For years I searched for gloves I could wear while fishing. I have dozens of pairs on which I spent way too much money and wore once. None allowed me to feel the bites, cast both bait caster and spinning reel, protect me from sun in summer and stay warm in winter.
At the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association meeting this past spring our “goody” bag included a pair of AFTCO Solpro fishing gloves. I thought the size was marked wrong, the XXL looked way too small for my hands. But I struggled and got them on, and they “fit like a glove!”
They are snug on my hands, but that helps feel the rod and reel while fishing. The fingertips are cut out as are the palms, giving me good skin contact with line, rod and reel. And they have protected my hands from sunburn this spring and my hands have not gotten hot while wearing them, either.
I did not think they would be very warm in the winter and I am not sure they will be. But when I pick up a cold can of Diet Rite Cola I feel the cold on my palm and fingertips but not where the glove material is between my hand and the can. I hope that means they will be warm.
The tight gloves are hard to get on and I have to be careful to get my fingers headed in the right direction, but it gets easier each time I put them on. I put them on each morning when the sun starts to get warm.
With them and a gaiter, a simple tube of sun block stretchable cloth that goes over my head and covers my ears, neck and most of my face, I am well protected without putting on sunscreen except on the tip of my nose. The gaiter was given to me when I attended a Bassmasters Classic as a media observer a few years ago.
Just my luck, when I went to the company site apparently the Solpro gloves are no longer available. That is probably why they were given to us, they are discontinued. It looks like they have been replaced with a “Solago” named glove. It looks the same in pictures.
The Solago sun gloves sell for $29.00. I am ordering a spare pair, but was disappointed when shipping cost $9.99, over a third of the cost of the gloves! They did offer a free gaiter with my first order, though.
And after I got home from my trip, Linda asked if I thought to check Amazon. I had not, they were the same price but shipping was free if you are a Prime member. I could have saved $10 if I had not been in such a hurry!