“The most paramount needs for an everyday fly fishing shirt are mountain town versatility and cleaned up, sophisticated storage and details. Beyond that, subtle textural fabric mixes and subtle tonale fabric accents.” - Michael Dawes, Owner of WorldCast Anglers

With this info as our baseline, we infused the Stio aesthetic and designed a few options to share with the lead guides at WorldCast Anglers, a local fly fishing outfitter and shop based in Victor, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming. Their feedback shaped the direction we needed and with a few tweaks we were on our way to testing prototypes.

Through three phases of the proto process, the WorldCast guides tested the product in the field and provided feedback to our development team based on their experience wearing the shirt. Along the way we learned what designs they felt the most connected to, what feature sets felt the most practical and what fit felt the most natural. In the end, we arrived at a product the guides would wear as their daily go-to and still carried the Stio aesthetic.

“I threw everything I had at this shirt: full summer days on the water pulling on the oars, backcountry hikes to remote creeks and drainages, remote Wind River pack trips, long workdays in the WCA Fly Shop and pre/post work dry fly fishing fixes. Through blasting sun, relentless bugs, sunscreen, summer sweat and pack horse grime, this shirt performed with ease." - Michael Dawkins, Fly Fishing Guide, WorldCast Anglers