Poncho

Which Poncho shirt should you buy?

Poncho is a fishing shirt company from Austin, Texas. Its founder, Clay Spencer, worked as a fly fishing guide in Alaska and couldn’t stand the shirts anglers wore at the time. They were baggy and full of loops and straps that got in the way. So Poncho cuts its shirts trim, like a good button-down, and keeps only the pockets you use. Most are made from a light, stretchy synthetic with sun protection built in, and each one has a name instead of a style number, like The Bonito or The Kalispell.

Poncho groups its shirts by fabric and style. The two you’ll see most of on our wall are the Original, the shirt Poncho launched with in 2018, and the Western, the same shirt with pearl snaps. Around them sit a flannel for cold mornings, a denim shirt, a tougher ripstop version of the Original called Tuff-Thread, and a cotton polo.

If it’s your first Poncho, pick between the Original and the Western. Both are cut from the same nylon and spandex blend, which Poncho calls Performance Nylon. It stretches four ways, Poncho says it dries in minutes, and it has UPF 50+ built in.

The two differ at the front. The Original has magnetic chest pockets you can open one-handed, a hidden zippered pocket, a sunglasses holder and a built-in lens cloth. The Western keeps the zip pocket, the lens cloth and the vented back, then closes with pearl snaps and adds western styling on the shoulders and pockets. If the shirt has to go from the boat to dinner, the snaps dress up better. Poncho’s own warning on the Original: don’t wear the magnetic pockets if you have a pacemaker. The Western has no magnets.

Tuff-Thread is the Original rebuilt for abuse. Poncho weaves thicker threads through it in a crosshatch, so a snag on a mesquite thorn stays a pulled thread and doesn’t open into a tear. It costs $15 more than a long sleeve Original, and you only need it if your shirts usually die of holes.

Denim is the one to think twice about for fishing. It is almost all cotton, soft rather than stiff, and Poncho leaves the zip pocket and back vent off it, so it won’t dry the way the nylon shirts do. Buy it for the drive home. The flannel keeps the Original’s magnetic pockets and stretches four ways, which makes it the one to pull on over a base layer in January.

Pro Tip: On the flats, go long sleeve. A long sleeve Original costs about $10 more than a short sleeve and covers the forearms that sit in the sun all day on the bow.

RELATED: How to Pack for a Saltwater Fly Fishing Trip

Getting the fit right

Poncho cuts true to size and closer than the boxy fishing shirts most of us grew up in. Every shirt we stock comes in two fits. Regular has room through the chest and middle, with slightly dropped shoulders. Slim is tailored closer through the body and shoulders without being tight.

Between sizes? Poncho’s advice is to size down in Regular and up in Slim. Regular suits a bigger chest or middle, Slim a leaner build. Most of our Poncho shirts come in medium through XXL, and a few run from small to 3XL. Poncho also makes a Tall fit with extra length in the body and sleeves, but we have none in stock today, so call the shop if that is your size.

Returns are where buying from a shop differs from buying from Poncho. Poncho’s six-month refund window and free exchanges cover only shirts bought on its own website. Buy one from us and it comes back to us, under our policy: 30 days, unworn, tags still on. Try it on before the tags come off.

Trying Poncho on in Dallas

Poncho has no stores of its own. In Dallas you buy it online or from a shop like ours, and every Poncho shirt on this page is at 1933 E. Levee St.

Wear the shirt you fish in now, so you have something to compare against. Put on the same size in Regular and in Slim, one after the other, and reach both arms overhead the way you would on a long cast. The one that stays tucked and doesn’t bind across the shoulders is your fit. The whole thing takes about five minutes.

Call (214) 219-2500 before you drive over and we’ll check that your size, in the fit you want, is on the floor.

Who makes Poncho shirts

Clay Spencer started Poncho after guiding fly anglers in Alaska, at a lodge you could reach only by floatplane. He liked the work and hated the shirts. In Poncho’s words they “fit like parachutes at best, and trash bags at worst.” He formed the company in 2017 and sold the first shirt, the Original, in 2018.

Poncho is based in Austin, with about 100 people between its office and a warehouse in North Austin, and Spencer still runs it as CEO. The company says it isn’t owned by a bigger one. The name is a nod to St. Francis, patron saint of animals and the outdoors, whose Spanish nickname is Pancho. They swapped the a for an o.

Poncho doesn’t say where its shirts are sewn, and its website names no country. US import records list garment factories in Indonesia and Vietnam among its suppliers. What Poncho does talk about is labor. Spencer has said a Poncho shirt takes two and a half times the labor hours of a simpler outdoor shirt, and that more than 40 hands touch each one.

Poncho questions we get asked