Fishpond Westwater Boat Bag - Fishing Gear Tested

What’s In The Bag?

When it comes to tackle storage, over the years I’ve gone from pouches, to bags, to small hard-shelled tackle boxes, to big tacklebox with pullout drawers, to you name it I’ve probably used it.

Since the 2015 season started, I’ve been using is the Fishpond Boat Bag, replacing my worn-out boat bag which lasted only one season.

The Fishpond boat bag is priced (USD230) a lot more than my previous bag, of course, but how long will it last for a person who lugs his bag around day-in and day-out, and most days in saltwater conditions?

After many trips, the bag has held up pretty good. No obvious visible wear or tear. I’m happy with it so far.

What I typically have in my boat bag

Reels
Cap
Buff
Gloves
Leaders
Sabikis
Flies
Acrylic boxes holding jigs, lures, hooks, split rings, swivels, etc
First aid kit
Two to three cameras (Olympus Tough, GoPro and HTC Re)
Camera mounts and extra batteries
Mobile phone
Wallet
Car key
Scissors
Plier
Hemostat
Hook remover

What I like

It’s size. 17.5″ x 10″ x 12.5″ You can stuff a lot of things into it.
The see through-zipper locked compartment on top for quick access and extra water-protection.
It’s strong. I often carry metal jigs and various sized sinkers to cater to all kind of customer needs.
Comfortable shoulder strap.
Adjustable strap that holds. Instead of some that tends to slide up and down.
The waterproofing. I’ve not had issue of water splashes and hosed water wetting the contents.
It’s weight. On its own, it is pretty light. 3.7 lbs.

What could be better

The cover lid. On a typical day, we open-close the lid countless times to get to the contents. Having to unzip, zip, unzip repeatedly can sometimes be a chore and as a result it is sometime left unzip leaving it vulnerable to spilling its contents and making a horrible mess. Thankfully, that has not happened. Some sort of strong quick open-close latch will be great, until we end the day where we will then zip it up good.

Err… that’s it I guess. Nothing else to not like about the Fishpond boat bag.