Clothing and Apparel

Chalk it up to spending too much time in the Caribbean, but the apparel that got most of our attention at the show was Patagonia's new line of sun-protective clothing. They are working on a prototype "Bandolava" that will appear in catalogs in the spring of 2007. Along with the new facewear comes a new line of long-sleeved 4.5 oz. polyester fishing shirts called Sun Shade Shirts, which are super-comfortable, fast-wicking, fitted with collars that extend beyond a normal T-shirt collar width for extra protection. Sun Shade Shirts with have a 30+ UPF rating. Read more here.

Among its new shirt lines, Orvis has a new line of Open Air Casting Shirts ($69) that we thought were probably the best-looking shirts at the show. The nylon/polyester material in the shirt is an open-weave mesh that is very attractive and comfortable and sports a 30+ UPF rating.

Ex Officio's 2007 spring line expands to include more high performance dri-release, underwear, sun-protective and BUZZ-OFF options. New features include "welded" ventilation systems in the more technical fishing shirts as well as a Tofutech soy knit collection that resists odor and bacteria.

Sage's Skagit River Softshell jacket won a KaChing! award from fellow retailers at this year's show, so expect to see a lot of these smart, dark-charcoal waterproof jackets this coming year, especially if you fish out west.

Cloudveil is coming out with a 12-ounce version of their Zorro Jacket, calling it the Zorro LT ($125). The new jacket sports the same waterproof Cloudburst 2.0 fabric and features a stash-away hood.

Simms is introducing lighter jackets and outerwear pieces that improve on both their waterproof lines and their Windstopper series. We were particularly impressed by the new Superlight Insulated Jacket, which is kind of a high-tech puff jacket — sleek, ultralight and highly condensable to stuff into its own self-contained pocket. Simms's other major move this year involves extending their 3XDry technology to more clothing, including their Guide Pant, and introducing a new 3XDry Dobby Shirt.

Chota's new waterproof/breathable CVX 2 Lightweight Wading Jacket ($169) weighs only 16 ounces, has a patent-pending hood design that works with any billed cap, has two large fly-box pockets and stuffs into its own pocket for storage.

Thinking along the lines of extreme sun-protection — an excellent idea, in our opinion — UnderArmour is bringing to market their ArmorVent Polo, a microfiber shirt in short- and long-sleeve versions that has a 50+ UPF rating. They have a similar shirt for flats fishermen (the Flats Guide shirt) with the same great UPF rating and activated carbon odor control technology, and a 50+ rated River Guide Long Sleeve shirt that has a zippered sunglass pocket and a combo flybox/tippet pocket.

Girl on the Fly is all about fashion for women fly fishers and has a brand new selection of Stream-Lined Vests, Roll-Up Pants and X-Stream Ts, in — you guessed it — colors like berry, blue, and golden camouflage.

Other notable apparel: Imperial Headwear's HT (High Tech) Hats, Watership Trading Company's Vineyard Haven Hat, and Adventure Fly Fishing Company's All-Season Vest-Jacket, Waterproof Vest and Waterproof and Thermal Fishing Caps.

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