tackle

Flats Wear

By Scott Richmond

When you fish the flats, you dress for excess: excess sunshine, excess humidity, excess wind. What to look for, what works.

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ishing is a delusion surrounded by liars in old clothes." Obviously Don Marquis, the source of the above quote, wasn't a flats angler. When you fish tropical waters for bonefish, permit, tarpon, trevally, and other species, you need special clothes. Unless you live in the tropics (and very few Westflyers do), you don't travel to southern climes and wear some old stuff you had lying around home.

Requirements for Flats Wear

This is specialty clothing and it must meet standards not normally achieved by what you wear to the Deschutes in October. Your clothes need to:

1. Block the sun. Just because your clothes appear solid, it doesn't mean they'll block the sun's UV rays. Unless you enjoy smarming sunblock over your entire body two or three times a day, your clothes need to have an SPF of around 40. Check the label; it should tell you the SPF.
2. Let the wind blow through. You depend on the tradewinds to make the heat tolerable. Don't deny the natural air conditioner.
3. Stand up to saltwater. Obviously, steel zippers and other metallic gizmos are not going to work very long. Even stainless steel is not stainless ("Son," my late father--an aeronautical engineer by training--used to tell me, "in the airplane business we call it 'corrosion-resistant' because we no that nothing is stainless.").

Real World

On a recent trip to Christmas Island, located at about two degrees north latitude, I tried out the following gear.

1. Tarponwear flats pants and shirts. Great stuff. I love it. I've used in Key West, too. I wouldn't go near the tropics without it. Unfortunately the company no longer exists. Oh well. Try Simms, Patagonia, or Ex Officio.
2. Ex Officio briefs. Clearly cotton jockey shorts are not going to do the job for you. And I've had some polypropylene briefs that created serious itching in places where the sun don't shine. But these travel briefs are comfortable all the time, and suitable to wear under flats pants. It's claimed that they air-dry overnight, but I didn't find that to be true, either in Portland or Christmas Island. They're good, but I'd take three pair next time instead of two.
3. Patagonia Marlwalker II flats boots. These flats boots are comfortable on me, but I have a wide foot; if your foot is narrow, you might have a problem with the fit. I wore mine on a couple of walks around the neighborhood before taking them on the flats the first time; breaking them in seemed to help. Some anglers like neoprene flats booties, but I prefer the additional support and adjustability of boots. There are no metal parts, and the boots stood up well to coral. After a week of hard fishing, I rinsed them in fresh water and they looked as good as new when they dried.
4. Simms Flats gloves. Flats gloves are essential for those of us with northern European complexions. The backs of your hands are more exposed than any other part of your body. These worked well for me.
5. Strippee. This accessory slips over two fingers and protects against line cuts. There are pads where the line goes across. For best results, put line dressing on the pads each morning.
6. Eagle Cap by UPI. This hat's bill is long and green on the underside, which is as it should be. It's adjustable for size. You can remove the "drop cloth" that makes you look like an extra from "Lawrence of Arabia," but it protects your neck (front and back) and ears so leave it on. A point missed by many anglers is that you can get sunburned down in your earhole where you don't put sunscreen; this hat's drop cloth offers some protection. The drawback is that the drop cloth will flap in the wind. Sequel makes a hat in this style with a chinstrap, which would have been nice; a good gust would blow this off my head no matter how tight I adjusted it.

For related articles, see Fly Lines for the Flats, Tips for Christmas Island, and Christmas Island Diary

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 03/06/2006.

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You need specialty clothing when you venture onto tropical flats

The well-dressed flats angler, covering as much skin as possible with high-SPF clothing