Fly fishing gloves are a great and useful addition to fly fishing clothing, whether it's warm gloves - for cold spring, autumn and winter months, or thin gloves with UV factor for hot and sunny summer season. Anyway, it is a great protection for our hands, where we must have the power to fly casting and feel for a very detailed work with a fly line! In this article we will focus in detail on the main use and advanteges of all kinds and types of fly fishing gloves - very important element of our fly fishing gear!
Fly fishing, if you want fishing gloves can be divided into three basic groups, which correspond to the main use and importance of gloves included in these groups! According to the most meaningful use, I would therefore start with the gloves that we will use most often when fishing, in the cold spring, autumn and winter months of the fishing season - Gloves For The Cold Season. Furthermore, I would like to establish the type of gloves whose main meaning is to protect our hands from sharp sun rays and stinging insects- Gloves For Hot & Sunny Season. And the third type of gloves I would characterize as Gloves For Hard Conditions and I mean mainly "work" or "fighting" gloves, which are used mainly when fishing for a big and strong fish at sea or from the boat. Fighting with such fish can take a long time and subsequent handling with them can be dangerous, so the comfort and safety of the fisherman's hands is very important!
GLOVES FOR THE COLD SEASON we will use it most often in all-season fishing. Their task is simple, namely to protect our hands from cold and wet during the cold months of the fishing season! It is mainly about the turn of autumn and winter, winter and the transition of winter to the early spring months. If you want to keep your hands warm and comfortable at this time of the fishing season, it is good to buy some suitable gloves made of quality and flexible material. The material of such gloves should meet several conditions! In terms of its surface layer, our hands should protect against the effects of cold wind (Windstopper) and not let too much water (rain showers) and outside cold or frost (winter season) to our hands. The inner layer of gloves should provide our hands with a comfortable and warm place to keep our hands well blooded and sensitive! These conditions are fulfilled by 100% Fly Fishing Mittens Guideline Fir-Skin CGX or Fly Fishing Gloves Simms Gore Infinium Half Finger Black. This aspect is of utmost importance! Although we cannot expect frequent manipulation of the catch in the water in a very cold winter season, none of us certainly wants and cannot need the gloves to cool us for the rest of the fishing day even after one dip to the water! Therefore, once you wet these gloves, just squeeze out the maximum of water and the gloves will continue to perform their warm and protective function to the best of their ability! You must also take into account that the hand in which you are holding the rod or more often manipulate the fly line will always be more exposed to moisture than the other hand. Therefore, it is important to have really good gloves to eliminate these adverse effects!
For a transitional period, when the temperature and climate change often around the water, the "light version" of Fly Fishing Gloves Guideline Fir-Skin is ideal for use during the colder spring months and the coming autumn. Their outer material is smooth again to resist external influences, but the other side of the fabric is covered with a fine thick hair, which is very comfortable and warm for our hands! Quality fishing gloves of the famous brand SIMMS.
It can be said that all fly fishing gloves are made with cut ends (sometimes only the 3 most important fingers - thumb, index finger and middle finger), which are ideally stitched to avoid subsequent fraying of the edges. This matter has its foundation! The glove-protected and warmed hand blood streams these exposed fingertips, giving them sensitivity, which is very important when tying flies, creating new leader or detecting a fine fish strike through the fly line. It is very practical, although in really cold weather every piece of fabric is good on your hands! ;-)
Good Tip: Do not buy too tight/small sizes when choosing gloves for the cold season. The material of the glove is mostly flexible of course and after some time of active use it always allows a bit. However, if the gloves will contract, tighten or push your hands after putting on, clearly choose a larger size. Such "protected" hands are not bloodied, and therefore can not be warm!
GLOVES FOR HOT & SUNNY SEASON get their place of honor in fly fishing wardrobe and equipment especially in the summer months from June to August (or at other times in the tropical climate), when the intensity of the sun's rays is really high, temperatures often attack or exceed 35 °C. On the water, it is necessary to protect our skin from the dangerous and - nowadays thanks to ever-expanding ozone holes - often by carcinogenic UV radiation! Sure, healthy and natural tan suits everybody, but during fishing-hunting mode we really do not deal with skin color, let alone protect our skin with a regular layer of sunscreen. Reasonable fishermen protect most of the body with suitable aerial clothing during this period, but many of them forget their hands!
The main task of gloves for hot & sunny season is therefore to protect the skin of the hands from the sun's rays! These gloves are usually made of very soft, smooth and ultra-light stretch material that we do not feel on our hands in a moment, but the main advantage of this material is that it does not let UV rays to our skin. Gloves are often produced that combine sun and sting insect protection, such as intrusive mosquitoes and other stinging flies, which is great especially in places where they are abundant! If we want to cool our hands on a hot day, just dip them in the water and the gloves then cool our skin, which is very pleasant on particularly hot days!
This type of glove cuts from the previous types - also fingerless models that fit well to the anatomy of our hand. Often they also have free space palms, respectively this part is sewn with a fine synthetic leather or rubberized in various ways, so that the angler can better and firmly grasp the fly rod! Exceptional glove models for tropical areas and hot weather include Buff® Original Summer Gloves. Cheaper variants are gloves from Leichi Fishing!
A great alternative to these ultra-light gloves are the Buff® Original UV Coastal Arm Sleeves, which I focus more on in my "Fishing Tackle On Test" dedicated to these great fly fishing accessories!
GLOVES FOR HARD CONDITION are the last type of fishing gloves whose main task is to protect our hands mainly from physical damage, while warming hands or protecting them from the sun's rays are rather additional advantages of this type of gloves! Although the main use of these gloves in sea fishing, where the fishing conditions are more difficult and harder than in freshwater fishing, I can imagine the advantages of this type of gloves when fishing from kayak or boat, where we need to paddling or rowing even over long distances and in such a move on the water - moreover, under not quite suitable conditions - we will use good gloves of tough material with strengthening of the most strained parts. Such gloves will then protect our hands from burns, calluses or blisters and scratches.
When fishing on sea - when catching big fish and then handling them - these gloves are an indispensable accessory to fishing gear, because in this way of fishing - heavy fly fishing - it can often and easily cause some injury to our hands, whether alone or protracted fight with a strong fish, or during subsequent catching, taking photos or releasing the fish back to the water. We could say that these gloves will be suitable in any situation in which we will be in contact with a fish that is "armed" with large sharp teeth, fins, hard scales, etc.! The material used for this type of gloves is therefore as strong as possible with a long service life, the palm area is usually padded and tightening the gloves is secured with Velcro, to prevent their pulling away in some unexpected situation! Buff® Original Fighting & Work Gloves Pro-Series & Angler Gloves Pro-Series are excellent examples of such gloves.
Finally, I would like to mention a very important thing! Although fly fishing gloves are intended to protect us from various influences, think about fish and their safety! If possible (in most cases), do not touch the fish with dry gloves! In the event that you have to handle the fish with gloves, so only in sufficiently wet gloves! Of course, the most ideal solution is not to touch the fish at all (especially for smaller catches), or hold it safely in wet hands or just above the water (making pictures). Any other way - after prolonged contact with the fish skin - leads to the removal of the protective layer of slime from the fish body, which can cause early damage fish skin (mold) and slow painful death of our catch!
