How do you balance the need for practical, functional fishing gear with a desire to express personal style on the water? Truth be told… some days I just roll out of the bed onto the water, but for me being on the water is my happy place, work, and play all kind of wrapped up into one. It’s a place you get to embrace who you truly are. But really depending on if I’m fishing for fun or if I’m in a tournament and even the weather kind of determines what I wear. Some days I am in a cute tennis dress, skirt and tank with a long sleeve over it, other days – an all camo outfit, bibs, oversized t-shirt just depends on the day.
Tips for selecting fishing apparel that’s both effective for the sport and flattering
I always want to wear something I am comfortable in. I don’t like to show a lot of skin on the water for a lot of reasons, but the #1 being I know how easy it is to get skin poison or even worse, skin cancer. In the summer you’re likely to catch me in shorts, leggings, yoga pants, tshirts, and long sleeve sun shirts. In the winter I live in pullovers, hoodies, bibs, yoga pants, and jeans.
I am always dressed for comfort but since this is something I am doing just about everyday I have found a few brands that are incredibly practical for fishing and are able to be worn when not fishing. As well as good quality fabrics that can put up with the wear and tear you may get from hooks, slime, sun exposure, lots of movement, etc. Ensure the materials are durable and won’t easily fray or tear, especially if a hook gets caught in them.
My go-to brands and items
I keep it really fun. I have everything in my boat organized a little differently than some guys would… Clear and pink tackle boxes with giant preppy stickers that say what’s in them and colored bags with my initials on them for stuff I use a lot. I even keep a little bag with chap sticks, lip balms, extra hair ties, sunscreen, travel size mascara, toiletries, and a fun phone cord. As far as clothes…
There’s a few brands I always wear: Natural Reflections from Bass Pro Shops, lululemon, BUCKNBASS, Bass Pro Shops brand, NUthreadz jersey, and you’ll see me in a lot of camo sets, and a lot of really loud colors as well as multiple fun fishing shirts. I won best dressed in high school and best dressed means never boring, always fun, and maybe something even that other people would never reach for. A few staple items I wear would be lululemon Wunder Train Leggings, Hotty Hot HR 4 inch shorts, Suba Half Zip Pullover, Pace Rival Skirt, Align Mini Flares, Swiftly long Sleeve, and like a cloud bras. BUCKNBASS RESERVOIR Rain Shell Bibs + Jacket and Delta Hoodie. Bass Pro Shops has some of the most stylish items for women I have seen in years – their ladies quarter zip pullovers, terry shorts, and other items are all incredibly affordable.
I really love the Natural Reflections skorts and ribbed sets! Teleties clips and hair ties. I also always have on permanent jewelry, ENEWTON bracelets, a gold bass dangle, and a diamond cross pendant necklace. I wear a lot of super cute and fun trucker hats my hat selection is insane, always have a BUCKNBASS rainsuit, sunshirt, and hat handy, A good pair of tennis shoes for everyday weather (I prefer OnClouds and Hokas) and a good pair of XTRATRUFS for rainy days and depending on the ramp loading/unloading by yourself.
You always need socks especially when it’s cold…thick socks. Sunglasses I have a few pairs I reach for from Strike King, Redfin, and Costa depending on the day. These are all functional items when fishing, boating, at the gym, pilates, running errands, etc. I always have a water bottle that I drink out of all day and holds ice, Stanley, Yeti, or something with stickers all over it. I recycle anything plastic I might use throughout the day as well.
I even mix in “girly” hairstyles from buble braids to fish tales, messy buns, fun clips, and even sometimes ribbons. It’s super fun to still mix my personality into fishing. I never realized that this wasn’t the “norm” because I’ve alway done things this way. Good sunscreen 365. A few other brands that have really great practical clothing for women that love to fish or spend time outside that I didn’t list are TRIBE KELLY, alo, Mossy Oak, aerie, All In Motion, Free People, SHE Outdoor, Sitka. I also mix and match a ton of things from a lot of brands.
Incorporating trends and accessorizing with style and utility
You want to make sure it’s practical for one, but this year it’s been super cool to see some things I’ve always worn in mainstream fashion… such as camouflage I didn’t need to upgrade my closet or go buy anything new for this trend. But if you know me you know I live in camo 365, so this was a no brainer for me. With sneakers especially as long as they’re comfortable you can get away with wearing some super trendy pairs and I have some sneakers that even have a bass drawn on them!
This fall a lot of monochromatic outfits were in; outfits that are the same color or pattern from top to bottom and even denim on denim was perfect in the fall, sweat sets were in.. in the winter, and a lot of athleisure in the spring and summer months. Athletisure is also at an all time high for everyday wear so there’s a ton of options for super cute, but practical pieces from onesies to jump suits to skirts and top sets, running shorts and longline tanks that you could just throw a sweatshirt over. Even belt bags were super fun to be able to have anything you need right with you.
Some trends were easier than others to incorporate. Don’t buy something just because it’s in, especially if you think about next year or even five years from now that you’ll never wear it again.
Innovative or unexpected items
A good hair brush in the boat, good hair ties, good chapstick/lipstick, I actually almost always use two hair ties to roll my long sleeves back just cause they’re always a little long. I don’t necessarily think it’s different, just helpful. I also sometimes use the hair tie to tie a bait onto a rod when it’s a big bait or tie the hooks back with the little elastics I use when braiding my hair.
I wear a lot of really fun earrings that are dainty so no one really sees them but me. I also use what’s traditionally known as a “makeup bag” to store miscellaneous items in my boat or tackle box from toiletries, to line, and even extra packages of soft plastics or unopened hard baits it makes organizing easier!
I know a lot of girls that fish have gotten super cool “fishing” nails! Maggie Jo had a bass on her nails, chasten had a tarpon pattern before I think, Macy and Nina had bottomland, and I met a few ladies at the Classic that had scales and crankbaits! When it comes to breaking baits or a bait no longer running right… It’s always fun to repurpose baits and stuff so maybe not in fashion, but in our house we have lots of shadow boxes of baits and photos and paintings of fish, but we might need another article about that.
Conclusion
If you think fashion has nothing to do with fishing you are wrong. I will die on this hill. Go to the BASS FISHING HALL OF FAME and you will see some absolutely insane pieces of fishing fashion history and no worries, I plan on taking some ideas I’ve seen there and bringing them to life in my own fishing career. There’s a white coat Johnny Morris wore that’s bedazzled with a bass on the back, a 1982 Bass’N Gal Jumper Chris Houston wore, patterns of old lures, and more.
Even if you go to any event you see fans and family alike from the BASS wives to the “old timers” with custom pieces from glitz to embroidery and even sublimation. If you think of certain colors you think KVD, if you see a certain hat you think Jimmy Houston, if you see a certain haircut you automatically might think someone is a fan of a certain angler, if you see an athlete wearing a certain pair of bibs you might think of a certain brand, if you see a cheetah print boat you think – that’s Anastasia Patterson.
Even hearing certain saying such as “HEAD UP, HAMMER DOWN” OR “G-G-G-G-GIANT BASS” make you think of something, it’s nothing crazy, but it does matter even if it doesn’t affect the actual fishing.
