How I Pack My Wading Gear (+2 Tips)
“Man cave”, “gear room”, “fishing room”, “sanctuary”…no matter what you call it, we all have our special little corners of the world where we gather our gear, come up with new creations, or just generally meditate on our sport (even if it’s just a corner of the garage). This is mine. And I’d like to share it with you.
It’s not fancy but it’s really practical. I have tons of drawers to store fly tying materials and other gear. And as you can see in the picture above, I’ve got a nice, tiled wrap-around desk with plenty of space to not only tie flies, but also measure out new tenkara line designs or other DIY tenkara projects. It’s a great working space since I don’t have to worry about damaging any surface with an Exacto knife or stray epoxy. In other words–easy cleanup.
In addition to being functional, I’ve tried to spruce up the place with a little art including a gyutaku print and some framed flies tied by tenkara anglers from Japan.
And, I display a small collection of unique, handmade tenkara gear from craftsmen in a small corner behind my desk as if it were a mini museum.
In the Southeast corner of the room, I store all of my rods in a basket–both regular fly rods and tenkara.
Right next to that, I have a bunch of drawers that organize all my fly tying materials. Having worked for a fly shop for so many years, I’ve probably accumulated a lifetime supply of feathers, fur, and hooks.
Here’s a closeup of some of the gear I store on that wall. My trusty Tilley T3 hat, my Tenkara USA net, Fishpond chest pack, Ebira rod quivers, TrailLite Designs titanium net, and other gear.
I have a lot lot of gear, trinkets, and memorabilia in my office but I think one of my favorites is this tile given to me by my Argentine father-in-law which I keep on my desktop. Translate it and I think you’ll see why it’s an appropriate welcome message for any fishing room.
When I can’t be on the stream, this is the next best place to be. Simply being in this space kindles my imagination and inspires all kinds of new ideas for fly and gear design. I’ve finally gotten the corner office I’ve always wanted. Now, I just need to get a name block to put on my desk with the title “CFO” (Chief Fishing Officer).
How & where do you organize your fishing gear?
Like this article? You might also like these ...
Very nice! Getting ready to redo a room I’ve been using for storage into more of an office and this is what I’m going for.
Have you moved or is this a room you have just set up in your home? Because yours is way too clean and organized to be otherwise!
Mine tieing area is a small corner in the basement.
You should have do a similar post and post pics from your readers.
Brian
Hi Brian,
I switched offices with my wife. She works from home so she needed the better upstairs office. But the basement office was perfect for me with all the storage and wrap-around table. Perfect for tying.
“Aqui se juntan cazaddres, pescadores y orta manga de mentirdsos” Very rough translation, not sure how correct or close it is? “Here gather wine/beer/tequila, fishermen and the liars.”
Timmy, close. It’s:
“Here gather hunters, fisherman, and other liars.”
Mine’s kinda strung throughout the house or out in the pickup. But I’ve got a long-eared sunfish looking over it now.
Wow! Am I jealous. You have so much room. You inspired me to do something with some of the dead space in our basement. Thanks for sharing.
Love the last sign: Aqui se juntan cazadores, pescadores y otra manga de mentirosos. I wonder where did you get that sign (I know that the word manga, used in this context means group. It’s a very common slang used in Argentina, and possible in other countries in Latin America. Very cool.
About the space, looks like paradise for a fly tyer and have long and interesting chats with all the “mentirosos” in the planet.
Hi Martin, you are right! My wife is from Argentina and her parents have it to me as a gift.
My little piece of heaven.
Whoa, nice Steve! What are all those things with the numbers on them at the right?
Totally awesome Jason! If you aren’t fishing this has got to be the next best place to be. Only missing a glass of Belgian ale, must be your serious day 😉
Thanks Jason, those are runners bibs. My wife and I enjoy running 5k’s.
Jason, never noticed this post before. I am in absolute awe. What an amazing space you have. My apartment in NYC is about the size of your fly tying setup. LOL. SO JEALOUS of all that storage space and beautiful art! 🙂
Hey Adam, LOL. I guess I kind of take it for granted. The guy who owned the house before we bought it built an office in the basement (he worked out of the house) and it worked out to be a good fly tying/gear room. I wish it were a little more rustic looking, but as a gear addict, I do appreciate all the storage.
Nice looking office Jason. I am working on my basement…getting the best light installed first. Currently i build custom rods but i want to expand more into tenkara fishing and making tenkara flies since we have the Driftless trout streams here close to home.
Jason what is your favorite tenkara rod for fishing the RMNP area…the Big Thomlson and some of the water in that area
Some say the multiple length rids and i have heard that adjustments can be made with hand position and such so longer rods can be used like the Ito.
Thanks
Van