I don’t remember how I stumbled upon the shirts from online retailer Slackertide, but as an obsessive consumer of popular culture who also happens to fish, it was a godsend. Whether you want Willie Nelson, the Golden Girls, Jonah Hill, Rick James, Magnum PI or Cheech and Chong to accompany you on your next trip to the pond, they’ve gotcha covered.
You might not be able to resist the Big Swinger t-shirt. It’s perfect for that Cinderella story fishing trip — gunga galunga. And if you wear it on your deathbed you will receive total consciousness, which is nice.
I’m really tempted to get the decal of Keith Richards holding a smoking Jack Crevalle, too, because….well, just because. It’ll likely outlive the vehicle I’m driving today.
In fact, every time I click on the site I find something else I just have to have.
Old Mark Zuckerberg apparently knows what he is doing, because one of my targeted ads last year hit me square between the temples and lured me in: Sportyfish shirts from Singapore. Their catalog reads like a “who’s who” of my bucket list fish – peacock bass, giant trevally, yellowfin tuna, sailfish and others.
I’m a big fan of fishing t-shirts – I have over 50 of them – particularly if they somehow incorporate a pop culture reference. I’m also a big fan of food, so any time I can combine all of those interests into one comprehensive package it makes me pretty happy. Here are a few of the best ones I’ve seen.
I’d never heard of Jessie Jessup Apparel company of Florida until I came across their peacock bass t-shirt. If I haven’t already made it clear, I’m obsessed with peacocks and can’t wait to head back to the Amazon – ideally this December, if the damn virus gets out of the way.
I caught several roosterfish in Costa Rica’s Gulf of Papagayo in August of 1995, and haven’t had a chance to catch any more since then. That’s not to say that roosters haven’t been a part of my life since then – I married a chicken-obsessed redhead, so we have a kitchen full of rooster figurines, and somehow ended up naming our hyper Australian Shepherd “Rooster,” too.
I don’t remember how I stumbled upon the shirts from online retailer Slackertide, but as an obsessive consumer of popular culture who also happens to fish, it was a godsend. Whether you want Willie Nelson, the Golden Girls, Jonah Hill, Rick James, Magnum PI or Cheech and Chong to accompany you on your next trip to the pond, they’ve gotcha covered.
The musky dudes are a different breed. I say that out of respect and a bit of worry for their sanity. I’ve only chased those figure-eightable bastards a handful of times at Lake St. Clair, and have managed to get some of their slime on my clothing, but the whole experience left me questioning why grown men would devote their lives to chasing such evil fish – and that’s on a place where they actually catch ‘em. Woe be to him who spends countless hours on a musky fishery far less fertile.
I can find no photographic or documentary evidence that famed reggae singer Bob Marley liked to fish despite the fact that he was from a country surrounded by water. In 2012 an Arkansas biologist named a small Caribbean crustacean after him,that’s still not enough to make the connection. Nevertheless, if you’ve been waiting in vain to integrate a little Marley into your fishing game, you can certainly dress the part.
This week’s favorite t-shirt comes from the East Rosebud Fly Shop in Montana, whose motto – for reasons that will soon become obvious – is “For those about to fish, we salute you.”
Subsequent to our most recent trip to Bear Trail Lodge, I’ve now fallen in love – or at least a very strong “like” -- with sockeye salmon. Due to the proposed Pebble Mine project, Bristol Bay’s annual sockeye run, the largest in the world, may be in peril. Even if you never go there (note: you should), there are ways that you can support the right side of the cause, there are ways you can support the cause or show your love of sockeyes while still looking good.
If you like big ‘buts and you cannot lie, we have the perfect apparel for you, fresh from Buttwhackers on the Spit in Homer, Alaska. Great stuff from true fishing town.