Fishing clothes back then were whatever old clothes were available that had been retired from normal use because of wear, paint spills, shirt pocket ink stains, or bad pockets. I hated the ones that had bad pockets. I kept loosing my money.
Today a few of us still have these fishing clothes and this same question can be heard time and again in many households prior to a fishing expedition. But, many of us have caught on to the "revolution" in fishing clothes that has taken the fishing industry by storm.
It first began with the newly designated "professional" bass fishermen in the early '70s. A coverall of sorts was the fashionable and practical item of clothing for these fishermen. Why, they even kept your good clothes clean and had large pockets! Soon a patch or two from some sponsors began showing up on the coveralls. Maybe it was the B.A.S.S. emblem, or a particular lure manufacturer, or a boat dealer. Wherever they came from, they proliferated the fishing scene much like tennis sponsors' names did on professional tennis players' outfits. Many bass fishermen today look like a walking totem pole.
The evolution on the saltwater side migrated from a white cotton shirt that a charter boat captain might wear with his name embroidered over the left pocket. "Captain Jim" it might say, letting everyone know just who he was.
But, today's fishing wear has found its niche. Both fresh and saltwater fishermen are beginning to rely on functional lightweight shirts, pants, and shorts made especially for hot weather fishing. They also rely on heavy-duty rain and cold weather gear made from GORTEX and totally waterproof.
The summer togs are of colorful, lightweight material and the shirts are fashioned with breathable vents to help keep you cool. Columbia, Orvis, and a number of other names lead the market here. Pants are made of the same material, often with "zip off" legs allowing an easy conversion to shorts. Pockets are all in the right place, and plenty of them, although I seldom see anything in them. Colors include white, blue, bright orange and even pink!
And are they priced right? Actually, they are not too far out of line, but, hey, this is fishin' stuff! As for the cold weather and foul weather gear, it is not unusual to see people spend from $500 to $1000 for a complete set of good quality insulated GORTEX tops and bottoms. And yes, the patches are still there. Marketing gurus have somehow found a way to sell patches and the fishermen have made it the "in" thing to wear several of them. This has to be the most amazing "socio-advertising" phenomenon to come around in a long time. Fishermen actually pay for a patch that advertises someone else's product!
But seriously, folks, the fishing clothes we are buying today are top quality stuff. They are made well and hold up for a long time. And what better reason could you have for buying them than the fact that they look good! Even though the pockets are good, I still loose my money to them, but that's the price I pay. Someone once told me, "If you can't bowl good, bowl hard!" I have a saying that may fit some of us fishermen. It goes like this: "If you can't fish good, at least you can look good doing it!"
