After a winter of cold听streams听and fishing double-nymph rigs, it鈥檚 always nice to get back in the water in the spring鈥攖hat鈥檚 if the weather doesn鈥檛 get in the way.听Near my home in Santa Fe,听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 听($130). It鈥檚 warm enough that I stay toasty, even if a front rolls in, thanks to the thick poly-spandex material throughout听the body of the jacket.听It has two big, warm pockets for me to shove my hands into if I need to thaw out. The stretchy synthetic听fabric听in both the shoulders听and the adjustable hood blocks the wind and, though it isn鈥檛 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鈥檓 releasing a fish or turning over rocks to look for bug life, my entire arm doesn鈥檛 get soaked. If that鈥檚 not enough, it comes in a black camo pattern so fish don鈥檛 see me. That was a joke; I鈥檓 not sure why Simms makes it in black camo. I鈥檓 just grateful the hoodie听also comes in blue so that my wife doesn鈥檛 make fun of me when I wear it.