Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 31 May 2025
Outdoorsy clothes are great. They offer good movement abilities and they are durable. They also have good protection against the elements. And some extra pockets to keep some extra stuff nearby and handy. There is just one big problem though, most of them also suck. At least for a fly fishing and casting. The extra pockets are placed in the wrong place. The extra straps and zippers can make you crazy. All these flaps and creases conspire with the fly line. When you want to shoot the line you will find that nothing happens because now the line has snuck under some flap and is “stuck”. No matter how hard the fly line can slap you otherwise it cannot overcome the smallest resistance from a bit of cloth, or a straw of grass for that matter.
When you are wearing outdoorsy pants it is for some reason very important to have a little adjustment of the opening of the pant leg at your wrist. Via a little flap and a button. And what do we get from this? A perfect place for the line to sneak behind. A long haul seems to be perfect to cast the line into this line trap. The fix is to fold the pant leg on the hauling side a couple of times to hind this trap. Fold it to the inside seems best. But then it will unfold it self pretty soon and surprise you again with a stuck line.
The footwear can also get you in trouble here. No footwear is the best but also the worst. Where I do a lot of my fishing there is barnacle, crushed oyster shells and other razor sharp things out to get your feet. Heavy boots is also good for creating a trap for the line. The thick sole is good for creating creases between the foot and the ground that the line can sneak under. It also reduces the feel of the ground and if you are standing on the line. This is probably one reason why I avoid waders as much as possible for my fishing. I prefer sneakers and other light shoes for fishing and casting. With the drawback that you need something sturdier and warmer on your feet for the majority of the year here to not freeze to death while being outside. A bit dramatic maybe, but something with a heavier sole makes a huge difference how long you can be outside during the cold part of the year before you turn to an icicle.
On the shoes you get another trap for the line also. The shoelaces, and probably worse with velcro shoes. I haven’t had any problems with the laces but others probably have since I have seen people put tape over them.
A type of shoe that is light, flexible to get a good feeling what’s going on between you and the ground. A bit extra good when your fishing is a good part of rock climbing also. That is actually a shoe for rock climbing. Not the glove like shoes they use during the climb but a shoe for the approach of the rock. And that’s where the name of the shoe comes from, it is called an approach shoe.
We move up the pants again. The zippers and such I think we have covered, nothing much to do here than choose an other model of pants. There exist alternatives with hidden side pockets or without side pockets on one side. But your belt can get you into trouble. As of the historical but for unknown reason the male buttoning, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button#Positioning , can get you in trouble here. If you haul on your left side you will have the flap of the belt on your left side to catch your line. Either reverse the belt, or a I tend to do move the belt a couple of eyelets to the right.
Cheers, Rickard
PoD: Something exciting arrived this week by the door. The impression so far is that I have bought a better cast.