It`s not often that a new and innovative item of tackle arrives on the market.

Quite often, something appears and we wonder, what the hell were they thinking of when they invented that ?

Waistcoats have come little further, we still load as much junk as we can into all those pockets but never ask ourselves “what will I need today”. I learnt in early days of fishing that the more choices you have the more you sit thinking of what to use. My fly vest used to hold 3 fly boxes,3 spare spools, Tippet of every size imaginable, I was proud to think I could meet any eventuality the day could throw at me – the end line being I carried so much junk I was spoilt for choice and my fishing suffered accordingly.

My introduction to WJ`s range of gear started half way down the bottle of Wilson's whiskey, Paul had arrived in Invercargill late at night and we got stuck in for a drink and a chat. “Got some amazingly cool gear to show you”, so out to the Red Herring we went and minutes later with gear strewn around the driveway Paul returns with arms full of packs in various sizes.(I`m still not sure how he finds anything in there, he reckons he has everything to survive the New Zealand wilderness until one day I asked if I could borrow his pliers - sorry, ain`t got any, will a riveting tool do?).

Now I`m a sucker for new gear, the eyes lit up as Paul tried on the Gear bag chest, novel idea but lets look at the rest. Wading belt/basket — that blew the brain and needed a double to concentrate further — shoulder pack, not too sure as yet, then the chest pack.

From the start, the sheer quality of the gear is apparent, solid construction with a lot of thought put into the design, and most important, a totally new approach .The chest pack is the simplest and most basic of the range, and after a few adjustments I had it comfortably on the chest and a little exploring of the pockets and zips had me sold on the idea. Room for everything I need in here and no more.

Ok from Paul , use it for a few weeks and see what you think—no arguments from me on that!

The Pack

>First things first, all the necessaries were transferred to the pockets of the pack, it`s at this point where decisions have to be made, and for me a little thought as to where certain things are going to be put i.e scissors, forceps, sinkants and floatants. Fly box (1) spare spool and tippet material are more than provided for. One both sides of the pack heavy duty plastic zingers with clips are provided for the stretchy jobs, scissors, and forceps for unhooking fish. These are fitted from the top and have about 9 inch of stretch — ok for self dental extractions if the need arises but hopeless for removing hooks from fish — a Zinger was needed. No problems there, 2 on the waist coat.

Fitting the pack could not be simpler. The whole pack is controlled by one strap, an upper pad with D ring goes over the head and with a little adjustment the lower belt clips attach behind the back. The pack can then be slid up or down the chest to suit—all very handy to keep dry in varying wading depths. Next job was to sort the Zinger out. On the left you`ll see the forceps on zinger attached so the forceps can travel south, on the right a barstool type attachment that faces north, (of course, me being left handed I fitted the forceps on the wrong side!).

The pack shown fully opened. At the top you can see the ample room to store all required for the day The inner compartment, below a zippered compartment with inner zippered pocket for spare spool, fly box glasses etc. Note the fly patch made of foam—nice little addition!

One really useful feature to be found is here. Spools of tippet can be easily selected with the leader material poking through the appropriate hole.

Unfortunately, I never understood the x rating of tippets (not too sure whether the Americans do either from what I`ve seen), but would prefer to see 5,6,7,8,9 instead of the x,xx,5x,xx,x shown on the left. All said, nice idea and useful feature. Leaders can be quickly attached and snipped to leave a short length at the pack.

On occasions, there were times when a separate day pack was needed for food, extra clothing and drink. The pack is perfect for grab the rod and go situations. Arms are free of bulky pockets and the lack of restriction of movement is a big bonus. There were certain misgivings—mainly the placement and choice of zinger attachments, this problem was rectified at no cost and more than suites the needs.

Now down to the big gripe. Why produce such a well made and thought out piece of kit and colour it Turquoise? I hate turquoise and love camo. Take a look at Paul's review of the chest/back pack and you`ll see what I mean ! My mother used to say children should be seen and not heard—I took it that adults should be heard but not seen, hence the camo, whether it makes any odds to the fish is immaterial, it makes odds to me!!

Overall, William Joseph has produced a superb range of gear,solid construction and innovative design. Where can I get my hands on this pack?, well, you only have to tap into google and type William Joseph – top of the list you`ll find http://www.williamjosephfishing.com for those in New Zealand try looking here...

Feather Merchants
453 Hutt Road-Level 1
Petone, Wellington
Tel. 04-5701244

Guy

The Chest Pack retails for $59 in the US

Camo-Guy is my longest running fishing partner, what he doesn't know about camouflage, sea trout fishing or Wilson's probably isn't worth knowing. In fact there's nothing that Guy hasn't camouflaged at one time or another. Like most of my long term friends, Guy puts flyfishing ahead of everything else in life - it's just nice to get him out of that stupid waistcoat that he camouflaged.