Fishing hats: which style to choose

The best fishing hat is the one that suits your water and your weather: a mesh-back trucker cap for hot days on the boat, a bucket hat when you want shade all round, a structured snapback for a sharp look off the water, and a rib-knit beanie for cold mornings on the lake. Below we compare the eight shapes we embroider with fish, and what each one is made of, so you can choose a fishing hat with the right fit, fabric and fish on the front.

What to look for in a fishing hat

Three things matter most. First, shade: a cap's bill shades your eyes and cuts glare off the water, but it leaves your ears and neck in the sun. Dermatologists quoted in angling magazines suggest a wide brim all round when you will be out for hours. Second, air: on a hot boat deck a mesh back lets heat out. Third, fit: an adjustable strap, a snap closure or an elastic band all keep a hat on in the wind, and each feels a little different.

Then there is the fish itself. Many anglers wear the species they chase, and a fishing hat design is a quiet way to say whether you are a bass angler, a trout fly fisher or a popper angler chasing GTs on the reef.

Trucker caps: the classic fishing hat

Trucker caps have a cotton or blended front and a mesh back. We embroider our fish on two: the washed trucker cap, in 100% pigment-dyed cotton twill with an unstructured crown, a soft mesh back and a snapback, and the stretch-fit trucker, with a structured front, a mesh back and an elastic band in place of a snap. See the trucker caps.

Snapbacks, dad hats and washed caps

The snapback is the most structured of our caps: a high six-panel crown in an acrylic and wool blend, a flat visor with a grey under-visor and a snap closure, about 55 to 60 cm around. If you search for a snapback with a fish on it, this is the one that keeps its shape. See the snapbacks.

For something softer, the dad hat is low-profile chino cotton twill with a strap and an antique buckle, and the washed cotton cap is enzyme-washed twill with a metal slider. Both are unstructured, so they fold into a bag.

Rope caps and corduroy caps

The rope cap is the one for the boat: light polyester ripstop, a five-panel semi-structured crown, rope trim on the bill and a performance sweatband. The corduroy cap is its opposite, soft 100% cotton corduroy with an adjustable buckle, for cooler days and evenings on the dock.

Bucket hats: shade all round

A bucket hat shades your face, ears and the back of your neck at once, which is why so many anglers keep one for long summer days. Ours is cotton with a little stretch, a mid-profile crown, a matching under-brim and a soft sweatband, 55 to 58.7 cm around, with the fish on the front. See the bucket hats.

Beanies for cold water

For ice-cold mornings on a trout river or a pike lake, the fisherman beanie is a wide rib knit in 100% acrylic with a fold-up cuff, and the fish sits on the cuff. It comes with each of our thirteen freshwater fish. See the beanies.

Which fishing hat for which kind of fishing

On a boat in strong sun, choose air and shade: a trucker cap, the rope cap or the bucket hat. Wading a river or walking a bank, an unstructured dad hat or washed cap is light and packs away when the weather turns. On a cold lake at dawn, the beanie. And for the drive home, the café and the weekend, the snapback and the corduroy cap look as good off the water as on it.

Structure is worth a thought too. A structured front, like the snapback or the stretch-fit trucker, holds the embroidered fish upright and crisp. An unstructured crown sits lower and softer and moulds to your head with wear. Neither is better; it depends on how you like a cap to feel.

Choosing your fish

We embroider 36 game fish. Freshwater anglers can pick from the largemouth and smallmouth bass, three trouts, the pike, the muskellunge, the walleye, the carp, the catfish, the bluegill, the king salmon and the European perch. Inshore and on the flats there are the redfish, the tarpon, the snook, the bonefish, the permit and the hamour, and offshore the tunas, the marlin, the sailfish, the mahi-mahi and the GT. Every fish comes on all eight cap and bucket hat shapes, and the freshwater fish on the beanie too.

How our fish are embroidered

Every fish is drawn true to its species and machine embroidered in coloured thread on the front of the cap, about 8 cm across, as a simple shape in a few colours so the stitching comes out clean. Every hat is one size, with its measurements on its page, and is made for you after you order. Browse every style together in all the hats.

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