Wearing Camouflage on the Stream

Wearing Camouflage on the Stream
I am a firm believer in stacking all of the odds in your favor when hitting the stream. Making sure that I am wearing drab colors is just one thing that I do to keep myself out of the trout’s eye.

When choosing a fishing shirt, there are so many colors to choose from. Remember, the pretty blue one that you fancy so much might not be the best color for the streamside fishing. I like to try to either wear a beige or olive shirt. These are two colors that blend in with nearly every surrounding.

If you want to take the shirt to a whole other level, Aqua Designs has a full line up of camouflage shirts, which are lightweight and easily dried. They are perfect for fly fishing. They have a darker green camouflage and a lighter brown camouflage. I would never go to the stream without them.

When fishing tough streams like the Letort or Falling Springs, where stalking trout involves crawling around in the grass, the aid of camouflage goes a long way towards being un-noticed.

Vests and raincoats with orange in them are a no go for sure. Make sure that your raincoat and vest are also made from Earth toned materials. Bright orange is easily seen by fish and on a stream where the trout can be skittish, un-familiar colors can be a warning to your presence.

I believe that being successful on the stream is a game of percentages. If wearing the proper clothing is only 3 percent of the equation, it’s worth it!

Below are the two Aqua Designs shirts that I wear.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...aron/vsgb2.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...aron/vsds2.jpg

I went to look on the Simms site and I noticed that a number of items that were orange in color are no longer there

Wouldn't it make sense to design a camo fishing vest? Since many of us wear them?

You are in great company.

Charlie Brooks who invented the Brooks method of nymphing wore camo all the time. He is dressed in camo in his slip cover photo for "Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout" which came out in 1976.

After he ended up in Montana, Charlie heard stories about this mysterious fly fisher that was taking big trout from the Madison. No one knew who this mysterious fly fisher was. He never was able to track this fellow down until one day he was in a fly shop and one angler was telling another that he spotted the mysterious angler in a certain location wearing camo and crawling on his hands and knees. It was then that Charlie recognized that the mysterious fisher was himself!

Charlie was an innovator and his method of nymphing without strike indicators using a full sinking line was one of the first methods that was able to get right down to the fish. He was one of the first fly fishers to go underwater, breathing through a garden hose to visit the trout's world. This was well before Gary LaFontaine use of scuba gear.

I've been wearing Aqua Design stuff for about 10 years ... ever since I read an article by a guy who did a study on the response of trout to various types of clothing. He measured how close he sneak up to a trout that lived in a river by his front yard. The difference was dramatic. I don't remember the numbers, but he could get twice as close when wearing a camo shirt, pants and hat, as he could wearing solid-color clothing. He found that he get even closer if he also wore a camo face mask.

I haven't gone as far as a face mask, but I do wear an Aqua Design shirt and vest (yes, they make vests, too) and a camo hat. When steelheading, I also wear an Aqua Design jacket with polartech underneath. You can find their stuff at aquadesign.com.

That's funny I just ordered those in short sleeve 2 nites ago!

wearing the wrong watch can cause fish to scatter also!

Aaron,
This is a great point you offer, here. I don't wear camo, but do wear clothing in colors to match the background. Browns, greens, tans are best. Someone use to offer patterned fishing shirts that looked like grass and forest. Might have been Orvis, but I've not seen them in a while. Oh, and I would not get rid of that nice blue shirt so quickly. When fishing larger rivers, and when you are up against the sky - not the shoreline, the blue works.

I always laugh when I see paintings and photos of fishermen dressed on bright red shirts, casting their fly to some unsuspecting trout. Right!

Mark

I'd have posted this in a new topic, but I couldn't figure out how to create one... (How do you do that?)

With Michigan daytime temps now occasionally dipping below 60, it has occurred to me it would be nice to have some light-weight fingerless gloves. I used to some really thin, beige Polartech gloves, but I'm not sure where I put them. So I searched the Internet a suitable replacement and couldn't find anything I liked. I came across a few "sun gloves" that might be okay, but what I'd really hoped was light-weight, fingerless camo gloves.

After deciding that what I wanted just wasn't available, I bought a pair of Under Armor liner gloves in Real Tree Mossy Oak. I cut off the fingertips and stitched the ends, so the seams wouldn't unravel. They seem to fit the bill perfectly. Somebody should manufacture a product like this!

Feather Craft has some for sale in their latest flyer - They seemed over priced, but so does everything else when it comes to fly fishing accessories.

I laugh about the camo thing sometimes. It makes sense to me...but for nostalgia I will still wear a pendleton wool coat..with that black and red pattern in the winter. Reminds me of my grandfather...and I almost always catch a fish. I swear he has something to do with it.

But I have seen bright colors put fish down or completely scatter them....dull drab or camo has its place. But if I run into any of you guys in full Tred Barta face paint...well then I think we have some issues.