I’ve started dipping my toes into blue lining and longer hikes into backcountry streams to fish and quickly found that hiking in with wading boots and back to the car in wet wading boots is less than ideal to say the least. Found this Fishpond backpack and like the idea of the foldout boot carrier so I can swap between hiking boots and wading boots while I’m out. I typically wet wade on hike-in outings but can likely stuff my waders in for the colder months.
So my question is, anyone out there using this pack? Do you recommend it? Any similar options I should consider too? Thanks!
Posted by WY228
4 Comments
Interesting. That could work for extended day hiking into back country streams.
Hey I am your guy haha – I did a lot of looking before I settled on this pack.
It’s really really good, the only setback I’ve found is that it isn’t waterproof. The boot net in the back can be set up to also hold a net in it (long handle fishpond net) which is cool, and the belt has pouches on it that are great for keeping floatant, indicators or small fly boxes in. Slots on the side behind the pouches for nets to sit in as well if you’re into that.
The pack itself is decently sized, enough for me to pack a small lunch, change of clothes and all my fly gear and water bottle into without issue. Padding along the back makes it nice for longer walks with how it distributes weight – albeit not optimal like a hiking pack it’s pretty decent in that sense.
All in all it was a great pick for the cost. Lots of packs are like double the price of this and offer little more space wise, so really the only negative I can pick out is the lack of waterproofing. I do also wish it had a dedicated spot to slot in a net tube and secure it, but overall that’s not really a big loss.
It’s definitely not big enough to do anything more than a day hike, but if I had to give a guesstimate it fits about the same as a typical big school backpack.
I absolutely recommend it. It’s fantastic for carrying a days worth of gear or for an overnight depending on how you pack. My only qualm with it is that you have to take it off to get your gear so I recommend a chest pack attachment for anything you want handy at all times.
You can carry two rods, it has a hydration bladder hole, snacks, boxes etc. I’ve worn it on horseback fly fishing trips and it even works for that.
I have that pack and have gotten plenty of use out of it but I actually haven’t used the boot pocket.
Was great for long days away from the truck. I packed a couple of fly boxes, lunch for my kid and I, water bottle, rain coat, and still had some room.
I even used it as my pack for a 20 mile, non-fishing hike with some friends this summer. Carries weight really well, had plenty of pockets and is well built