Fishing gloves: three different jobs, three different gloves

Sun gloves

The backs of your hands get more sun than any other skin on your body while fishing, and they get it from two directions because water reflects ultraviolet light back up. They are also the hardest place to keep sunscreen on, because you are constantly putting your hands in the water.

A sun glove is thin, stretchy UPF-rated fabric with the fingertips cut off. The open tips are the whole design: you still need to tie a knot, feel a bite and pick up a small lure.

What to look for: a stated UPF rating, a cuff long enough to overlap a sleeve so there is no gap at the wrist, and a snug fit. A loose sun glove bunches under a rod grip and you will take it off within an hour.

They are also thin enough to be nearly invisible in use, which matters more than it sounds — the best protective gear is the kind you forget you put on. Our sun protection page makes the same argument about clothing generally.

Fish-handling gloves

A different problem entirely. Pike and walleye have teeth, catfish have spines in the dorsal and pectoral fins, and almost everything has sharp gill plates and a treble hook somewhere near your fingers.

A handling glove is a heavier, textured glove designed for cut and puncture resistance and grip on a wet, thrashing fish. Some are coated; some use a cut-resistant knit.

What to look for: a stated cut-resistance level if the maker publishes one, coverage across the palm and the fingers rather than just the palm, and enough grip that you are not squeezing the fish to hold it.

That last point is the one worth taking seriously. A fish squeezed hard enough to stop it moving has usually been damaged internally, and if you intend to release it, a glove that grips well is a fish-welfare item as much as a safety one. Our pike setup page covers the rest of the toothy-fish handling problem.

Cold-weather gloves

The hardest category, because everything that keeps your hands warm also stops them working. Tying on a jig in December with thick gloves is not possible, and doing it with bare hands is why people go home early.

The design that solves it is the fold-back mitt: a mitten shell that flips off the fingers and secures with a magnet or a tab, over a fingerless liner. Fingers stay covered while you fish, come out for thirty seconds to tie, and go back in.

What to look for: a windproof outer, because wind chill on wet hands is the actual enemy; a fold-back that stays folded when you need it to; and a fit that works over a thin liner if you fish in real cold.

Fully waterproof gloves are a trap unless you are handling water constantly. They keep sweat in as well as water out, and a damp glove that cannot dry is colder than a wet one that can. Our ice fishing gear page covers the layering approach that goes with them.

What one pair can and cannot do

A sun glove offers no puncture resistance and no warmth. A handling glove is too thick and too hot for a summer day and too clumsy for tying. A winter mitt is neither of the other two.

If you buy one pair, buy for the fishing you do most. If you fish year round for pike, buy two.

Why there is no product table here

Because gloves are sold on adjectives. Very few publish a UPF rating, a cut-resistance level or a material weight on the page you buy from, and picking a model without those would mean asserting something we had not read.

The specification to insist on is in each section above. Applied to the three categories, that is: sun gloves on Amazon, fish-handling gloves on Amazon and fold-back fishing mitts on Amazon.