Youโ€™ve seen them on TV, in the magazines and online. You thought, how do they do it? How can Jim Sammons, Drew Gregory and Kayak Kevin Whitley spend their lives paddle fishing? The answer isnโ€™t skill, talent or good looks, itโ€™s their lucky fishing hats.


Famous Kayak Anglers Dish on Their Lucky Fishing Hats

kevin whitley holds up a large fish while wearing his lucky fishing hat
From his boat to his gear to his food, Whitley doesnโ€™t hit the water unless the fish gods are satisfied. | Photo: Kevin Whitley

Kayak Kevin Whitley

As one of Kayak Kevin Whitleyโ€™s longest fishing buddies, I can tell you no one is more superstitious. From his boat to his gear to his food, Whitley doesnโ€™t hit the water unless the fish gods are satisfied. You bet his fishing hat is lucky.

โ€œSeven years ago, I got an AFTCO visor with a redfish on it,โ€ Whitley starts. That season, the hat proved lucky. โ€œEven when I would wear a hat from a different sponsor, I kept the redfish visor hanging from my camera mount.โ€ Eventually, Whitley collected silver-dollar-sized redfish scales and stored them in a small pouch. โ€œI pinned the pouch to the visor and now the fish are part of my lucky fishing hat.โ€

Whitley doesnโ€™t even wear the hat anymore. โ€œIt doesnโ€™t fit with my long hair,โ€ he laughs, but the hat still accompanies him on every trip. โ€œIf I forget it at home, Iโ€™ll go back and get it.โ€


Drew Gregory holds a fish up to the camera while wearing his lucky fishing hat
Drew Gregoryโ€™s lucky hat has accompanied him over the world on some of his most significant catches. | Photo: Drew Gregory

Drew Gregory

Drew Gregory and his lucky fishing hat hit the tournament trail at the same time. โ€œI designed the green trucker hat as a prototype for the River Bassinโ€™ Trail,โ€ he recalls. The hat has accompanied Gregory all over the world on some of his most significant catches. โ€œI was wearing the hat when I caught my first 10-pound river bass,โ€ he remembers.

Gregory defines a lucky fishing hat as one that keeps coming back. โ€œIโ€™ve lost it and recovered it so many times,โ€ he chuckles, โ€œA branch will knock it off then Iโ€™ll miraculously find it downriver.โ€ Heโ€™s even jumped into rapids to recover the hat. โ€œA few times I thought it was a goner, but it ended up coming back to me.โ€

Observant viewers will notice that Gregoryโ€™s green trucker has been missing from recent episodes of Hooked on Wild Waters, but you can be the hat is safe. โ€œIf I start fishing tournaments again,โ€ Gregory assures us, โ€œIโ€™ll bring the hat out of retirement.โ€


 

Jim Sammons fishes while wearing his lucky fishing hat
Probably the most famous hat in kayak fishing is Jim Sammonsโ€™ floppy brimmed canvas chapeau. | Photo: Will Richardson

Jim Sammons

Probably the most famous hat in kayak fishing is Jim Sammonsโ€™ floppy brimmed canvas chapeau. โ€œIโ€™ve been wearing the same style hat for 20 years,โ€ he brags. The hat is a special-designed, custom fishing hat by Ocean Design out of Hawaii.

Sammons, host of The Kayak Fishing Show, has been through a few of the hats. โ€œI lost one in the Arctic Circle,โ€ he laments, โ€œand I gave up a marlin to save my hat, once.โ€ The production crew was speechless as they watched Sammons sacrifice a hard-won marlin bite to save his sinking hat.

โ€œReplacing one is hard,โ€ he tries to explain, โ€œyou have to season it right.โ€ That means lots of time on the water without any time in the washing machine. โ€œThe closest I get to washing it is jumping in a pool,โ€ he laughs.

Is this fishing hat lucky? You bet. | Feature photo: Kayak Kevin Whitley



This article was first published in the Winter 2016 issue of
Kayak Angler Magazine.
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โ€œThank God my dad wasnโ€™t a podiatrist,โ€ Ric jokes about following in the footsteps of a famous outdoor writer. After graduating from Radford University and serving two years in Russia with the Peace Corps, Ric returned to Virginia Beach and started writing for The Fisherman magazine, where his dad was editor. When the kayak fishing scene exploded, Ric was among the first to get onboard. His 2007 book, The Complete Kayak Fisherman is one of the first how-to books to introduce anglers to paddle fishing. In 2010, Ric took on the role of editor at Kayak Angler magazine where he covered the latest trends in kayak fishing tactics, tackle, gear and destinations. A ravenous angler, Ric fishes from the mountain to the sea chasing everything from smallmouth bass to striped bass.

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