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UNEXPECTED TREASURES By Reg “Chip” Chipman AZOD Staff Writer It’s time to start wearing my vest again. The mornings are taking a while longer to warm up and in the afternoon when the sun slips below the canyon walls, my fishing shirt is not quite enough to keep off the gathering chill.
I haven’t worn a vest since last spring. Once the days get warmer, I just like to wear fishing shirts, which have all the pockets I need to carry a fly box, a spare leader, and a few spools of tippet material.
So, I decided that it was time to start wearing the vest again. But where was it? I was sure I had hung it up in a closet. I looked into every closet in the house for that vest….twice. Then I remembered it was in a plastic storage box in the closet under the stairs, along with other cool- weather gear.
Sure enough, it was there-- under a pair of waders. I pulled it out, shut the closet door, and started walking toward kitchen.
I heard stuff hitting the floor. I had, as usual, grabbed the vest by the bottom instead of the collar and various items in open pockets were strewn across the floor. That’s another reason I don’t like to wear vests, I always forget to zip the pockets and stuff disappears. When I am lucky, I see or hear items fall out. The plunk of a fly box dropping into a stream will almost always get my immediate attention.
I turned to pick up the spilled items. On the floor were 6 raisins, 3 split shot, 4 peanuts, a candy wrapper, a pocketknife which I thought I had lost and had replaced it, a slip of paper with a phone number-- to whom it belonged was forgotten.
I rummaged through 29 pockets, it seems I forgot to clean out the vest when I put in away last spring …again. The first few pockets didn’t yield much, a few more peanuts and raisins, and another split shot. In an upper outside pocket, I found a two pack of 5x leader. That’s like finding money.
The inside pockets yielded real treasures. There was my stream thermometer. I was sure I had left it the bottom of a stream and had bought a new one, a midge fly box full of flies that I was sure I had lost, another pack of leaders and a spool of tippet material.
The last place I looked was the pouch in the back of the vest. There, deep in a corner, I found a peanut butter and jelly sandwich- just a little stale.
If you are in the market for a vest there are a few things you might consider. A yoke collar makes a loaded vest much more comfortable. There are some with a mesh body that is suitable for warm weather. Look for a vest that have hook and loop flaps over zippered pockets. A cargo pocket in the back is great for carrying extra gear such as a poncho, water bottle, and food.
I am looking for a vest with pockets that close themselves automatically. -AZOD-
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