Packing for a road trip can be a nightmare.  If you're anything like me, you always back out of the drive way feeling as though you've left something behind. Usually, I'll forget something small like toothpaste or an extra set of contacts (who needs to see anyways), but I always manage to get the essentials in the back of the truck.  

Below are 10 pieces of gear that I can't live without on a fly fishing road trip.  I'm a bit of a gear junkie, so you can always substitute the items I've listed for ones that fit your taste more appropriately.  

1. Sage One Fly Rod (9'6", 5wt) and Orvis Hydros Reel: 
This is my go-to, all-around rod.  However, it works best for throwing indicator rigs and streamers.  It's a stiff mother.  When pressed, I can present dry flies on small tippets too.  Personally, I bring a back up 5wt and a 4wt on most trips too. This gives me maximum versatility on a wide range of rivers. 

2. Yeti Cooler: (Tundra 50)
You don't have to believe all the hype around these coolers, but they really do provide next-level performance for a cooler.  My Yeti is always stalked with a good variety of cold beverages to keep me hydrated, caffeinated, and ready to celebrate an epic day on the river.  If you take time to cook dinner (I usually just fish instead), there's plenty of room for keeping all your perishables ice cold too. 

3: Brodin Landing Net:
Having a net is essential when you're catching good sized fish.  Montana gave me plenty of reason to use my Brodin.  Unfortunately, I lost my net a few days into the Ennis leg of the trip.  Just before leaving for the Missoula area, I ran into a guy from Pennsylvania who had found my net and he graciously handed it back to me.  Serious River Karma for that guy!  

4. Causwell T-shirts:
I picked up a few Causwell T-shirts before leaving for my trip and was stoked that I did.  They're a great fit, fantastic high-performance fabric, and they're stylin' too boot.  It's nice to feel comfortable on the river and Causwell is doing it right. Their hats a beanies are great too!  Next up, I'm going to get some of their long sleeve shirts. Check them out at causwell.com.

5. Tacky Fly Boxes:
I'm sure you have a few of these boxes by now.  They're amazing!  On my trip I had seven of these boxes filled with just about any fly you could think of.  I really like the silicone insert and magnetic seal on these boxes.  They're durable and hold enough flies for quite a few days on the river.  

6. Toyota Tacoma:
I've had this truck for 15 years and it has a quarter of a million miles on it now.  It's been all over the Western United States and it's been my number one way to get to the small streams of the Sierra Nevada and the big rivers of Montana.  You obviously don't need to have this truck for a fishing trip, but it's been a huge asset to me over the years, definitely one of my essentials.  You need a car for a road trip anyways, right?

7. Sony A6000 Camera:
None of my trips are complete without a camera these days.  It's a fun way to capture and document the beautiful places trout live and the A6000 is relatively affordable for a high end camera.  It's fun taking photos of my friends while their catching great fish and photography is growing interest of mine. 

8. Orvis Sling Pack:
As I'm sure many of you know by now, I usually cary way too much when I'm on the river.  The Orvis sling pack provides a good comfortable fit with plenty of room for water, a rain jacket, snacks, and a camera.  Oh yeah...and about 500 flies.

9. Simms G3 Waders and Vapor Wading Boots:
Over the last 5 years I've been wearing a different brand of waders (to go unnamed) and I'd been disappointed with them since they arrived in the mail.  I could go on and on about them but nobody wants to hear about that.  These Simms waders are amazing though.  They fit really well (like a fishermen designed them) and they're bomb proof.  My fishing takes me to a lot of places where I'm jumping fences, bush-whacking, and climbing/sliding all over rocks.  This Simms gear will stand up to the abuse I put it through! 

10. Kick-ass Fishing Buddy:
Although my last blog post featured the benefits of fishing alone, it's essential to have a good buddy on a long road trip.  Countless hours in the car, smack talking, laughs, and trading flies all necessitate a good fishing buddy.  I've had mine for as long as I've had my truck.  We started fishing together while in college (Bass with spinning gear and rubber worms) and haven't stopped fishing together since.  Currently, he's living in Wisconsin and I'm in San Francisco, but we've made it a priority to do one of these fly fishing road trips for the past four years. He's got a great wife who gives him a long leash, so that helps too!

Bonus Items:
Polarized Ray Bay Wayfarers - Polarized glasses make sight fishing significantly easier. 
ARC Leaders and Fluorocarbon Tippet - Arguably the most important part of your fishing set up. It's closest to the fish! 
The Drake  - Good reading material is essential on any road trip. 

...and when it all comes together, hopefully you get into some of these guys!

Personally, I prefer heading to the river with a good buddy to share the experience of fishing the beautiful places that trout tend to live.  It's always a good time when you can share some key tips or patterns with a friend or cheer the other guy on with high-fives when they stick a good one. On occasion though, I step foot into the watery world of trout on my own.  

On a recent road trip, I decided to spend an evening fishing one of my favorite (yet challenging) rivers in Northern California.  I'd fished the river a few times and hadn't come tight to a good fish, a humbling river for sure.  As I laced up my wader boots and headed to a section of the river my friend had encouraged me to explore, I couldn't help thinking about the prospects that this river holds.  I'd seen, and heard of, some great fish coming out of this small river.  Lumbering down the trail and through the grass, I wondered how it would be to catch a truly big fish, without anyone there to share the experience with.  Would it be as gratifying?  If you catch a great fish in the wilderness and nobody else sees it, did it really happen?

At water's edge, I strung a rod with a streamer and the other with a size 18 caddis pattern (Dry Fly).  The sound of water moving over rocks and trout sipping at the rivers edge, had me ready to finally get a good one on this river!  Knowing I was still a solid 1/2 mile from the section I wanted to fish, I kept my eyes keenly focused on the riffles, runs, and likely spots that brown trout ply while sipping caddis. 

Around the first bend, I saw a line of fish taking Caddis just on the far side of a little run.  Being pretty amped up, I made a few clean casts and got two fish to rise to my fly but promptly pulled the fly out of their mouth.  My next few reach casts had my fly dragging through multiple current lines and the fish stopped feeding.  On to the next hole!

Although I didn't land a fish in the first run, the sight of actively feeding fish had me hopeful and eager to find more of the same.  As is usual on a river, you'll find patterns.  Sure enough the next time I saw a similar run, there were brown trout noses peaking through the surface.  This time, I made my first few casts count and came tight on a solid (16-18 inch) brown trout.  The skunk was off, I had the right fly, and knew where the fish were feeding.  Game time!  

The sun dipped behind the pines and I made my way to the next likely holding spot and found, what looked like a dozen trout, consistently feeding.  Starting at the bottom of the run, I landed a few more fish.  A couple small ones and another good sized brown.  The biggest nose was yet to come and was still feeding at the head of the run.  I put my fly in his lane, just a few feet in front of where he was taking bugs and sure enough, he came up to grab it.  

Once he knew he was stuck, he screamed to the end of the pool, then towards the biggest rock he could find.  I was barely able to keep him from getting me into trouble on my 4wt and he took to the air in hopes of shaking the hook.  After a few minutes of anxious fighting, I dipped my net into the water and landed the 21 inch brown.  Without anyone to hoot and holler with, I silently pumped my fist in the air and snapped a few photos (I need a wide angle lens if I'm going to keep catching big fish like this on my own) and let the fish go back to his home.  

Although it would have been nice to have had help in landing the fish and even better to share in the moment with a good friend, the quiet contentment of landing and releasing the fish with only nature as my audience was exactly as it should have been.  I'm looking forward to the solitude of hunting big fish on my own in the future.  There's something satisfyingly intimate about sitting on the bank of a river with a huge grin on your face after landing a great fish. 

Every once in a while, you land a truly memorable fish.  I've begun to name them, just for fun.  Meet Hemingway, I hope you have a chance to meet him some day!