“Chucking big fluff at big slabs” – that’s how Predator Fly Gear describes their fishing preferences. There’s nothing wrong with a native brookie sipping a size 22 dry fly, or a sac au lait chewing your mini jig, but you’ve gotta respect a company that sells clothing and art dedicated to all manners of toothy critters and piscatorial ne’er do wells.
I initially found their site because I was looking for peacock bass gear, and I was further intrigued when I found out they had clothing dedicated to Giant Trevally (AKA, “Geets”) as well as my 2019 fish of the year, the Payara, but the item that intrigued me most was their Bowfin shirt. Whether you call the bowfin, grinnel, mudfish, choupique or something else, I don’t know a lot of people who avidly chase these prehistoric freaks, let alone advertise it on their body, but it got me thinking. I spend so much time and energy chasing exotic toothy bastards around the globe, when maybe I have some right in my backyard. In this time of quarantine and social distancing, that’s kind of comforting.
Some people may think that the bowfin is an ugly or undesirable fish but there are nevertheless many people celebrating them by many different names — with art, clothing and food.
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’ve repeatedly made it clear that fishing the flats for giant trevally with big poppers is at the top of the top of my list of bucket list experiences. Until then (or perhaps never) I will not be getting a GT tattoo, nor will I be spending a thousand bucks apiece on high-quality popping rods and reels – but a hat might be a more reasonable expenditure.
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.
I’m not real big on buying hats because I get more than my share of freebies over the course of the year. Besides, I tend to narrow my “game day” selection down to a choice few in any given season. I’m not Steve Kennedy, who wears a single Auburn hat until it wears it, but I know that only certain lids fit my head properly, and I also know that some of them just have bad fishing mojo.
We’re always on the lookout for gear celebrating our favorite species and lately tuna have been on the top of the list. If you’re looking for a hat to celebrate thm, check out two new ones. We think you’d look good in either of them. In fact, we’re so confident of that fact that the next new client to book a trip to Panama or Guatemala will get the hat of their choice.