Gear: Armachillo Collection

Duluth Trading Company had workers in hot climates primarily in mind when they created the Armachillo line of clothes, but you sure wouldn't know these shirts, pants and hats weren't designed specifically for fishermen. The sun-protective and lightweight fabric and the design make the button-down shirts as comfortable and nonrestrictive as any I've ever worn, and the cargo pants and shorts fit comfortably whether you're sitting or standing and have pockets in all the right places.

What's extra cool, though, (and I mean that both literally and figuratively) is that Duluth Trading Company embeds microscopic pieces of jade in the fabric, which somehow cools the whole garment and consequently your skin. I can't claim that I fully understand the technology, but I've tried it out and can tell you that it works and that I'll definitely be reaching for Armachillo clothes when I'm going to be fishing in the summer heat.

The Armachillo clothes collection, which apparently was field tested last summer in the oil fields of Texas, includes shirts in button-down, polo and tee-shirt styles, cargo pants and shorts and even sun-protective hats of a few different styles.

I'm no clothes junkies and don't normally give tremendous thought to what I wear. I realize, though, that fishing clothes are tools of sorts, and that dry rain gear, warm winter wear and cool summer clothes truly make fishing trips more fun and can even help you catch more fish because you are comfortable and better able to concentrate on fishing patterns and execution.