OHUB Review: Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak & Bib
Eugene L. 05.11.23
If you go to any fishing town or port around the nation and watch the guys working the boats you’ll see a bunch of them clad in an orange bib. Chances are you saw those guys wearing a pair of Grundéns bibs, usually the Hercules Bib, the original professional grade bib originally made in 1954. Grundéns the company has been around for almost 100 years now providing some of the best commercial foul-weather gear available. Today I’m reviewing a pair from their newest commercial fishing line of fou-weather gear, the Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak, and Bib. The new Neptune Pro set of commercial fishing gear is a lighter-weight option for anglers. Made to offer more mobility and stretch, this new iteration of the Grundéns Neptune line adds an additional level of durability and ruggedness to the already trusted Neptune family of foul-weather gear.
Specifications – Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak & Bib
Grundéns Neptune Pro Bib
- 230g PU-Coated Polyester Knit for Waterproofing with Added Mobility & Stretch
- Reflective Hex Pattern TPU Overlay Offers Increased Abrasion Resistance in Critical Wear Zones
- Compression Molded Internal Knee Pads Offer Additional Lightweight Protection
- Removeable & Replaceable Grundens Stretch Suspender System
- Abrasion resistant coatings added to high wear areas to add durability to a more comfortable workwear.
- Polyurethane-Coated Polyester 4-Way Stretch Material
- Medium Duty
- Sizes – S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL
- Color- Orange
- MSRP – $149.99
Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak
- 230g PU-Coated Polyester Knit for Waterproofing with Added Mobility & Stretch
- Reflective Hex Pattern TPU Overlay Offers Increased Abrasion Resistance in Critical Wear Zones
- Fully Gusseted, Water-Draining Neck Zipper Entry with Additional Venting Position Snap
- Neoprene Cuff Accommodates Commercial-Grade Fishing Gloves
- Adjustable Hood with 2-Way Shock Cord and Concealed Routing
- Dual Shock Cord Bottom Hem Adjustments
- Back Vent for Maximum Airflow & Breathability
- Guttered opening to be able to dump body heat while still keeping the elements out.
- Neoprene cuff to keep water out of your sleeves and warmth running through your hands.
- Polyurethane-Coated Polyester 4-Way Stretch Material
- Medium Duty
- Sizes – S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL
- Color – Orange
- MSRP – $149.99
Features – Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak & Bib
The Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak and Bib have a similar base to the previous Neptune Models. They are still light and easy to move in, great for warmer weather, but still more durable than the original Neptunes. The Pro’s sits around the halfway point between the previous medium-duty Grundéns Neptunes, and the classic heavy-duty Grundéns Herkules, but come with several new features. The most obvious one is the reflective Hex Pattern TPU Overlay on all the high-wear areas of the foul-weather gear. These make for high-vis zones with added abrasion resistance on the knees, elbows, and belly where you end up rubbing against the boat or gear the most.
The redesigned neck zipper has been shifted to the right and is fully gusseted. The gusset has been designed to let water drain away from the neck of the wearer so even in harsh spray the water won’t pool along the neckline or flow into the anorak. The inside cut of the neck heal also acts as a vent to help the wearer dump body heat easily out the front even with everything closed up and the hood up. Just to test its functionality at the lake, I ran some laps with my cast net up and down the dock in the rain to see how well the venting on the back and neck performed. And I have to say even in very humid conditions it worked surprisingly well, venting body heat and moisture away easily.
The Neptune Pro Bib still has the velcro cuffs at the ankles like the previous Neptune Bibs. Perfect for tightening down around your boots to keep them from dragging on the ground and keep water from splashing up, or opening up to help let air in to vent heat and moisture. The knees have the reflective Hex Pattern TPU Overlay as well as padding sewn into the knees for added durability in both the bib and your knees during your trips.
While the Neptune PR Anorak no longer has a breast pocket at least the bib still has a chest pocket built inside. That way you still have some storage in the foul-weather gear.
Water Time: Chasing Shad and Catfish – Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak & Bib
When the water temps shift every Spring and Fall at the lake, we have massive schools of threadfin and gizzard shad move into the shallow coves of the lake. This is some of the best time of the year for some fun fast-paced fishing for bass and catfish chasing the shad. We will have 50-100 bass days using live shad on light tackle some ranging up to 6lbs often. For catfish, it’s the same deal once you can get past the bass, but you can do even better at night using dead and cut shad for bait. But to fish with shad, you need to throw a cast net for them, which is a very wet and messy thing to do. This is fine when the weather is nice, but it’s miserable activity when it’s raining if you don’t have foul weather gear.
It usually takes only a couple of throws of the net to get all the shad I need for a catfish noodle trip, today was a struggle with the shad staying just out of reach. Lots of throws resulting in a bunch of empty muddy nets full of twigs, leaves, and sweetgum balls. Eventually, though I got my bucket of shad for that night’s bait. Me and my buddy were running floating catfish noodles that night, which is kind of like a brush line but free-floating on a pool noodle.
When the wind is calm and the weather is clear we can put out fifty baited noodles on the lake and get a mess of channel catfish in just a few hours. This was our last noodle run for the year with the water temp still holding higher than normal for November. This sort of thing can be a real hit-or-miss thing, but it sure was a hit that night. I think we ended up boating over 100 lbs of catfish in the span of 3 hours, great for the lake for culling the catfish, and even greater for the local food bank that will take in the catfish. The Neptune Pro Bib with a good pair of ankle boots made for a much cleaner night of catfishing, no blood, catfish slime, or scales on my clothes that night. The bib even held up to a few catfish spines that night.
Final Thoughts – Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak & Bib
Overall I think the new Grundéns Neptune Pro Anorak & Bib are a great new option from Grundéns, they aren’t as heavy and thick as the traditional Herkules bibs. This is great for me in the Southeast US where heat and humidity usually keeps me out of a bib when I’m fishing. The Pro’s, on the other hand, have been made more rugged than the previous Neptune models, which while light I have seen complaints of durability issues. I think the Pro’s thread the needle between the two models design-wise, but the big problem is they cost almost as much as the classic heavy-duty Herkules at $149.99 a piece for the Anorak and Bib. I think if these came in at the halfway point of the Neptunes($99.99) and Herkules Bibs($159.99) these would be a no-brainer for anyone looking for a lighter weight foul-weather gear option. But as of now if you don’t mind spending a little more I really do recommend grabbing a pair of these over previous Neptune models.
