back and forth across streams and rivers without a thought. I got myself into the odd predicament, nothing that a little frantic dog paddling with my rod between my teeth wouldn’t rescue me from. I’ve now come to realize that just like in driving, arriving ten minutes late is better than not arriving at all. There are many good wading staffs out there that collapse into a little pouch on your wading belt, completely out of the way but ready for action at the first sign of heavy current or slippery rocks.
Flip-focus:
These little magnifiers come in several powers and flip out of the way under your cap brim when not in use. They can be a real life saver when tying on flies, tying knots, looking for the fly you dropped onto the ground, and many other uses.
Give some of these gadgets a try, even if you're not that OLD yet, I wish I had started using them years ago.
