So you’ve finally pulled the trigger on a fly fishing trip to Alaska. The plane tickets are booked, arrangements have been made for time out of the office, and excitement is at an all-time high. But then you look at your clothes and fishing gear scattered around the house and realize you are nowhere near finished packing. Packing for a fishing trip can be stressful, however with a few pointers anyone make packing quick and efficient.

Sometimes getting to that distant trout honey hole requires some questionable, deeper-water wading. Perhaps the surf you are fishing is splashing and rolling over the top of you. Maybe, like some of us, you have a tendency to lose your balance when walking over rocks. At some point in your fishing experience, you will encounter situations where you or your equipment are going to get submerged when playing around water. These days, anglers are bringing a lot more than fly tackle out on their fishing trips. Often rain gear, a dry change of clothes, phones, or cameras are now common articles of gear in possession of the prepared angler. Fishing companies have heard the call from proactive anglers about the growing need to create bags that are not only useful and durable, but also highly water resistant or completely 100% waterproof. With a grand applause, the age of welded waterproof bags has finally arrived.

Whew! What a trip! A few members of our Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures team recently returned home from this year's 2017 ICAST/IFTD Expo at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Pliers are a necessity in any basic angler’s gear bag. These are also one of most under-emphasized tools that an angler needs during their fishing trip. Whether you are fishing for barracuda, permit, tarpon, pike, musky, golden dorado, or toothy brown trout the need for a good set of pliers goes beyond cutting, rigging line or taking hooks out of fish.

SALTWATER REELS

Yellow Dog’s Ian Davis recently wrote up a piece for Outdoor Empire, talking about his favorite saltwater reels and the reasons why a quality reel will more than pay for itself. Here’s what he had to say: