We spend a lot of time on the water fishing in various weather conditions. Having good fishing clothing is a must when you are in the elements, keeping you comfortable no matter what the temperature. In our eyes a good fishing shirt comes down to a few key ingredients: it needs to be durable, breathable, quick-drying and offer protection from the sun.
We’ve made our best effort to get hands-on with the top brands in fishing and offer our experiences and insight on good fishing clothing for your own on the water protection and comfort. Here are some of the best fishing shirts and hoodies we’ve come across in our fishing adventures.
OUR TOP PICKS
- AFTCO Reaper Hoodie – Buy at Bass Pro
- Realtree Men’s Long Sleeve River UPF 40+ Fishing Shirt – Buy at Walmart
- Free Fly Bamboo Lightweight Hoodie – Buy at Amazon
- Orvis DryCast Hoodie – Buy at Orvis
- Simms BugStopper Long-Sleeve Hoodie for Men – Buy at Bass Pro
- Costa Angler Technical Hooded – Buy at Costa Del Mar
- HUK Waypoint Hoodie – Buy at Amazon
- JB Langley Blackwell Long Sleeve – Buy at JB Langley
- Men’s Under Armour Iso-Chill Shorebreak Camo Hoodie – Buy at Tackle Warehouse
Best AFTCO Fishing Shirts and Hoodies
The AFTCO Reaper Hoodie is one of the more popular hoodies on the market among avid anglers. Its super warm micro fleece wears well for a comfortable fit and offers tons of warmth with a built in hood and neck warmer. It features laser-cut ventilation on the mask and underarm areas for ventilation. A hood-anchoring system is designed to keep it on your head while ripping down the lake in your bass boat. It’s soft, quiet, warm and comfortable. Four of our seven-man team has a Reaper hoodie that we all bought to keep us layered in the winter or just as a standalone in the fall and early spring.
The AFTCO Samurai 2 Sun Hoodie offers anglers another great technical sun hoodie that wears comfortably, dries quickly and provides UPF50 protection from the sun. The moisture wicking and stain-resisting material breathes nicely so you stay comfortable and cool all day long in the summer. Now offered in great new colors with slightly improved styling, making one of the most popular sun hoodies even more popular.
Best Realtree Fishing Shirts
Realtree Men’s Gulf Stream Fishing Performance Hoodie features a loose cut fit made of moisture-wicking polyester with a three-way stretch. It comes in camo patterns designed for fishing, letting you sneak up on your finned friends. These fishing shirts wear nicely and looks good at a very reasonable price.
Realtree Men’s Long Sleeve River UPF 40+ Fishing Shirt is a classy looking button down that works on the water as well as it does going out to dinner. It’s a nice lightweight material that offers vented sleeves, neck and back as well as Solar-Factor UPF 40+ UV protection. It features a sunglasses holder, and cloth, a rod holder, front draining pockets and quick drying and moisture wicking material to get you back to dry quickly.
Best Free Fly Fishing Shirts and Hoodies
The Free Fly Bamboo Lightweight Hoodie is an ultra-lightweight hoodie—equipped with a crossover hood and thumbholes for ultimate all-day sun coverage. Incredibly breathable and naturally odor-resistant, it offers a UPF 20+ rating so you can handle hours of hot and humid conditions. It’s a combination of Viscose from bamboo and polyester so it’s light breathable and soft.
Best Orvis Hoodies
Orvis DriCast Hoodie is an outstanding choice for anglers and outdoor enthusiasts. Crafted from lightweight, quick-drying fabric, it provides excellent breathability and comfort during active pursuits. The UPF protection helps shield against harmful rays, while the relaxed fit allows for easy movement. The hoodie features a stylish design with thoughtful details, making it suitable for both fishing trips and casual outings. Overall, the Dricast Hoodie combines functionality and style, making it a great addition to any outdoor wardrobe.
Best Simms Fishing Shirts and Hoodies
Simm’s M’s CX Hoodie has been my go-to zip-up hoodie. It’s the hoodie I wear most days in the spring, fall and winter. I can layer under it on really cool days. If it’s not raining hard I wear it by itself as it stands up to a light mist or sleet as it really repels water nicely. It features a slick jacquard knit fleece exterior and an ultra-soft brushed fleece interior that provides extensive comfort and the perfect level of warmth. The moisture-wicking properties are great if you do work up a sweat casting, fighting fish, or boat-flipping hogs. It’s really a fisherman’s best friend in less than ideal conditions.
Simms M’s Solarflex Guide Cooling Hoodie is another long time favorite of our team. This hoodie not only keeps the sun off your head, face and arms, it also keeps you cool with it’s remarkable integrated cooling Brr nylon material and quick-drying, moisture-wicking properties. The Simms Solarflex Guide Cooling Hoody features an interlocking hood-and-gaiter system to protect the nose, mouth, neck, and ears from the suns’ harmful rays. A 3-panel hood is hat-compatible snapping to an integrated gaiter or to itself ensuring it stays secure while boat driving at maximum speed.
Simms BugStopper Long-Sleeve Hoodie is a top-notch option for outdoor enthusiasts who want protection from both the sun and pesky insects. The lightweight, breathable fabric features insect-repellent technology that effectively keeps bugs at bay. With UPF protection and a comfortable fit, it’s perfect for long days fishing or hiking. The hoodie design provides additional sun coverage, while the stylish look makes it versatile for casual wear as well. Overall, it’s an excellent blend of comfort and functionality for any outdoor adventure.
Best Costa Fishing Shirts
Costa’s Technical Hood Long Sleeve offers superior sun protection and performance qualities with the additional benefit of a comfortable hood to offer our highest level of cover from the sun. The 4.1-ounce 100% recycled polyester performance long sleeve is lightweight, comfortable, and sure to keep the sun’s rays from penetrating through to your skin. Costa shirts run a little tighter fitting with a smaller cut, so order one size up. These are antimicrobial fibers so the shirt will repel the bacteria from your outdoor adventures.
Best Huk Fishing Shirts
Huk Waypoint Hoodie is one of my favorite fishing shirts I’ve ever owned, thanks to the softness and stretchiness. It features a samurai hood, front chest pocket, and sleeve holes to keep your hands covered. The recycled fibers that are a combination of polyester, rayon and spandex. It doesn’t feel silky like most polyester shirts and that’s what I’ve always liked about it. You can read more in our review of the Huk Waypoint Hoodie.
Huk Coldfront + Performance Hoodie impresses with its combination of comfort and function, making it an excellent choice for outdoor enthusiasts. Crafted from a lightweight, moisture-wicking fabric, it keeps you dry and comfortable during long days on the water or in the field. The UPF protection is a standout feature, shielding your skin from harmful UV rays while the hood provides added coverage against the elements. Its sleek design is not only stylish but also allows for ease of movement, making it suitable for both active and casual wear. I’ve been wearing this hoodie for the last several months, and it’s quickly become one of my go-to fall hoodies.
Best JB Lagley Fishing Shirts
I love the material, cut and finish on the JB Langley Blackwell Long Sleeve Button Down fishing shirts. These shirts look as nice at a dinner party as they do on the lake. But that was the point of this line of clothing. They wanted to make fishing-ready shirts that looked and felt like designer clothing for anglers. These shirts feature Toray Primeflex stretch woven fabric that is moisture-wicking and fast-drying. The hidden snap down collar, and microfiber cloth for cleaning sunglasses at the front hem hint to the intention of this design. Finished with button cuff closures and a left chest dual pocket with top sunglass opening and zippered side closure. This is highly professional and tactical clothing for the most serious angler.
Best Under Armor Fishing Shirts
The Men’s UA Iso-Chill Shorebreak Camo Hoodie has been a great summer hoodie, protecting from the sun and keeping me cool. I purchased one on a trip down on the Gulf of Mexico to keep the sun off and my brother-in-law got one as well, and we were both glad we did. They are comfortable, lightweight, and dry fast. We got rained on but are shirts were dry by the time we got back to the car. And they kept us cool in the breeze, even in the sweltering July Florida heat. These are great hoodies for any fishing occasion.
Under Armour’s Iso-Chill Fish Ninja Hook Long-Sleeve Shirt for Men is a fantastic option for fishing and outdoor activities. The Iso-Chill fabric effectively regulates temperature, keeping you cool while providing excellent moisture-wicking and UV protection. The relaxed fit allows for easy movement, and the built-in hood and face mask offer added sun protection. With its breathable design and stylish graphics, this shirt combines functionality and comfort, making it a great choice for any outdoor enthusiast. This has quickly become one of my favorite all-around hoodies.
WHAT MAKES GOOD FISHING APPAREL
Fishing Shirt Materials
The best materials for creating fishing shirts vary from manufacturer and season. In the warmer months, we want something that protects us from sun exposure and is light and comfortable. In the colder months, we like clothing that keeps us warm and blocks the wind. A lot of companies just print iron on logos onto polyester shirts and call it good. But materials, the way they are cut, venting, and better breathable fabrics can really set one fishing shirt apart from another.
Sun Protection in Fishing Shirts
With the known issues with skin cancer in anglers who spend hundreds of hours on the water in the sun, taking precautions to keep your hand, neck and face covered can yield better outcomes later in life. Several of my friends have had painful spots cut off their faces and arms and hands. Their stories are enough to make you want to keep yourself covered. A lot of the tactical fishing clothing comes with hoods and buffs to keep you covered, and feature vents to eliminate sweat while blocking out the sun.
Reflective, lighter pastel colors will repel the sun more and keep you cool while darker colors will absorb more heat. For that reason we like dark fleece hoodies in the winter and lighter, bright colors in the summer.
Fishing Shirts to Keep Cool or Keep Warm
Staying warm or staying cool allows anglers to stay on the water longer and enjoy their fishing time a lot more. So consider things like button downs that you can open up and let air out while out fishing. Or sun shirts with vented under sleeve areas and buffs built in to keep the sun off your face and neck. In the winter, some of the more technical zip hoodies have coatings that not only repel water but also block out the wind a lot better, plus soft fleece on the inside to keep you toasty.
We hope these product recommendations help you find the perfect fishing shirt or hoodie for your upcoming outdoor adventures. Here at Wired2Fish we spend a lot of time on the water, and we’re confident in this list of products. If you’re looking for more info on other types of fishing apparel, we’ve listed a few buyers guides below.
