Today, like every day, I opened my email to see a litany of messages from fly fishing companies. Each got a quick glance. One gave me pause. There was a new pair of wading boots that was being touted. New technology. New angling opportunities. New! I bet they work really well. But they sure are ugly.

Perhaps I’m being overly critical. Maybe I’m superficial. After all, fish don’t care. Fly fishing isn’t a fashion show. Only vain and inefficacious anglers give a second thought to how they look. Or it is conceivable, that if given the choice between something hideous and something less-than-hideous, people can take a moment to choose.

Styles come and styles go.  In my 25 years of fly fishing I can finger at least three distinct color palettes that dominated the catalog pages: British khaki and forest green, tan and sage, steel and navy. We’re not at neon and floral prints… yet.

Trends are quite subjective, too. For example, you’ve got to be quite the physical specimen to look good in waders. Regardless of the colorway you’re still going to be festooned in baggy nylon and oversized boots. Anywhere off the river you’ll stand out. People in Wal-Mart would even stop and stare.

Back to the article inspiring boots. Again, I bet they work really well. Function matters so very much. That is why we wade in waders and not in tailored chinos. That is why we fish in multi-pocketed, overly-vented, primary-color-colored, collared shirts instead of normal shirts. Function looks at form in the face and laughs. And snorts.

Seriously, being comfortable matters quite a bit. Fly fishers aren’t performance athletes. But for that precise reason we need things to stretch and breathe. We need extra support. We need more traction. We need stuff to stand up to being abused in the woods and then survive being thrown into the trunk of a hot car until we get out to fish again. All of that necessitates space age polymers integrated into cutting edge fabric blends. So who are we to say it is a little ugly?

Years ago, the fly shop I worked at ran a number of old fishing VHS tapes on loop. One featured singer-songwriter John Denver catching big rainbows in Patagonia. Of course. Denver was wearing what looked to be dark teal neoprene waders. There was nothing offensive about teal waders, per se. They just stuck out. A millionaire musician in Chile probably didn’t give a hoot what he looked like. (Interestingly, we sold maroon waders at the time… the complementary color of teal.)

However, most of us aren’t millionaire musicians. And it isn’t the 90’s. So if I’m given the choice between maroon and slate grey? I’ll think about it, but I’ll choose the more subtle colorway. It doesn’t take much thought. But different strokes for different fisher folks. You can have your gaudy. As long as you’re catching fish and having fun, right?

After all, look how happy John Denver is in his teal waders: