A good hat can vastly improve the day's fishing. It won't make you catch more, but it will keep you dry in the rain and cool in the sun. A fishing hat also helps shade your eyes from the glare of light off the water, keeps bugs out of your hair and prevents sunburn on the scalp. A fishing hat can also be stylish and provide a handy location to stash extra hooks, lures and chewing gum.
Up-Downer Ball Caps
While ball caps are the most common hat around, the Bass Pro Shops OutdoorSite Library says they are not ideal for fishing. Wind will whip them off your head, and they tend to get sweaty. The better option for ball-cap aficionados is the up-downer, a ball cap with an extended bill and a flap that rolls down in the back to keep bugs and sun off your neck. Many true ball-cap wearers imitate this flap by putting a bandana over their head before setting on the ball cap. The primary purveyors of fishing gear, such as Orvis and Cabelas, offer many models of up-downer caps, including Cabela's Sun Cutter, Outdoor Research's Sun Runner and Orvis's Long Billed Flats Cap.
Boonies and Buckets
Boonie hats and bucket hats are both canvas hats with all-around brims that sport classic fishing style. Boonie hats are those with a shorter crown and wider brim that can be rakishly rolled up on one or both sides, while a bucket hat has a taller crown portion and a downsloping rigid brim. The experts at Bass Pro Shops note that the light color of these canvas hats helps keep you cool while the brim shades the light from your eyes. Most boonie and bucket hat models---such as Cabela's Made in the Shade Boonie Hat, the Columbia Bonehead Booney or the Columbia Blood and Guts Bucket---have canvas hatbands that not only help hold that hat's shape but also provide a convenient place to stick hooks, flies and lures.
Straw Hats
Bass Pro Shops recommends a mesh hat crown for good ventilation. The ultimate lightweight ventilated hat is made of straw and provides lightweight shade while letting the breeze blow through. Straw hats withstand water and float for quite some time if dropped overboard. Orvis's stunning Lochsa River Straw Hat features a wide, eye-shading brim and woven canvas hat band, while Cabela's own Rio Breezer combines a firm canvas brim with a straw mesh crown and a handy chin-strap to keep the hat in place when racing to catch the run across the lake.
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