On our way down to the Cape I got Leif on the phone. He reminded me that he was heading back up to the Upper Delaware on Monday. Theresa heard that and said, "You should go". What? She must have a boyfriend, or is just sick and tired of me. That made me quickly do the calculations in my head. What do I have to do? School, in check, mow the lawn before I go, check. Have some scratch to get there and back, check. Find my trout stuff.....well that could be a problem.
After an hour or so I hand my hand on all the bags and bins where I had put my stuff after my last Upper Delaware trip. That trip was in 2023 when I had to take a year off from the Vineyard because both girls had graduated, one from college the other high school.
Ah, and the flies. I have five boxes with have every fly you could want, but never the one you need at the moment. Last time Leif and I were up we got into a solid Green Drake hatch, but it was tough because they were just taking the emergers. I love to think how many of these little
plastic containers there are in the world stored away in the darkness with the $25-40 worth of flies that you thought you needed or the guide or shop owner "encouraged" you to buy. Needless to say I'll have my hand in the Green Drake/Coffin Fly bins in the next day or so. You hate to leave land without them.
One thing I've always been is a sling pack guy. Some are pocket stuffers and others are full on backpack wearers. But I like a sling pack. Easy to slide up and around the shoulder when I need a fly, some leader, a water, or a Scooby snack. It was time to make a purchase for a new
one and after having good success with the Orvis PRO line I had their pack in my sights. It'll replace a previous Orvis waterproof sling pack that I have beat the piss out of to the point the seams have opened up. Why not just send it back for that "Lifetime" guarantee. Because I've got my monies out of it and it has served me well.
I reached out to Orvis Princeton manager Andrew Hamilton for his thoughts on the PRO sling pack. He has one and says it has served him well, in fact, stating it's the best one he has found. That was good enough for me so I ordered it and it arrived when we were down in Cape May. At $298 it isn't for the faint of heart, but Father's Day is coming up and gift cards can help.
It's built very well and I can see the zippers won't be an issue. And as far as durable, it's made with "ballistic nylon" which I would assume can only be good. The only thing I don't care for are the built in "Tippet Whippet's", which allow you to externally store 30 meter spools of leader/tippet material. And you know spools, it doesn't take much for the line to find it's way free and hang or get caught up in the rod and or line.
I had to use a pair of hemostats in order to remove and install a tippet spool. I'll load it up with 20, 16, and 12 pound in time for the Vineyard trip in a few weeks.
Orvis shows the pack on their website all loaded up with spools, so I wonder how much sliding just three spools will do. So far that would be my only suggestion when they launch a newer and I'm sure "better" pack in the next year or so. At $298 I wonder how many they are selling. It's a purchase, and I am sure many other would put that to a new rod or reel.
