A lovely spring weekend. The forecast looks perfect. Light south winds. Tides are perfect. Not too hot. Let’s go fishing.
Head out in the morning. Get to the spot. It’s perfect. Fish are there. They’re biting. Awesome. Fish all day and don’t even have to make up any stories, because this was a good one.
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Get home that evening and you feel hot. Skin feels warm all over. Look in the mirror. How did you get so sunburned? It wasn’t hot out. It was a nice clear day, but the sun wasn’t blazing. What in the world?
The reality is that every day we spend outside all day in the open, as in fishing, we have the opportunity to get a sunburn. It doesn’t matter how strong the sun shines. Honestly, it can be cloudy. In fact, a low overcast day is sneaky because it won’t get hot at all.
Let’s talk about some common things we can do to prevent sun damage and still be able to have a great day on the water.
One of the things we need to know about is SPF. It stands for Sun Protection Factor and according to Dr. Dawn Davis of the Mayo Clinic, it is a way to determine how long we can stand out in the sun before getting redness on the skin.
Dr. Davis recommends an SPF of a minimum of 30, which means we can stay outside 30 times longer than we normally would without any coverage at all. The SPF is printed right on the box of the sun protection products we see and is ubiquitous.
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Here is the problem. When we are fishing, we transfer smell to our baits and lures. I have personally witnessed fish actively rejecting live baits that were tainted with sunscreen lotion and seek out untouched baits. What are we to do? There are many options available.
As I said, the old-fashioned lotion that our mom used to lather us up is not a great option. Fish can smell it. First of all, I like the spray sunscreen. For years I’ve used the Neutrogena brand. It’s available anywhere, it’s not as expensive as some other brands, and it’s oxybenzene free (I don’t know what that is, but it sounds bad). I’ll spray it on my face and ears and avoid my hands. But that’s just the beginning.
You’ll want a variety of clothing options to keep you protected and comfortable on the hot days. When you’re out there all day and concentrating on fishing and little else, there are many helpful ways to keep your skin safe.
I always start with a long-brimmed baseball-style cap. Not only does it provide shade for your face, it also helps you see in the water. Nowadays, I’m seeing more anglers using bucket-style hats or even sombreros to keep the sun off the back of the neck too. I would say that’s a pretty good idea and I wish I had thought of it 30 years ago.
Next are quality polarized sunglasses. Squinting all day is tough for the eyes. Take care of your retinas and they will continue to work. Astigmatism is a real thing in your 50s.
A lightweight shirt with long sleeves is imperative. The “performance” tees made of the lightweight nylon material are the way to go here. They were first popularized by high performance sportswear manufacturers and now have been co-opted by the outdoor industry.
Above, I mentioned hats to protect your neck. Some folks are now making hoodies that are made from performance fabric for the same purpose. The neglected areas like the back of the neck and even the backs of the hands are where I see older anglers having spots removed. There are even lightweight “sun” gloves to protect the hands.
For the legs there are a couple things that you need to keep in mind. Most of the time, I usually wear shorts. The lower leg/calf area doesn’t seem to be an area of concern for most people. If you are very light-complected, you may want to wear lightweight nylon “fishing” pants. Another consideration might be if wade fishing in an area with small stinging creatures like micro jellyfish in the Bahamas (That was a surprise!) or greenhead flies right here at home. They’ll bite right through socks.
Surprisingly, an area of concern for me over the years was the tops of my feet. Flip-flops or other sandals left me with sunburned feet. Sunscreen down there leads to slippery situations. I opted for lightweight deck shoes. Avoid darker colored uppers because they will have a tendency to get unpleasantly hot on the sunniest days. Ask me how I know.
Now a little more spray-on sunscreen on the nose and ears, and we are good to roll out.
Next time you head out, you are covered. It’s a really sunny day. You’ve been out the whole time. At the end of your trip, because you covered up, you’re not burning. The fish bit your lures because they weren’t covered in sunscreen lotion. The tops of your feet feel good.
Now make sure you don’t walk through the parking lot with no shoes at the end of a summer day. Otherwise you have burned the bottom of your feet.
That’s a whole different story.
