What's in My Bag

What’s in My Bag? — Heron

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Best fishing gear for backcountry hiking trips

I like to fish an ultralight form of Tenkara on backcountry hiking trips. Traditional Tenkara fishing rods collapse to around 20 inches in length. This is a little too long to fit inside my backpack, so I prefer to use a Japanese “Keiryu” style rod which collapses to around 15 inches in length. These 15 inch rods easily fit inside my backpack. The rods I recommend are:

Daiwa Kiyose SF Series ($135)

Shimotsuke Kiyotaki ($80)

Como inexpensive rod ($5)

Besides the rod there are a few small items needed. TenkaraUSA made a great set of nippers and forceps, which are now discontinued. A similar set of off-brand nippers can be found here for $7, and forceps by Wright & McGill forceps for $12.

Rio Powerflex Tippet 5X ($5)

Moonlit Katana Tenkara Line ($20)
I prefer to fish with furled line instead of a level line. These lines from Moonlit are custom made for you. I especially like the tip ring connector which makes for a durable connection between the main line and tippet.

Meiho Tenkara Line Holder ($6)
Dead simple design, it just works. I prefer the 56mm version.

My fly box of choice is the extremely difficult to find Flexatop SB23195. This little box is perfect for my fishing style, and it costs only a few cents. I buy them by the dozen and hand them out to friends.

Al Mar Falcon Ultralight knife ($117)
A lovely fishing knife. When not in use, I keep this clipped into the chest pocket of my shirt to make sure it dries thoroughly as the blade does not resist rust well. This knife is slim and lightweight, large enough to cut up most fish I clean, but small enough to carry unnoticed all day. Around 80% of the action this knife sees is slicing veggies for lunch while fishing, the other 20% is cutting up fish. This is not an overbuilt knife, I would never think of cutting wood, opening a bottle, etc. with it.

E-Case eSeries 9 Case ($16)
I like to bring my phone with while fishing for topo maps (with Gaia GPS) and to snap photos. I usually don’t use a case with my iPhone 6, so this super heavy duty zip closure case is a perfect place to temporarily put my phone while fishing to protect it when I inadvertently fall in the water. Made by a reputable brand, they make Platypus soft water bottles, Therm-a-rest mattresses, MSR outdoor gear.

ZipLoc freezer quart bag ($18, Pack of 3)
I keep my phone in the E-Case in one pocket, and everything else besides the rod goes in a ziploc in my pocket.

-- Heron 05/4/16

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