Fishing umbrellas are built to deal with all types of weather, keeping you dry when it’s raining, shielded from the wind when it’s cold and intense sunlight when it’s hot. The most important thing is that the brolly needs to be waterproof, backed up by solid and durable. Specialist fishing umbrellas are suited to fishing day or night sessions which don’t want to take mountains of fishing gear with them. A standard brolly is okay for daytime use, but you will probably need an overwrap to make it more enclosed for night sessions.
Whether fishing in torrential rain or bright sunshine, an umbrella helps you stay focused on the job, which wouldn’t be the case if you become uncomfortably wet or sunburnt. Most specialist umbrellas have storm sides you can peg down, helping protect you and your gear even more, when it’s windy.
There are different types of umbrellas. Some are super lightweight for anglers that like to carry minimum kit and keep on the move. Others are more substantial for those who prefer to stay put once they pick a swim. Most brollies have a central telescopic pole, either pushed into the ground or clamped to a chair or seat box. However, some more expensive umbrella systems provide more headspace, having a rib structure that doesn’t require a support pole, simply pegging the shelter down to keep it stable.
Umbrellas can be bought in up to 50-inch sizes, giving enough span to cover you and most of your fishing gear. There’s a big choice of umbrellas to choose from, with tilt mechanisms that allow adjustments to keep the canopy out of the way of your rod or pole.
Umbrellas designs can be bought as brolly systems, which allow the shelter to be fully enclosed by adding an overwrap. This gives the best of both worlds, providing a normal brolly by day, turning into a proper enclosed shelter by night.