You wont be disappointed by the notion to be a better hiker than fisherman.

I seldom carry just one rod, especially if Im going somewhere new. I do this partly as insurance against breaking a rod but also because it lets me be more versatile. say a 7' and an 8'6" rod for wide and narrow water, or a dry fly rod paired with a stiffer rod for streamers and nymphs. I often time carry two 6wts so that I only need one reel which seems less likely to be broken to me. I like Fenwicks for pack rods but Im also a fan of the Douglas upstream and upstream plus pack rods if you are curious about graphite. they feel much like glass in my hands. I carry a jansport fanny pack for flies, tippet, leaders, nippers, and all of the other junk. if its not a rod or a reel, it has to fit in the fanny pack, no exceptions. this is how I keep myself from carrying unnecessary junk. I always carry my wading boots and a pair of wading socks. they are heavy and bulky but the streams I wade are often fast, steep and made up of large rocks. busting an ankle 3000' and 5 miles from the road is a serious problem. others may not feel the need to do that but its what makes me feel safe.

as for the backpacking angle, Id recommend keeping good records and lists. weight everything. over time you will learn what you do or dont need. weigh all of your food, log the calories you actually consume. I am very confident in how many calories to pack for a given set of conditions which is important because food is heavy and bulky.

as much as it will hurt, buy a good tent, backpack, sleeping bag/quilt, sleeping pad and stove right off the bat. in the end it will cost more to upgrade these items over time. buy once cry once. scrutinize every ounce Im not as ultralight as some of the guys here, I use a regular tent, I carry an inflatable pillow. the trick is to know what everything weights.

I carry a tent because of the bugs here in the south east.

I use a steri pen and a small nalgene to sterilize water instead of a filter.

check out enlightened equipment quilts before buying a sleeping bag.

the following is the load out for an early fall trip I took this year, including waders, a tent, a 20% overbudget on calories and some bourbon. 1 rod. a pistol which you may not feel the need to have.

item
pants 2
socks (pair) 3
tshirt 1
underwear 2
ball cap 1
sunglasses and retainer 1
cell phone 1
lighter 2
runners 1
fleece 1
rain jacket 1
long sleeve tshirt 1
long johns 1
beanie 1
pistol 1
bonus tippet spools 1
fanny pack 1
reel, 6wt 1
rod, FF70-4, with sock 1
waders 1
wading boots 1
rod tube, 7' 4 piece rods 1
mountain house (575 cal) 2
oatmeal pack (110 cal) 6
Ramen (370 cal) 1
soo noodles (310 cal) 2
bacon bits 1
kroger peanut and chocolate bar (160 cal) 12
nature valley bar (190 cal) 6
chocolate bar (520 cal) 2
mess kit 1
snow peak fuel 1
snow peak stove 1
8 oz nalgene 1 - for the Bourbon
25L dry sack - bear bag 1
bandana 1
head lamp 1
shovel 1
tp (1 roll) 1/2
10L dry compression sack 2
10L dry bag 1
day pack 1
Gregory 58L 1
tent 1
40 Quilt Enlightened Equipment 1
sleeping pad 1
pillow 1
nalene 1/2l 1
smart water 1l 1
steri pen with sheath 1
water 16oz

on body 3.7 - the things you wear, not in the pack
pack base 29.1 - non consumables in the pack including fishing gear, waders, etc.
calories per day 2928
food weight per day 1.8lb
#days 2
pack total 33.6
skin out 37.3 -weight of everything in pack and on person

tried tarping last year. You will need a bivy bag as well as the tarp for any kind of rain or mosquitos/other bugs. The weight difference then between a light one-man tent and the bivy with tarp is a matter of 4-8oz. I'm still going to tarp this year and see how it goes, but think for a non-wilderness-nut the tent is probably a better idea.

See, https://andrewskurka.com/gear-list-backpacking-tarp-bivy-ultralight-minimalism/

The pack fit doesn't matter much if you can keep the load under 30lb.. got mine to 25lb last year and it's like carrying a day pack.

I used to carry wet shoes, for stream crossings and wading, and a pair of Red Ball nylon stockingfoot waders. Now I'm too old to carry the extra weight. These days I hike in trail running shoes with wool socks. During the day these just get wet as needed. At night change into dry socks and a plastic bag around the socks, into the wet shoes.

Take any rod you like.. been doing this nearly 50 years now, starting with 2-piece rods, never had any problems or damaged rods. Most packs will have a side pocket at the bottom and straps on the sides, these fit any rod. No need for a case, though I do like to have a bag. In CO there is not any problem with longer rods, on East coast trips I'd sometimes just carry the rod in its bag to avoid tangling in trees/rhododendron hells/etc. The rod weighs a couple ounces and isn't any big deal to carry.

What is nice about the multipiece rods is being able to hide them in the pack, and avoid all those 'how's the fishing ?' questions..



This is good advice. Never understood the LifeStraw thing, have to lie in the mud like an animal to get a drink..
I carry a Sawyer bottle with a built-in filter, fill it from the stream and drink. It's been very liberating, after years of carrying pump filters, boiling water etc. Always carry some iodine or the Micropur pills for backup, whatever primary water system you choose.

Regarding bivy bags under the tarp: I actually do use one, but it's a custom jobby I had made a long time ago, when I was into the "make your own gear" thing that Jardine advocated. I placed an ad on Craigslist for someone interested in doing sewing projects, and found a nice person in my neighborhood who sewed me a bag with a silnylon bottom, lightweight water-resistant cover, and half zipper. I bought the materials and provided them and a pattern to her, and the thing weighs about 6 or 7 oz. It doesn't close up at the head, but that's ok; the idea is simply to repel errant splashes while napping during a rainstorm, and actually this was before the advent of water-repellent down treatment.

This is typically in addition to a groundsheet, which can be as light or as heavy as you like. A starting point might be 2 mil plastic painter's dropcloth, cut to about 3 by 7 feet (or whatever suits you), anchored by four rocks. You can buy really lightweight ground sheet material from Mountain Laurel Designs or other small UL backpacking suppliers. Usually the lighter weight stuff is less durable, so it's a compromise.

At times I have simply used the groundsheet, with a foam pad on top, and sleeping bag on top of that. I mostly use the lightweight bivy to protect my thermarest from punctures.

I toss and turn when I sleep, so quilts have never appealed to me. Horses for courses ...

but as the photo shows, you have 3 dogs.. a 3 dog night.. that's rather like cheating, external heat sources ;-)

On that hike above, the dogs carried WATER.......like I said, dry hike up a mountain in the summer can get tough, and also their own food. The old black dog (lying down) has long retired from packing.

Something worth mentioning to the original poster......I have spent many happy nights in the mountains with no tent or tarp.

I went once with a guy who had a cuben fiber thing, is that why is was so noisy?? I never really looked it over.

This is the shelter I plan to buy as soon as they get some back in stock. The one I plan to get has about a foot or so of mosquito net sewn on as a skirt around the bottom. I'll use it with an ultralight bivy.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned a quality hammock / tarp set up. Less space taken up and lighter weight than most other options (obviously you need to be in an area with trees)

My interests and methods seem to line up pretty well with paveglass (except the part where I live 800 miles from the closest CO cutthroat). Listen to any article you read about just going ahead and getting your base load as light as possible, within reasonable cost I guess, as was also mentioned by a couple guys here. I did that thing where I've gone through 3 versions of gear over 10 yrs, lightening up a little each time. And wasted money. I've had great luck with the Sawyer squeeze but agree the bags are kinda crap. There are ways to make it do anything you want: drink straight from it, attach to a bottle, gravity feed. I finally got the right add-ons and figured that all out and it's a great system. But I never go without a backup, usually the treatment pills.

I take a lot of small helper items but even with all that and two days of food, my pack is around 28lbs. I'm 195 so that is a decent ratio for some longer hikes. But I've had a knee issue so not sure what my hiking future is gonna look like. I want to say minimize those little things that add up, but I think you just have to find out for yourself after you've taken a pile of them, and realize there's some you just don't need. It will probably surprise you how little time you end up having to mess with extra stuff when you're out there overnight. You'll fish hard till it's time to either set up camp or start cooking, and then you'll be probably hitting the sack for the night.

I'd also suggest investing in some good lightweight collapsible trekking poles. It seems counterintuitive to carry yet more stuff but it makes a world of difference in the amount of fatigue on your lower body and back. And you might as well skip all those other junky little utensil sets and go straight for the long titanium spoon. It's what you need. lol

A hearty second to the use of trekking poles. I was introduced to them by one of the guys I backpacked with. They add stability and reduce lower back strain. They also added a measure of safety when hiking down steep trails with a pack on your back. All issues that are exacerbated as one gets older.

I use a 4pc, 6.5ft Eagle Claw Featherlight. They were only made for a couple years in the 1970's and people who have them don't give 'em up. Neat little rod.

Featherlight, I have a 4pc 6.5fter that was originally a spin/fly, did they make a fly only version? Mines rated 5wt on rod but really more of a 6wt. Is the older brownish blank w the mini ferrules if I recall.

Hammock are a hassle, cold, heavy by the time you add everything, and uncomfortable . Been there done that. To each their own.

I'm actually curious about those tenkara bum rod cases, for carrying my euro nymph rod around in the brush on dayhikes... sent Chris a note.

I've been using alcohol stoves for about 20 years on and off. They do have their niche. I used to make my own, but at some point bought an Evernew Ti. The primary problem in CA these days is obtaining kleen strip denatured alcohol because you can no longer buy it at Home Depot; have to pay through the nose on ebay. But for short trips where you are just boiling water they are great.

I have a few canister stoves, too ... it is useful to weigh the canister when full and write the weight on a piece of masking tape after each trip, so you have an idea how much gas is left. I've been using a Snow Peak Lite Max for some years, but they are all pretty similar. For cooking trout I like the remote canister variety for stability. If it has a preheat tube you can also use it in colder weather by inverting the canister. I have a Kovea Spider that I like.

(And there is also the old simmerlite white gas stove for snow camping, and the msr wind pro for mountaineering...)