Fly Fishing

What Stands Out

• 5L is deliberately compact. The 9 x 7 x 3.75-inch interior is sized around essential fishing gear rather than encouraging me to bring an entire tackle drawer.
• The main compartment gets the serious closure. Fishpond specifies a fully waterproof, self-healing TRU Zip zipper closure on the main compartment.
• The net rides behind the pack. A lightweight foam back panel incorporates a net slot, giving a long- or short-handled net a defined home without consuming the main storage space.
• The front pocket favors access over maximum protection. It is a stretch pocket with a zipper closure, useful for gear I want quickly without opening the main compartment.
• Hypalon tabs provide external rigging points. They give me obvious locations for tools and accessories instead of forcing everything inside the 5L compartment.
• The harness isn't the only mounting option. Modular buckles detach from the back harness and attach to compatible Fishpond backpacks, and the pack can also be strapped to a boat frame.
• 900D TPU-coated NewStream fabric suits rough fishing use. This isn't a delicate little organizer; the material and reinforced webbing harness make sense around wet gravel, boat hardware, brush, and riverbanks.

In The Field

A chest pack makes the most sense to me when I stop thinking of it as a miniature backpack and start treating it as a working zone. That's the role I want the Thunderhead to fill. On a steelhead river on the Olympic Peninsula, a trout day in the Cascades, or a Puget Sound outing where spray and rain are part of the deal, I don't necessarily want a vest covered in pockets. I want the things I'm actually using close to my hands, a net behind me, and the rest of the clutter left behind.

The 5L capacity helps enforce that approach.

5L / 305 cu in is the interior volume, not a weight figure. For Eco Shale THCP-ES, Fishpond's product.json lists pack weight at 3.17 lb / 1438 g; the Specs accordion on the same page also prints 1.05 lbs.

With interior dimensions of 9 x 7 x 3.75 inches, this isn't where I'd try to carry spare clothing, lunch, multiple bulky tackle systems, and every contingency item. I think of the main compartment as space for the fly boxes and smaller essentials I genuinely expect to reach for during the session. That keeps the pack compact on my chest and reduces the temptation to turn it into a five-pound junk drawer.

For somebody new to chest packs, that's probably the first question: is 5L enough?

It depends on how you fish. If your normal load is a couple of appropriate fly boxes and a compact selection of fishing essentials, 5L can be a useful sweet spot. If you carry gear for several techniques, multiple oversized boxes, camera equipment, food, extra gloves, and other just-in-case items, it can become restrictive quickly. The Thunderhead is better suited to deliberate packing than maximal packing.

The interior zippered pocket matters because a single waterproof main compartment can otherwise become an undivided bucket. I use small internal pockets for the little things that disappear underneath larger boxes. It doesn't turn the Thunderhead into a highly segmented vest, but that's part of the point. The layout stays relatively simple.

The main attraction for PNW use is the closure. Fishpond describes the main compartment as having a fully waterproof, self-healing TRU Zip zipper closure. That's the feature I care about when I'm wading deep, standing in persistent rain, getting hit with spray on a boat, or setting gear down on a wet bank.

There is an important distinction here for a first-time buyer: the printed waterproof claim specifically applies to that main-compartment TRU Zip closure, while the product itself is presented as a waterproof carry system. I wouldn't invent a submersion depth or an IPX rating that Fishpond doesn't provide on this listing. I also wouldn't interpret "Submersible" in the product name as permission to make up a swimming scenario. What matters for the way I fish is that the main compartment is explicitly built around that fully waterproof TRU Zip closure.

The front stretch pocket serves a different role.

That's where I'd think about items selected for fast access rather than automatically treating it as an extension of the main waterproof compartment. The separation is useful because opening the main compartment every few minutes defeats some of the appeal of having protected storage in the first place.

Then there's the net.

This is one of the features that pushes the Thunderhead beyond being a generic waterproof pouch strapped to my chest. The lightweight foam back panel includes an integrated net slot designed to seat a long- or short-handled net. For walk-and-wade fishing, that's a practical arrangement. I want the net centered and predictable, not swinging from an improvised attachment every time I duck through brush or scramble along a bank.

It also keeps the front of the pack focused on fishing rather than net storage.

Comfort is harder to reduce to a specification, because chest packs depend heavily on adjustment. Fishpond uses double-reinforced webbing shoulder straps and provides multiple webbing adjustment points. I would spend time getting that fit right before judging the pack.

Too low, and a chest pack can interfere with wading and feel like it's hanging off the torso. Too high or too tight, and access can become awkward. The goal is to get the load stable enough that it stays with my body while casting, bending, climbing a bank, or moving through current without cinching myself into the harness.

Load discipline matters here too. A compact pack feels much better when I don't use every available attachment point just because it's there.

The exterior Hypalon tabs are useful for tools and accessories that need immediate access, but I prefer keeping the exterior relatively clean. A few deliberately placed tools are helpful. A forest of dangling accessories becomes irritating around line, brush, straps, and boat hardware.

One feature I particularly like conceptually is the modularity of the harness. The buckles can detach from the back harness and attach to compatible Fishpond backpacks. That changes how I view the purchase.

On a short session, I can use the Thunderhead as the chest pack it was designed to be. On a longer day where I need more carrying capacity, the same compact working compartment can move onto a compatible backpack rather than forcing me to completely reorganize the gear I want immediately accessible.

That is a useful distinction for PNW fishing. A few hours near a vehicle and an all-day hike into Cascade water don't require the same total carrying capacity, but my core fishing kit may be very similar.

The boat-frame option extends the same idea in another direction. Fishpond states that the pack can be worn or strapped down to a boat frame. For a wet boat ride, I can see the attraction of moving my working gear off my chest and securing the pack where I can reach it.

Again, I wouldn't confuse modularity with included hardware or accessories. The listing explicitly says accessories are not included. The Thunderhead is the storage platform; what I attach to it or use with it is a separate decision.

That flexibility is ultimately what makes the design interesting to me. I can wear it on a riverbank, wade with it, integrate it with a compatible Fishpond backpack, or strap it to a boat frame. I'm not buying several different storage layouts for those situations.

The tradeoff is price. At $189.95, I need to actually value the waterproof carry system, TRU Zip main closure, integrated net slot, and modular mounting. If most of my fishing is fair-weather bank fishing and my existing pack already keeps everything organized, this is difficult to justify simply as another 5L bag.

But Puget Sound and western Washington fishing rarely gives me a reason to assume my gear will stay dry. Olympic Peninsula rain can turn a normal day into an all-day soak. River crossings and deeper wading put gear close to water. Boat spray doesn't care that the forecast looked reasonable that morning.

That's the environment where the Thunderhead's design starts making practical sense.

I also appreciate that 5L puts a ceiling on what I can carry. There are days when a larger pack is absolutely the right answer, but there's something efficient about leaving the unnecessary gear in the truck. Two carefully chosen fly boxes are often more useful than six boxes I won't open.

The Thunderhead therefore fits a fairly specific angler: someone who already knows roughly what they need for the water they're fishing and wants that kit protected, accessible, and attached securely to the body.

That's different from someone looking for maximum storage.

For me, the ideal use is a wet steelhead or trout day where I want a net behind me, my primary boxes protected in the main compartment, a few frequently used items accessible externally, and nothing more than necessary hanging off my body. It should feel like a compact working system rather than a downsized expedition pack.

And when the day moves from wading to a boat—or from a chest-only setup to a compatible backpack—the ability to change how the same pack is carried is more useful than adding another couple liters of capacity would be.

Technical Specifications

Final Thoughts

The Fishpond Thunderhead® Submersible Chest Pack makes the most sense when wet conditions are part of the fishing rather than something I'm hoping to avoid. Its appeal isn't sheer storage capacity. It's the combination of a compact 5L format, a fully waterproof TRU Zip main-compartment closure, a built-in net slot, useful external attachment points, and several ways to carry the same pack.

For my kind of PNW fishing, that's a compelling setup. I can keep the load intentionally small for a walk-and-wade trout day, carry a net directly behind me for steelhead, or move the pack away from my chest when I'm using a compatible Fishpond backpack or riding in a boat.

The $189.95 price keeps it from being an automatic recommendation. So does the limited 5L capacity if you're accustomed to carrying a lot of gear. And with Eco Shale as the only color listed on the captured PDP, there's no meaningful color choice to make.

But none of those issues undermine what the Thunderhead is designed to do. This is a focused wet-weather fishing pack for anglers who would rather protect and organize a carefully selected working kit than carry everything they might possibly need.