Most of the time I fish solo, and do run some distances.When I am running I wear a float coat.
When I am fishing from the casting deck I wear the belt type pack It dose not get in your way you don't even know it is there
Jeff,
Just picked up a pair of auto inflatables. My feeling abour the inflatables is that if you go overboard the likelyhood of hitting your head is high. I'ld rather have a vest that inflates when I'm unable to pull the cord.
As far as keeping inflatables in a bag, as long as you have the number of "traditional" PFD's on board, it does not matter what you do with your inflatables as long as the traditionals are accessable.
Pete