Size Guide

Last updated: 14 November 2026

Most people who order a shirt from Reel Tee are not the person who will wear it. They are a daughter, a wife or a grandchild buying for a man who fishes and who would not tell them his size even if he remembered it. This guide is written for that buyer. It explains which sizes we carry, how to work out his size from a shirt he already owns, when to go up a size, and what to do if the guess is wrong. If you want exact garment measurements for a particular item, email support@reeltee.shop and we will send them.

The sizes we carry

Every tee, hooded long sleeve shirt, hoodie and sweatshirt comes in the same eight adult sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL and 5XL. The size names on the product page are the ones in the table below. Hats and mugs each come in one size.

We have not published a measurement chart on this page. Until one is here, the reliable method is the one below: measure a shirt he already wears and compare it with the measurements we send you by email.

How to measure a shirt he already owns

The best guide to his size is hanging in his closet or lying in the bottom of his boat bag. Find a shirt he wears often and looks comfortable in. Pick the same kind of garment as the one you are buying: a tee if you are buying a tee, a hoodie or sweatshirt if you are buying one of those. Then measure it flat. Measure the shirt and leave him out of it. It is easier, and it keeps the gift a secret.

1. Lay it flat. Put the shirt face up on a table or a made bed. Smooth it out with your hands so there are no folds, but do not stretch it.
2. Chest. Measure straight across the front from one armpit to the other, where the sleeve seam meets the side seam. This is the width of the shirt lying flat. It is not a measurement around his body. Write it down.
3. Body length. Measure from the highest point of the shoulder, where the shoulder seam meets the collar, straight down to the bottom hem. Follow the front of the shirt and do not include the collar or hood.
4. Sleeve. Measure from the shoulder seam, where the sleeve is sewn to the body, along the top of the sleeve to the end of the cuff. On a tee this is short. On a long sleeve or hoodie it is the measurement that decides whether his wrists are covered when he reaches for the net.

A soft tape measure is easiest. If the only tape in the house is the steel one in the garage, that works too. So does a piece of string held against a ruler. It does not matter whether you measure in inches or centimetres. Tell us which you used when you email.

Take each measurement twice. If the two numbers differ, the shirt moved. Smooth it out and measure once more.

Which shirt to measure

• Choose one he reaches for. The shirt at the top of the pile fits the way he likes. The one still folded at the bottom with the tags on does not.
• Choose one in good shape. A tee that has been worn to the dock for fifteen summers may have changed shape since the day he bought it.
• Match the garment. A tee’s measurements will not tell you much about a hoodie. If you are buying the First Ice Pullover Hoodie, measure a hoodie or sweatshirt of his.
• Note the size on its label as well. The label size and your three measurements together tell us more than either does alone.

Finding his size without asking him

Asking him directly gives the surprise away, and it often gets you the size he wore some years ago. These are the ways people find out quietly.

• Check the label of a tee in his drawer. Look inside the collar or along the inside of the side seam. Check two or three shirts if you can. If they all say the same size, you have your answer. If they disagree, go by the one he wears most.
• Ask the person who does his laundry. Whoever folds his shirts knows his size, knows which ones have got tight and knows which ones he never wears. That person might be you.
• Look at what lives in the truck or the boat. Many anglers have a hoodie that never comes indoors. If you can get to it, the label is in the collar.
• Ask someone he fishes with. A crew member who has ordered matching shirts before, or the friend who borrows his rain jacket, may know.
• Buying for Grandpa from a distance. If the grandkids are ordering and none of them live nearby, a phone call to Grandma usually settles it within a minute.

Sizes are not the same from one clothing maker to the next. A label that says XL on his favourite shirt is a good starting point, but it is not proof that our XL fits him the same way. If the fit matters, measure that shirt as described above and email us the three numbers.

When people go up a size

The most common reason to go up one size is layering. Hooded long sleeves and hoodies are often worn over a tee, and on a cold morning over more than that. If he will wear it as an outer layer, many buyers choose one size above his tee size so there is room underneath.

• First Ice Pullover Hoodie and Tip-Up Ice Fishing Crewneck Sweatshirt. These are the ice items. First ice is the start of the hard-water season, and a tip-up is the device that signals a bite on a line set through a hole in the ice. Both garments tend to be worn over other layers. Going up a size is common.
• Dock Line and Pier Rail Hooded Long Sleeves. Some anglers wear these as a single layer and some wear them over a tee. If you know which, choose to suit. If you do not, think about what he wears on the boat now. A man who is always in a tee with another shirt over it will probably wear this the same way.
• Custom Boat Crew Hooded Long Sleeve Shirt. When a crew orders matching shirts, each person should choose their own size. Do not let one person order a single size for everybody. This is how the greenhorn, the newest hand on the boat, ends up in a shirt that fits the captain.
• Tees. Most people order his usual tee size. Go up if he likes his shirts loose or if the tee you measured is one he has complained about.

Between two sizes

If his shirts are split between two sizes, think about how he wears them. A man who tucks nothing in and likes room to cast usually prefers the larger of the two. A man who wears his shirts close and complains about extra cloth catching the wind usually prefers the smaller. If you cannot tell, email us the measurements of the shirt he wears most and ask for the measurements of both sizes. Comparing numbers works better than guessing.

Size and price: 2XL to 5XL

We carry sizes up to 5XL on every tee, long sleeve, hoodie and sweatshirt. The larger sizes cost a little more: 2XL and 3XL cost $2 more than S to XL, and 4XL and 5XL cost $4 more. The product page shows the price for the size you select before you add it to the cart.

Some examples at the prices shown when this page was written. A tee listed at $27.99 is $29.99 in 2XL or 3XL and $31.99 in 4XL or 5XL. The pullover hoodie at $52.99 is $54.99 in 3XL and $56.99 in 5XL. The Custom Boat Name Tee at $32.99 is $36.99 in 4XL. Shipping is free in every size.

The add-on means that changing size can change the price. Moving from 2XL to 3XL costs nothing extra, because both are in the same group. Moving from XL to 2XL, or from 3XL to 4XL, adds $2.

Hats

All four trucker hats come in one size with an adjustable snap closure at the back, so there is no size to choose. The snap strap lets the wearer set the hat tighter or looser. If he already wears snap-back caps without complaint, this is the same kind of fit.

What you do choose on a hat is colour. Hat colours are named as pairs, front panel first and mesh second. Charcoal & White is a charcoal front with white mesh. Khaki & Brown is a khaki front with brown mesh. The Tight Lines Pier hat comes in Red & White only. Tight lines is how anglers wish each other good luck.

On the Custom Name Fishing Trucker Hat you also choose the lettering: a name or nickname of up to 14 characters, and an optional second line of up to 18. Hat size is not affected by any of this.

Mugs

The coffee mugs come in one size, so there is nothing to measure. If you need to know the mug’s dimensions or how much it holds before you buy, for example to check that it fits the cup holder on his boat or under his coffee machine, email us and ask.

Personalised items and size

Two of the four personalised items have sizes: the Custom Boat Name Tee with Hailing Port and the Custom Boat Crew Hooded Long Sleeve Shirt. Both come in S to 5XL with the same add-ons as everything else. The lettering you type, which is the boat name, the hailing port (the home port lettered under a boat’s name) and the role line, is the same in every size.

On a personalised item there are two things to get right: the size and the spelling. The plate beside the fields reads your lettering back as you type. Nothing reads the size back to you, so take a second look at the size selector before you add the shirt to the cart. There is no proof or mockup step after you order.

If the size turns out wrong

Guesses miss sometimes. There are two ways to fix a wrong size, and both are free.

• Within 24 hours of ordering: email us and we can change the size. If you ordered a 2XL at night and found his 3XL shirt in the laundry the next morning, this is the fix. See Cancel or Change an Order.
• After it arrives: every product can be returned within 60 days of delivery for any reason, wrong size included, and we email you a free return label. That applies to personalised shirts too. See the Returns & Exchanges Policy.

The 60 days start at delivery, not at ordering. A shirt bought early for Christmas and tried on for the first time on Christmas morning can still go back in January.

Care and washing

Follow the care label inside the garment. For mugs, follow the care note that comes with the mug. If a label is missing or anything on it is unclear, email us before the first wash.

Ask us for exact measurements

Exact garment measurements for every size of every tee, long sleeve, hoodie and sweatshirt are available by email. Write to support@reeltee.shop and tell us:

• which product you are looking at, by its name on the site;
• which size or sizes you are deciding between;
• the chest, body length and sleeve of the shirt you measured, if you measured one, and whether you used inches or centimetres;
• how he will wear it: next to the skin or over a tee.

We reply within 24 hours on business days, Monday to Friday. If you are ordering for a date, leave time for that reply on top of the 8–17 business days an order typically takes to arrive. The Shipping & Delivery page explains the timing.

If you have not chosen what to buy yet, the Fishing Tees and Long Sleeves & Hoodies departments are where the sized items live. The FAQs answer the other questions people ask before ordering.