We always ask guides what their go-to flies are to keep on them at all times, but these are often with reference to the wild(er) places in which they guide. Being a mere mortal city-flicker and urban/suburban resident, the options for every day fishing are limited but not absent. Whether fishing during lunch or after work, in-between weekend errands or on the way to family functions, this is what i keep in my car in case of emergency and serves as my everyday carry.

An everyday carry for fly fishing should be lightweight, inconspicuous, and contain just enough gear to get you by. I know that with my smuggler setup, I can catch pretty much anything (smaller fish) on the menu in my urban/suburban seaside/freshwater dams & canals environment, while not having to haul all my gear with me every time I go fishing. 

“Everyday gear doesn’t have to be anything fancy; it just needs to get you by…”

The idea is that this setup can live in my car, is low-key enough to be hidden under the passenger seat, and contains everything I need to target pretty much most available species. Starting with the obvious, the small bag itself is a Topo Designs Mountain Hip Pack, although I often wear it across my chest for comfort. Lashed onto the bottom of the bag is an Xplorer 8-piece 5-weight Guide II smuggler rod (that lives in a Stealth rod tube). It can be a bit of a puzzle to assemble at first, but I’ve got my system down – you just have to take extra care to ensure the guides and snake eyes are aligned.

Inside the bag, I have a Greys CX700 cassette reel with three spools, making a floating, intermediate, or a lead-core sinking line quickly available to swap out depending on the scenario. These lines are old, cracked, and delaminating, but they get the job done. For tippet, I keep a roll of Maxima 8 lbs and a thinner 7x-type tippet – like the Pierre Sempé 0.424mm for any spooky fish or delicate presentations.  

I keep all my flies in the Fishpond Fly Puck. It’s a nifty case for carrying a mix of flies (salt and fresh) on the water. There’s the obligatory black Woolly Bugger, a Pillow Talk (great search pattern), a handful of tungsten beadhead nymphs, a mix of terrestrial and emerging dry flies, a Lalu Bug (great for carp), and a Gamechanger and Gnarly Frog for bass.

Everyday gear doesn’t have to be anything fancy; it just needs to get you by, be able to get bashed around (or worst case stolen and it not be the end of the world). From a lunch break mullet frenzies and after-work bass bashing, to SUP missions on the ocean and stealthy golf course koi ops, this smuggler setup is rigged to catch pretty much anything in a seaside/freshwater urban environment.

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