After a winter of coldstreamsand fishing double-nymph rigs, it’s always nice to get back in the water in the spring—that’s if the weather doesn’t get in the way.Near my home in Santa Fe,it can go from sunny to snowing in minutes, or the temperature can drop 20 degrees, or it can start spitting rain and then drop 20 degrees.
Which is why I love the ($130). It’s warm enough that I stay toasty, even if a front rolls in, thanks to the thick poly-spandex material throughoutthe body of the jacket.It has two big, warm pockets for me to shove my hands into if I need to thaw out. The stretchy syntheticfabricin both the shouldersand the adjustable hood blocks the wind and, though it isn’t quite waterproof, keeps the water off me long enough so I can at least get under a pine tree for cover. Best of all, the Katafront has water-resistant cuffs, so when I’m releasing a fish or turning over rocks to look for bug life, my entire arm doesn’t get soaked. If that’s not enough, it comes in a black camo pattern so fish don’t see me. That was a joke; I’m not sure why Simms makes it in black camo. I’m just grateful the hoodiealso comes in blue so that my wife doesn’t make fun of me when I wear it.