Using the Umpqua Northfork Pack

I’ve been strapping on my new fly fishing pack for a few months and thought I’d share my thoughts using the Umpqua Northfork pack.

I wrote about replacing my worn out Temple Fork Outfitter pack with this Umpqua Northfork 5L pack in June. You can read my post here – New Fly Fishing Pack.

I’ve used the new pack on my home waters as well as during our fly fishing road trip to the Madison, Grey’s, and Green rivers in July. During that time, I’ve become used to this minimalist pack.

Here is a list of pros and cons.

Pros

• Light weight
• Easy access to each of the two large pockets
• Internal pockets are good for flat items like leader packets and tippet spools
• Zipper pocket for phone (my Samsung Galaxy S23 barely fits in the pocket which is a touch under 6 inches tall.)
• External fly patch holds flies well
• Water bottle holder
• Net slot would be effective for most fly fishers
• Adjustable waist strap

Cons

• Internal pockets – Bulges when using 2 or 3 tippet spools which makes it difficult to easily slip fly box in pocket.
• Limits the number of fly boxes – If you like to carry a lot of fly boxes, this isn’t the pack for you.
• Net slot – If net is used in the slot, the pack can’t be worn on the side of your hip. You need to slide it to your back for casting.

While the pack has a slot to carry a net, I found it doesn’t work for my use-case where I carry a small backpack with extra camera lenses.

If I didn’t carry the backpack, it might work out OK. I’ve used the Umpqua wading belt for a while and really like it. The belt takes the place of my wading belt. There is a holster on the back where my net easily slides in and stays secure. It even holds a long-handled net when I choose to carry it. I place the hip pack strap on top of the wading belt, so there is an extra one around my waist, but it seems to work fine.

This is how the pack is designed to carry a net.

Below shows the inside of the large pocket with a zippered pocket located on the top left. There are two fly boxes plus a smaller fly box in the large pocket.

Here is an image of the smaller, outside pocket with two slim fly boxes.

The black on top of the pack between the pockets is a foam fly holder. I found it holds debarbed flies well.

I haven’t purchased any accessories to hold leader, floatant, or other items. I carry three tippet spools which clip together and placed them inside one of the pockets. But I found it difficult to slide a fly box in as it would catch on the protruding spools. My workaround was to remove two and keep them in the closest external water bottle slot. The last spool easily fits in the inside pocket and I haven’t had any problems with a fly box catching when I slide it in.

My Loon zinger easily clips on the web material.

There are other effective methods to carry your net. I wrote a post about How to Carry a Landing Net several years ago where I shared various ways I’ve carried nets over the years. I encourage you to go back and read it.

If you don’t have a fly shop close to you and would like to purchase a new fly fishing pack, here is an Amazon link for the Umpqua Northfork 5L Pack. ((John Kreft is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.)

Enjoy…go fish!