BajaNomad - Fashion in the boat

Fashion in the boat

Osprey - 4-9-2014 at 03:43 PM

Fishing Fashion

(Saltwater)

When the wind blows on Sundays I sometimes watch the fishing shows on TV. It is impossible to tell if the anglers are showing off all the latest colorful and spendy fishing togs just to look good on TV or if they dress that way when they fish without the cameras. I like the looks of all those epaulets and buttons, the cute little logos and the special rash guard fabrics that protect and keep you cool. It does make me a little squirmy at times when I see them risking the special deck shoes and togs to serious damage by equipment and/or bait/fish blood and guts.

I remember the crowds on the west coast dayboats and that was a very different story. Mostly older people wearing heavy coats and slickers, old battered rubber boots and pants with bibs; all ready for the rag man. As nature’s wild child in the Everglades I was used to wearing (and wearing out) expendable clothing for the sake of adventure and expedience while at play, saving my nicely pressed jeans and shirts for school and social outings.

Tomorrow I’m fishing with Leonardo and I’ve already laid out my favorite fishing clothes. Each garment has been soaked in fish blood and all the other animal and mineral particles and fluids that can come into contact with a small boat. My wife uses a strong spot cleaning spray so the things don’t really look that bad. It’s just me and Leonardo so I usually don’t bother showering or shaving the night before and to tell the truth I might be a little superstitious about doing that anyway.

Leonardo has not bothered to maintain my old boat and I don’t blame him a bit. His bait pangas were always awash in water for what he sold or just from the spash-over so we go shoeless. Not long into the fishing day we begin to look like walk-ons in a cheap zombie movie and I must admit, if I was bad before, I’m gettin’ worse now. I often get hit by fish as he throws them into the big mid-boat fishbox and if he moves fast to get near surface action, the big chum fish tied off to the gunnels flop right up in my lap.

Near the end of our run, usually about noon, as we head in, I take the helm to give him the last hour or so of down time before we land and my feet are bathed in fish blood that I occasionally bale out of the stern or pull the plug and release the water from the boat as we speed up a little. I’m not sure we’re having some kind of contest about how messed up a fisherman can get but Lynda buys me new Tshirts two or three times a year at the sales in Soriana’s for 39 pesos each so he’s probably always gonna be ahead of me on the grunge meter.

Some of my gringo friends fish with me at times and they’ve bought me two or three of those Gucci epaulet shirts. Since I don’t rent cruisers, I’m not on any TV fishing shows or know any yachties right now I just can’t find a reason to wear them. I guess I’ll save one in the bodega maybe to be buried in. Is there a fishing heaven? I do not know but, I figure, why take a chance?

jeroberts - 4-9-2014 at 06:30 PM

I myself use similar clothing. All the mexicans probably scratch their heads wondering why so many american bums end up in mexico.

Paulina - 4-9-2014 at 07:32 PM

Osprey,

I like your fashion sense. I am a female version. I have been guilty of turning my fishing t-shirt inside out to wear the next day. It's only dirty on one side! I know it may sound disgusting to some, but I love that thick with salt, stiff with fish blood feeling my t-shirts and sarongs get when they've seen a good run. Thank you for the refreshing read, I appreciate it.

jeroberts, welcome to the Nomad board.

P>*)))>{

Osprey - 4-10-2014 at 04:38 AM

Paulina, if your attire gave you luck or courage to catch such a monster I would say there are those Nomads out in cyberland who would all love such a chance so if you'll sell the Cleopatra tiara and the sarong, let the bidding begin. 500 pesos for the tiara starts it off for me.

Shawndy - 4-10-2014 at 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paulina
Osprey,

I like your fashion sense. I am a female version. I have been guilty of turning my fishing t-shirt inside out to wear the next day. It's only dirty on one side! I know it may sound disgusting to some, but I love that thick with salt, stiff with fish blood feeling my t-shirts and sarongs get when they've seen a good run. Thank you for the refreshing read, I appreciate it.

jeroberts, welcome to the Nomad board.

P>*)))>{

Interesting hat! MUST be lucky

chuckie - 4-10-2014 at 06:38 AM

AWESOME! IF she chews Copenhagen, I'll marry her!

jeroberts - 4-10-2014 at 10:25 PM

Thanks Paulina. The picture of you are you on the Erik or Tony Reyes Boat? I have been a long time reader of nomads. Unfortunately I read more about fishing than I actually fish anymore. Work, child and spouse get in the way of my fishing trips. After hearing about the couple in the sailboat that had to be rescued with their young children that ended any conversation of my wife and daughter doing a fishing trip this year with me. My daughter is only 4 months old. I love baja but my wife doesn't want to be isolated there has to be a hospital near by just in case. I hope that next year maybe we can do a trip. On the bright side I have a new boat to me that I work on and think about taking fishing.

jeroberts

captkw - 4-10-2014 at 10:42 PM

Hola, nothing wrong with taking a 4 yr old to Baja !! hell,,me at 6 0r 7 and my kid brother at 5 or 6 and our slightly older sis at 9 yrs of age with ma and pa in a new 66 VW bug spent 6 months on the mainland and drove all the way past mexico city in 1967......best damn thing to start my life off with IMO...btw..damn has mexico changed FAST..I'd say" its done damn good for its folks" !!! two winters ago I camped next to coulpe that Ive known for years with their 3 yr old and it was GREAT !!! K&T :cool:

.....OOPs I,, now see you wrote 4 months...me bad..getting late !!

[Edited on 4-11-2014 by captkw]

Skipjack Joe - 4-10-2014 at 11:40 PM

That's not a tiara. Cooper wore that in Beau Geste.

willardguy - 4-11-2014 at 08:55 AM

the key to proper fishing attire is to have a convenient slot to hold your needle nose pliers. :yes:

Paulina - 4-11-2014 at 11:18 AM

Definitely a lucky fishing hat. I've had it for over 20 years, I know it shows. It has a fly that was handmade from rope and fish net scraps found on the beach in Bahia along with feathers from Beto, Papa Diaz's parrot. Fred Hoctor gave me the fish hook WON money clip.

After having some work done on the tops of my ears due to sun exposure, the doctor said I needed to give up my hat and get one of those fancy outback type fishing hats that Osprey's friends probably wear. That is when I sewed my grandmother's handkerchiefs on the sides. And, no hat can be complete without duct tape to hold it together.

Regarding a place to hold needle nose pliers, I prefer a Gerber tool and keep it in the pocket of my fishing belt. I wear a bikini too, but never ever show it if our panga is anywhere near another one. That's where sarongs come in handy.

jeroberts, that first photo was taken about six or seven years ago on the Andrea Lynn. I was the only woman on the boat, with a group of men from a Sheriff Homicide division team. No one wanted me in their panga as I was considered "bad luck". They all drew straws to see who would get stuck on my panga (three to a panga). Every afternoon a certain group of the men would gather on deck to see what I would come back with. I loved it when I proved I could fish. It must have been the hat. It could also have had something to do with our great guide and his sense of humor to include my friend "Ava"...

P>*)))>{

mtgoat666 - 4-11-2014 at 12:21 PM

i like the ninja mask sunprotectors.
which is more comfortable sun protection, cotton or polyester?

Santiago - 4-11-2014 at 02:19 PM

Slight hijack:
When your get into your 50s the kids haven't a clue on what to get you for birthdays or Xmas so you end up with fishing shirts- all kinds. An you're obligated to wear the damn things from time to time.

Some of the shirts have a 2" tag, sewn on one end and velcro'd on the other - was a complete mystery as well until I saw a guy standing on the bank with his rod butt on his shoe and the fly rod strapped to his chest with this flap while he re-tied his tippet. Now that worked great as he didn't have to crook his arm around the rod whilst tying small blood knots.
I got right away the flap 2/3s of the way up on the inside of the sleeve - keeps the sleeves from unrolling and work well. However, I must admit my father would always roll up his sleeves on his ratty white dress shirts while fishing and they never came down. I have no idea how he did that.
There are two things I have never figured out the purpose of; those tags that button at one end on the shoulder and the small holes in the bottom of some of the pockets. There can not possibly be any use for these.

I can guarantee you one thing: after going to a funeral or two of buddies who've succumbed to skin cancer you start reading the small print on the SPF labels. We can laugh at the bone fisherman in goat's photo but there is a good reason he wears what he does.

Osprey - 4-11-2014 at 02:43 PM

Santiago, my flyfishing friends wear those face protectors. They look like bank robbers. They're called muffs. Did divers wear those? Seems like I remember something about em but I'm getting old.

BajaBlanca - 4-11-2014 at 06:58 PM

I can just imagine all you alls shirts..... I have to BEG Les to toss out the really gross ones .... I could never understand the lure of an old ragged blood stained fish gutted t-shirt but I see you all get it.

Paulina - that is a beauty of a fish!

churro - 4-11-2014 at 08:24 PM

Love all the photos! Time to get off this computer and get mt burro down to Baja

wessongroup - 4-11-2014 at 09:05 PM

Thanks much ...

Frank - 4-11-2014 at 10:19 PM

Santiago, I use the hole in the pocket as a tipper/leader dispenser while
I'm frustrating myself trying to fly fish from the beach. Sometimes the holes in the pockets are drains if I'm not watching what I'm doing and get knocked down.

The rest of the time my Columbia shirt is my "dress shirt" if I can't wear a tank top and shorts LOL.

Skipjack Joe - 4-11-2014 at 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paulina

P>*)))>{

Paulina,

Is that one of those pinto bass that pompano kept writing about? If so, it's one of the biggest that I've seen.

Santiago - 4-12-2014 at 06:23 AM

I once spent two or three days fishing the steams/lakes in the June Lakes loop area. After car camping and eating beanie weenies and Vienna sausages we decided to roll into a resort on the loop, Eagle something-or-other, for some fine dining.
The parking lot was full of Range Rovers, not a chevy or ford in sight. The full log chain saw sculptures of bears and eagles were 12' tall. All the footpaths were carefully raked pine needles so that the needles all went the same direction. When we walked into the bar, wearing our "It's not how deep you fish, it's how you wiggle your worm" T-shirts the looks we got from the Patagonia-dressed crowd was, well, let's just say 'not welcoming'. The fly gear glued to the walls as a form of decorating were far, far better than the 1960's-era Fenwicks we were using to actually fish with. The beer tap handles were unrecognizable. Finally a young black man, probably a student on summer job, came over to take our order. We asked him if he had ever actually served another black person in this establishment and he shook his head.
The mater'd came over hand asked if we were guests of the lodge and we said no. We were informed that the entire lodge was taken over by USC alumni for the week and this facility was guest-only. We left but on our way out we got our revenge: key-scratched a few Range Rovers with "Go Bruins", heh.

Santiago - 4-12-2014 at 09:05 AM

Paulina drags that out all the time - I think it's one of those plastic Billy Bass things.
Of course, she can out fish about 90% of the men in the south bay, me included.

Skipjack Joe - 4-12-2014 at 09:14 AM

I know. She caught Dern with barely a cast.