I've been fishing with a chest pack for about 15 years now. Over this period of time, my pack of choice has always been the William Joseph Confluence Chest Pack, which was an amazing pack for multiple reasons! Unfortunately, when Badlands Packs bought out William Joseph they decided to discontinue their line of fly fishing packs. Luckily I was able to get several more years of use out of this pack, but after years of fishing hard and spending countless hours on the water, I was in need of a replacement so I decided to give the Cross-Current Chest Pack from Fishpond a try.
Check out our video review.
As a disclaimer, I did reach out to Fishpond with regards to purchasing this pack at a discount but will do my best to provide a good, honest opinion, including the things I like and dislike about this chest pack.
Let's start with my initial impressions...
While the build quality of the Cross-Current Chest Pack was not the same quality of the William Joseph, the layout seemed better. I was able to fit all of my essential gear into the front of the pack without cramming everything in. The additional space and small divider pockets within the larger compartment seemed to provide for a more organized and efficient workflow. I can't say the same for the back portion of the pack, however. Storage capacity for additional gear seemed to be lacking in this area but is probably a compromise for the net storage that Fishpond incorporated into the back. More on each of these features later...
Dan releases a wild brown trout during a 2020 float trip in Pennsylvania.
Before going through my thoughts on the pack, I'd like to briefly discuss some of the technical specs and overall layout.
Starting from the front, you will have two small mesh pockets. I like to store easy-to-access items here such as a small zip-lock bag for used tippet and other garbage as well as some floatant paste or a spool of tippet. The pack also comes standard with a green fly patch that attaches with Velcro to the front of the pack, but I use a C&F Design fly box instead and have substituted this foam out for an American flag patch.
Front view of the Fishpond Cross-Current Chest Pack.
Working from the front to back, next there is the working station pocket which opens and closes using a rare-earth magnet. This is absolutely my favorite feature of the pack and the only pack on the market since the William Joseph to incorporate magnetic closure that I am aware of. There are a multitude of ways to organize this pocket which I go into further detail on in the video that accompanies this article.
Inside view of how I organize this front pocket.
The main pocket provides ample space for several large fly boxes. I'm able to keep all of my commonly used boxes in the front of this pack without having to put anything in the back except for a few "just-in-case pattern" boxes. The boxes that I keep here include a double-sided Orvis Tacky nymph box, an original Tacky nymph box, a Tacky Big-Bug streamer box, and a double-sided Fishpond Tacky dry fly box. The front pocket also has an elastic divider to keep boxes tight to the inside of the pack which I find very helpful for keeping things compact and orderly. There is also a small zipper pocket towards the back that I keep my phone and fishing license in.
A view into the large front pocket.
On the front of the pack there is also a pocket that is open to the outside. At first, I didn't know how or if I would ever use this, however after fishing two winters with this pack I have found that it is the ideal place to keep my wool gloves. After catching a fish I will quickly remove a glove and stuff it in this pocket before using my bare hand to remove the hook and release the fish. This open pocket provides me a space to quickly store my glove without fumbling with any zippers and trying to store my glove in an already full pocket.
A view into the outside, open pocket on the Fishpond Cross-Current Chest Pack.
Now on to the rear of pack. The storage here is limited and is only able to fit a small assortment of things. I use it for carrying a few extra fly boxes. The pocket is accessible from both sides via two zippers located on the left or right. One feature that is very nice about this part of the pack is the net storage. While I prefer to hang my net from a retractor clipped to the built-in ring at the top of the pack, there is also a pocket specifically for long-handled nets that wouldn't hang well from a retractor or magnet.
A look at the rear of the Cross-Current Chest Pack.
Now after almost two years of use and many, many hours on the water, I've been able to further develop my opinion on the Cross-Current Chest Pack; and overall, that opinion is a favorable one.
Let me start with the negatives... To address the limited storage in the back of the pack, Fishpond made it detachable and compatible with other Fishpond backpacks. Unfortunately, the only backpack in their line of packs that I am aware of that is able to do this is the Thunderhead Submersible Backpack (If you are aware of others, please comment and I'll update this post). This option is not only expensive, but is also way more storage that I would personally want. I would prefer they offer something mid-sized like Umpqua or the William Joseph. I would be lying to say that I wasn't disappointed with the rear of the pack and the lack of options for connecting another backpack.
On the bright side, due to the fact that the rear pocket/net holder lies flat against your back, it works very well from a raft or drift boat, allowing you to lean back comfortably in the seats.
Dan fishing from a drift boat with the Cross-Current Chest Pack.
Why I LOVE this pack:
I've always been of the opinion that efficiency on the water starts with good organization and that is where this pack seemed to shine. The storage capacity in the front is perfect, and fits all of my commonly used boxes. Anything larger would be too big in my opinion, and smaller wouldn't fit my specific needs as well. Additionally, the magnetic working station pocket holds all of my tools, floatants, and tippet in a compact, separate, and organized manner.
Dan releases a PA brown trout on a local limestone stream.
I would be understating my enthusiasm if I didn't mention AGAIN that there is a MAGNET closure pocket just like the William Joseph!!! I love this and use it all the time to dry flies before returning them to my box. It also works great as a staging area after selecting a fly from your box to securely hold said fly before tying it onto your tippet. This magnet is super strong and will hold many flies over the coarse of the day, which I admit is a bad habit of mine and makes for a chore at the end of the day when I need to return all of these flies to their appropriate boxes.
Dan working a deep run on a Northern PA brook trout stream.
While I attempted to be as thorough as possible as to why I think the Fishpond Cross-Current Chest Pack is one of the top chest packs on the market at this time, there are still others out there that I have not tried. The Overlook 500 ZS2 Chest Pack from Umpqua and the new Chest Pack from Orvis both seem to be packs that are highly thought out and designed with fly anglers in mind. If you have used either of these packs I would love to hear your thoughts on them so I would encourage you to comment below as to your experience using them.
To close out this article, I would like to reiterate that my opinion of this pack is a favorable one and I anticipate to get many more years of use from it. To anyone that prefers chest packs, I would highly recommend checking out the Fishpond Cross-Current Chest Pack.
Tight lines,
Dan
Here are a few pics of the Fishpond Cross-Current Chest Pack in action:
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