cold weather gloves

The new Simms Extream line of gloves: Built to keep anglers on the water longer while fly fishing in cold weather. Here at Vail Valley Anglers, it is winter in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, ski season has begun at Vail and Beaver Creek. Since we guide and fish all year long we know winter fly fishing demands that anglers use the best gear available. Simms put a lot of thought into the design of the new Extream gloves. They have put together of piece of performance fly fishing gear that will keep anglers on the water longer during the colder months. Whether it’s steelheading on the West Coast, Striper fishing on a freezing beach, or plying a Colorado tailwater in January for trophy rainbows. These technically advanced gloves are built specifically for fly fishing. Unlike many “winter fly fishing” models that simply cut off the fingertips of cheap, poorly designed gloves and call it good. Technical Materials and Features Warmth and water resistance are the key elements in a winter fly fishing glove. Cold, wet hands end more winter fly fishing sessions than anything else. The Simms Extream Gloves utilize the best synthetic insulating fabrics and materials available. Polartec Powershiled Pro provides an extremely high warmth-to-weight ratio. This water-resistant, high-loft insulation is backed up with a DWR treatment which further blocks and sheds moisture. The stretch fleece also adds dexterity for manipulating fly lines. You can also tie knots and or posting a selfie with a winter time trophy fish. Three Models to Choose From: Simms designed three models of the the Exstream Gloves to satisfy angler preference and specific winter fly fishing needs: Simms Extream Foldover Mitt This model combines a fingerless glove with a mitten top that folds over the fully insulated, water-resistant glove for maximum warmth. The mitten top folds down when your fingers tips get chilly and snaps back to the extended cuff for finger dexterity and stays out the way while you are stripping fly line or picking out a hot fly. The Simms Exstream Foldover Mitt is also a good choice for rowing a boat into the wind and wet conditions of a winter blizzard. Simms Extream Flex Glove The Simms Exstream Flex Glove is a full-finger glove. This glove will keep your digits covered and toasty. It will also provide enough dexterity to manage fly lines, open zippers and with the water-resistant Polartec Powershield Pro insulation and outer DWR treatment your fingers won’t get wet. For finer work requiring the use of fingertips, like tying on a size #22 midge larvae or sending a fishing report text to your buddies that bailed because it was cold, the Flex Glove offer slit openings on the index and middle fingers as well as the thumb. Simms Half-Finger The Simms Exstream Half-Finger Glove is made for days when keeping your hands warm is important but it’s not so cold that you should probably be sipping a cocktail by the fire. They are great for anglers that like to change flies a lot, who are doing a lot of line management or simply don’t suffer as much as some of us from cold hands. Fly fishing guides often prefer this model because they provide the maximum amount of dexterity but still keep hands warm. Because of the superior insulation and water-resistance this model out performs other half-finger designs that become worthless when wet. Field Test On a recent trip to my hometown in northwestern Pennsylvania, the Simms Extream Foldover Mitt got the ultimate test. The south shore of Lake Erie is not a very inviting place weather-wise in early winter. It’s almost always cold, damp and windy and this year the horrible elements were no exception. The steelhead and lake-run brown trout could care less about nasty weather. The fishing is actually much better when cold and precipitation prevail. We experienced blizzards, freezing rain and generally unforgiving conditions. The Extream Foldover Mitt is the first winter fly fishing glove I’ve worn that actually kept my hands dry all day. They stayed dry even while hand landing unruly large browns and steelhead. Warmth was exceptional and I was able to stay out and enjoy the incredible fishing. All this when freezing rain and icy winds off the lake drove everyone else off the water. For more information on the Simms Extream Gloves or any of our winter fly fishing gloves ask the experts at Vail Valley Anglers in Edwards, Colorado or check out vailvalleyanglers.com Brody Henderson, Guide and Content Writer

cold weather gloves

Simms Exstream Gloves Review