There is no reason why you should know what I look like, but for the purposes of this blog post I am 6’ tall, my youngest girl who is an obsessed cross country runner keeps telling me that I have got a six pack in here somewhere and it’s trying to get out, I walk a lot in everyday life and for my fishing, and I walk faster than nearly anybody I ever see out fishing or walking their dog. I am 48 years old, I have been with the same girl since we were 19 so it’s not as if I am trying to impress her with my dress sense, and if you ever see me out and about in any walk of life then I think it’s fair to say that any kind of fashion and me have never been an item! Sartorial elegance has very obviously never been my thing, I can’t be bothered about what other people think about me, and I have been wearing BCWs for so long now that I reckon I know a fair amount about what to wear and what not to wear under your waders for maximum comfort and keeping cool or warm and comfortable and so on - and yes, it’s men in tights time. Here are a few conclusions about what to wear under your BCWs that I have come to over a lot of BCW wearing time:
Breathable chest waders might use the word breathable, but if you move around a lot in them you’re going to build up a bit of sweat inside them
How much sweat seems to depend on you, the waders, what you wear under them, the air temperature, how much time you spend actually wading, the speed you walk, and how much walking or scrambling around you might do for a particular fishing session
Why anybody would ever wear jeans or any kind of cotton clothing under any waders is beyond me, and especially if you are prone to sweating a bit
If you are deep-wading say in an estuary for longer periods of time, at most times of the year you will seriously notice how much colder you can get
I think that fishing in cold weather and not needing to move around very much I tends to require a different clothing approach to fishing that requires a decent bit of moving around
The neoprene socks at the bottom of your BCWs love to make your feet sweaty, and having tried all manner of different socks I now only ever wear the thinnest socks I can find because I don’t get cold feet with our fishing and I find them far more comfortable for long periods of time (wildly unexciting I know, but I went and checked my old Amazon orders and I have been mostly alternating between four pairs of the Bridgedale Base Layer Coolmax Liner socks now for nearly ten years, and they are still going strong)
Mobility and comfort are key to me here, and anything that I might wear under my BCWs which annoys me or “catches” is a complete no-go
I am not exaggerating when I say that I have most likely tried almost every combination of clothing that one might think about wearing under BCWs, from nothing more than a pair of boxer shorts and a long-sleeved technical warm weather fishing top through to two layers of warm stuff for night fishing in December when the temperature has dropped below zero. I know the thought of me fishing away in a pair of boxers under my waders isn’t exactly the most appealing thought, but however warm it might get I don’t personally think it’s a very good way to go because the material inside your BCWs can end up rubbing on bare skin and it gets uncomfortable over time.
I have also tried wearing those lightweight walking style trousers a fair few times under my BCWs, and whilst they do work really well and they are a great option, I guess I am so used to wearing leggings that it ends up driving me a bit mad if I feel any sense of material rubbing against material. If I know I am not going to be moving around very much and I am heading out night fishing in cold weather then I will often wear one of those fleece style bib and brace things which are designed for use under waders - and then layer up accordingly on my top half. The same when I know I will be spending a few hours waist deep in an estuary in colder weather especially, and although this is a rare way to fish for me, it is so noticeable how much colder you get when fishing like this. Speak to a fly angler who is actually standing in a cold river in a pair of BCWs for hours on end chasing salmon - it gets cold.
I used to keep hearing about these leggings that a lot of the fly anglers out in New Zealand and so on would wear for some of their wet-wading especially, and a bit of research found me on the Patagonia and Simms websites and some of their specialist under-wader clothing. I went and bought a couple of pairs of their lightest weight and slightly loose style leggings in the belief that they must surely be better than what I was currently wearing because it’s Simms and Patagonia and they are a couple of big fly fishing brands. Both pairs of not remotely cheap leggings are currently sitting in a cupboard gathering dust because it turned out that they weren’t nearly as good as what I was already wearing.
Which were and still are the Cold Gear and Heat Gear leggings from Under Armour, which let’s face it is men in tights because they are tight fitting and I believe they are actually designed for running and gym work and so on (I don’t do either). There are of course loads of different brands of running leggings and compression tops which will no doubt work the same, but for whatever reason the first ones I tried many years ago now were the Under Armour ones, and because they worked so well for me from day one I keep on using them. From time to time I get it into my head to try something different as per the paragraph above, but I have yet to find anything more comfortable to wear under my BCWs than compression style leggings. Nothing ever catches when you’re moving around, the leggings feel like a part of you they are so comfortable and easy to wear, and yes, I won’t deny it, at times I feel like a gazelle as I jump from rock to rock (and then trip over and quickly look around to check my mate didn’t see). I know it’s not a very nice thought, but the trick with wearing leggings under waders is to go commando. Nothing ever rubs.
When it’s colder outside I will wear a pair of the Under Armour Cold Gear leggings and a Cold Gear compression top, and whilst the sight of me in this tight fitting gear is a bit strange to say the least, I’m in my waders and nobody needs to know. Over the top of my Cold Gear compression top which is as comfortable and easy to wear as the Cold Gear leggings I will wear a long-sleeve fishing top which happens to be from the Columbia brand because I tend to buy them when I’m in the US and they work well for me. Again, as with the Under Armour leggings and tops, there are plenty of other tops you could wear on your top half, but I can only really talk about what I wear here. Aside from a cold night fishing session at a location where I might not be moving around much so I might need more warmth, I can’t remember the last time I needed to wear more than a pair of Under Armour Cold Gear leggings, a pair of those Bridgedale Base Layer Coolmax Liner socks, an Under Armour Cold Gear compression top, a long-sleeve fishing top, my BCWs, and a waterproof jacket (hat and very occasionally gloves to suit). Some of the clothing we can get our hands on these days is just incredible with how efficient and lightweight it is, and also how warm it can keep us if needs be without overheating.
For regular weather fishing I will wear a pair of thinner Under Armour Heat Gear leggings, a pair of those Bridgedale Base Layer Coolmax Liner socks, my long-sleeve fishing top, my BCWs, and then a waterproof jacket if required. I do have a Heat Gear compression top but I don’t actually like wearing it very much, so if it gets a bit chillier I find the easiest thing to do is carry a second long-sleeve fishing top in my rucksack and put it on over the other one if required. In all the gear described I have walked miles and miles for my fishing and still been completely comfortable, and even if a bit of sweat does build up over time I only need to turn my waders inside out after fishing and then the clothing I am wearing is so efficient that any signs of sweating disappear very quickly. If I am not wearing BCWs in my Epic Berlingo on the way to fishing then I’ll put the BCWs and wading boots in the back and wear a pair of shorts over my leggings, plus Crocs of course - it’s a hell of a look! I can still remember a friend and I ordering a takeaway in Dungarvan one evening, and all the locals who came in to do the same couldn’t help but look and giggle at us sitting there in our leggings, shorts and Crocs. As I said earlier, worrying about how I look takes up none of my time!
So there you go - my fashion tips for the weekend. If Under Armour stopped making their stuff tomorrow I am sure I could easily find something comparable and most likely a bit cheaper, but whatever the case I have tried and failed to find anything I like wearing more under my BCWs than a good pair of tights. To be fair to this Under Armour gear it lasts really well for me as under wader wear. You all have a good weekend, I sincerely hope you are getting a bit of this early spring weather we are currently getting here in Cornwall, please stay safe, don’t let the thought of me in tight clothing ruin your day, and all the recent news points towards a lot of hope for the coming months……...