Among the great things about the coming of the new year are the articles about new fly fishing gear in all the fly fishing magazines. It seems the various fly fishing magazines have the same calendar for what to write about various items and when. January and February are new gear months. The evaluations cover all sorts of gear in all price ranges. The problem is most of the new gear is the same as the old gear from previous years. It’s dressed up a little.
There are new colors, new names for old things and new prices, but very little of it is actually “new.” However, this year I have found an item that is “new.”
The new item is the Tailgater Organizer from Umpqua. Now, before you accuse me of promoting something I get paid for, please know, nobody asked me to write about this product.
In fact, I had to buy one to test it out. I am committed to owning lots of fly fishing gear. The Tailgater converts your Rubbermaid bin into an organized storage system for fly fishing gear.
I have noticed many fly fishermen use some type of bin to hold their gear. I am one of that group. And if you can never find what you’re looking for because it is buried somewhere in the dark corners of other gear, then this product is for you. I am also part of that group. My Tailgater has already made me look neater and more organized to my fly fishing buddies.
Imagine the surprise on their faces when we all showed up for a day of fishing and I didn’t have to empty my Rubbermaid tub onto the parking lot to look for something. Before I got organized my bin looked like a giant purse that had gone through the dryer cycle at a Laundromat with everything in it. I think an old saying that would apply is “A cat couldn’t find her kittens” in my bin.
The Tailgater slips over any type of bin and is secured on each end with adjustable straps. One outside flap of the Tailgater has a large soft storage pocket. The other outside flap has smaller pockets that hold fly boxes, floatant, forceps, leader and tippet spools.
There’s even a fly patch to attach your loose flies on. Inside the box, on each side are more large pockets. I have discovered, with a little planning, I am able to store all sorts of extra stuff, such as a reel, glasses, sun gloves and buffs. I can also put my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in one of the pockets and have it arrive thicker than a dollar bill.
Once I have stored all the things that normally get lost in a bottomless bin, I now have room for my boots, waders and vest. It’s really cool not finding penicillin growing in a 2-week-old lost baggie, or that size-8 streamer I was looking for, now stuck past the barb in my thumb.
This product has great possibilities.
Reach Don Oliver at durango_fishing@frontier.net.
