Fly Fishing Tools & Gadgets

There is a wealth of tools and gadgets available to fly fishermen, these range from fishing tackle, clothing & comfort and tools for dealing with fish once they have been caught.

Due to the remoteness of fly fishing you have to make sure that you are prepared for any situation that may arise when you are out fishing. Here is a list of tools and gadgets that you should carry to make sure you are capable of dealing with any situation that may arise when you are out on the water.

Floatant: A liquid, paste or powder that is applied to dry flies to prevent them from becoming water logged or extracting moisture from flies that have already become saturated. Floatant is applied to flies as required, is fairly inexpensive and availble from most good fishing tackle stores.

Wetting Agent: As with floatant, wetting agents are applied to flies but with the purpose of making flies heavier so that they will break the surface of the water and sink slightly. Wetting agents generally come in the for of a thick paste that is applied with a small brush.

Tippet holder: Small mechanism used to hold the small spools of tippets used on the leaders of fly fishing lines. They generally hold 5 or 6 spools of lines allowing you to easily carry a variety of line types.

Stripping guards: Prevent grooves and cuts in your stripping finger. They come in different degrees of abrasiveness to give you different levels of control over your line when casting.

Hook sharpeners: Brand new hooks from the manufacturer are adequately sharp but through use they become dull. Dull hooks could cost you the fish of a lifetime so you should always make sure that your hooks are well sharped. Small hook sharpeners can be purchased that are made out of sharpening stone, you only need run the tips across the stone a few times to have a perfectly sharpened hook.

Nippers & pliers: You should carry a set of both nippers and pliers. Nippers are used to trim line and remove damaged pieces from flies. Pliers are used to remove hooks from fish, tighten knots and twist wire.

Jaw grippers: when you catch a large fish jaw grippers can be used to handle the fish easily without causing it any harm. They are like a large set of pliers that are lock onto the jaw of the fish so you can control its head and not have to struggle with a slippery fish.

Thermometer: Used to measure the temperature of the water, some species of fish can only be found in certain temperatures so to find out if the water is to warm or cold for the species you are targeting a thermometer can be carried to test this out.

Landing net: There is nothing worse than getting a fish to the bank and having it fall of the hook as you raise it from the water. A landing net should be carried to easily remove a fish from the water without it breaking free. Nets should be made of fine mesh to avoid damaging the fishes fins, older nets with large gaps have a tendency to catch on fishes fins causing damage.

Fly patch: Are small wool or fiber patches that you can attach your flies to allowing them to dry.

Magnifying glass: You can carry a magnifying glass to help you identify small insects found or removed from a fishes belly. They can also come in handing when threading fine tippets and tying small knots..

Polarized sunglasses: Protects angler's eyes from the sun's rays and provides better underwater visibility while fishing.