Anyone use a lanyard?

[clouserguyky]

Hey folks, I've been thinking of trying to build or maybe buying a lanyard this year. I've heard Golden Trout Lanyards are good, in particular there is a model with a small fly box built in. That one sounds very appealing.

There are some great Smallmouth streams near my home, and I love the thought of just grabbing a rod and a lanyard and heading out the door. I rarely spend a whole day on these home waters, and usually only need a handful of flies, some tippet, some nippers, and some floatant. It'd be nice to have it all acessible without needing to bust out the sling pack. That accessibility would be nice in the kayak too.

Any recommendations or tips from building one?

 

[Joey Bagels]

I made one a few years ago thinking like you, that I’d really like it. Used it a couple of seasons and realized I hated having all my stuff dangling off my neck, snagging shrubs, exposing tippet to UV, and jangling with every step I took. So it’s hanging from a closet doorknob under a bunch of hats now. Now I use my vest or lumbar pack depending on the type of fishing I’m doing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tcorfey]

I use one occasionally when I am going minimalist. You can buy one or make one using a leather boot lace or paracord.

If you want to make your own it is fairly easy. Get the leather boot lace or whatever, a 6 pack of large snap swivels size 1 works good, and a clip for clipping it to your shirt so it does not swing around.

Put the shoe lace over your head and let it hang down as far as you find comfortable then tie off the ends so you have a big loop.

Position the snap swivels wherever you want them but I find three per side 3"-4" apart and directly across from each other works well. To attach the snap swivel make a loop with the shoelace and push it through the hole at the top of the swivel then slip the swivel through the loop so that you form a noose around the shank of the swivel below the eye (this makes it easy to move the swivel up or down when loose, yet when tight it will not move. Put your stuff on each snap, hemostat, nippers, floatant, whatever, even a small fly box. If you want to get fancy you can add foam tubes or wooden beads but that is not necessary.

I use the highest two swivels for a tippet holder. Just take the left over boot lace and put loops on each end. If you are using tippet with a standard hole then the hollow tube section of a ball point pen or dried up sharpie works. If you use Trout Hunter tippet with the large hole then an old tube section of those stubby led flashlights works. Put the tube over the piece of shoe lace and put your tippet on the tube, then clip the loops to the two highest snaps on each side.

For a small fly box I use one of these lightweight Finsport fly keeper fly boxes on mine:



The clip for your shirt looks like this (attach it the same way you attach the snap swivel).




Regards,

Tim C.

 

[trout stalker]

I use a lanyard all the time without a fly box attached. Fly Box goes in shirt pocket.

I have never been a fan of wearing a vest or a chest pack. With that said my wife got me a Fishpond sling bag that I am excited to start using.

 

[wthorpe]

I have two "lanyards," one as a backup. Both are made of clothes line I found in the garage. I suppose an old boot lace might be more attractive, but the older of my two has a certain "patina" to it that is aesthetically pleasing in its own way. I keep only forceps and nippers attached to it. When i tried lanyards with other tools, doodads and geegaws, they annoyed me in countless ways. All the stuff others put on lanyards goes in shirt pockets, wader pockets etc.

 

[looper34]

I tried using an Orvis lanyard rig with a bunch of accessories but moved away from it over time because it was a bit awkward and it made a racket when I moved around. I prefer a small sling pack for the necessities. I still wear a lanyard that only has nippers and one of those London Bobby whistle on it (just in case).

 

[dennyk]

I make my own lanyards out of old fly line. They don't break.

Denny

 

[Rip Tide]

I use one in the kayak or whenever I'm going without a vest
Made is mine from weed-wacker line, wooden beads and big snap swivels
You'll need to heat the weed-wacker line to get the knot to close

 

[jayr]

I bought one several years ago and used it a few times. I really preferred my chest pack or vest and pretty much use my vest now.

That being said, l learned a very good lesson a few weeks ago. Took off with a couple of buddies to fish and after getting there found I had forgotten my vest with everything. Luckily one of the other guys had his lanyard which he uses as a spare with him, day saved. I have since pulled out the lanyard and keep it in my fly bag more or less as a backup.

 

[patrick62]

I've fooled around with one but I really prefer the vest/pack so I can carry lunch and water. I use a lanyard in the pontoon boat sometimes, especially when it's really hot and any additional layer is unwelcome

 

[Rip Tide]

Yeah, I keep an extra one in the truck too.
One of those shoe lace types things that you'd use for hanging a badge.
Just a nail clipper, a hemostat, and a single spool of mono

 

[ggriffi]

Hey folks, I've been thinking of trying to build or maybe buying a lanyard this year. I've heard Golden Trout Lanyards are good, in particular there is a model with a small fly box built in. That one sounds very appealing.

There are some great Smallmouth streams near my home, and I love the thought of just grabbing a rod and a lanyard and heading out the door. I rarely spend a whole day on these home waters, and usually only need a handful of flies, some tippet, some nippers, and some floatant. It'd be nice to have it all acessible without needing to bust out the sling pack. That accessibility would be nice in the kayak too.

Any recommendations or tips from building one?

I have one of the GT lanyards and I really like it. I got mine before they came out with the fly box, like troutstalker I put a box in a shirt pocket and off I go.

 

[myt1]

Here's mine.

I have color coded a couple pieces of cord so I can distinguish between my nipper and hemostat quickly.

The little leather thingy that looks like a leader or tippet straightener is actually some sort of absorbent material to dry my flies.

My fly box goes into either a shirt pocket or jacket pocket.

Yes, it can be a little unwieldy hanging around my neck, but for me it works.

I like that I can do most routine chores without having to take my pack off, or make major adjustments to my gear.

The Golden Trout lanyards look really nice and I'm kinda hoping my lanyard breaks so I can rationalize buying one.



I also included a picture of my retractor. That thing is bomb-proof.

 

[sparsegraystubble]

I seem to have an innate ability to create tangles. If I have anything dangling from my vest or pack, my fly line inevitably gets wrapped around it, particularly if I am shooting line while casting.

That’s why I have really bought into the Umpqua Zero Sweep designs that tuck nippers, hemostats and such under cover so they don’t tangle. I have tried simple lanyard rigs in the past but quickly determined that they weren’t for me.

Don

 

[duker]

I made my own lanyard out of a piece of paracord and an extra-large snap swivel. I put my nippers and a bottle opener on it but nothing else--I don't mind wearing a lanyard, but don't like a lot of stuff hanging off my neck. Fly box and a spool of tippet goes in my wader pocket, pliers in a sheath at my waist. I don't fish dries, so can get away with going minimalist.

Scott

 

[dakotakid]

I started to build a lanyard and even before I got on the water, I could tell I didn't like all that stuff hanging and banging around on my chest. I already had a Fishpond Arroyo chest pack, which has a long enough neck strap to be used as a sling pack. So that's what I do. I put the neck strap across my chest and easily pull it to the front or back as needed. All my lanyard components now sit in a box in the closet. Fortunately, I have very little invested so it was a worthwhile experiment.

 

[weiliwen]

I use a lanyard all the time. It's got forceps, hook sharpener, bottle of Gink, fly drying patch made of amadou, thermometer, and a small fly box that is only filled the day before with the flies I expect to use that day.

I got a small black bag for joining AARP, maybe 6" x 9" that I use to hold a few more fly boxes, my tippet (to keep it out of the sun), weights, and maybe a flask of single malt and a cigar. I sling that over one arm and then behind me, so I can swing it around front easily when I need it.

I seem to have migrated away from using a vest, which I did for decades. It wasn't a conscious decision, I just don't use it any more.

The only time I get it tangled up is when I forget to re-close the forceps. Then it seems to be a magnet for fly line. But if the forceps are closed, no issue.

 

[satyr]

I HATE not having the right fly for the day/hour/minute. That means that I carry several boxes of flies almost all the time. That means I need a vest or pack to carry them in. My only exception to this is when I go backpacking to fish in which case I have an ultralight bag that I carry over one shoulder that holds everything, including 2 fly boxes. I just could never deal with the tangle and I always need more than one box of flies. And my clothes rarely have pockets that I can or want to put anything in.

 

[clouserguyky]

Thanks for all the responses. I could never get by with a minimalist approach when trout fishing, especially on our technical Southeastern tailwaters. What I had in mind is using a lanyard for my local Smallmouth streams. They're 5 minutes away and only require a 6 or 7 weight, some streamers, and a few poppers generally. I usually wet wade and need to be able to wade waist deep or so, which is what makes the lanyard so appealing. My Fishpond guide pack gets swamped out there. It never seems to even touch the water when I'm trout fishing.

 

[TwoThumbsUp]

I've tried the minimalist approach many times in the past and have finally figured out that I like "stuff". Even when I'm just running out to fish the local pond, I like my "stuff" to be with me. I also like to carry a real camera and I just can't do that without a pack.