Terry Lacoss
Warm sunny days often school both baitfish and fish where fishing action is best. UV rays can damage fisherman’s skin and eyes if not protected properly and proper prevention is often forgotten during the heat of non-stop fishing action.
As young fishermen, we were not aware of the dangers of the sun’s harmful rays. We often fished all day in the bright sunshine without protective clothing, sunglasses, or the protection of suntan products. In fact during my generation, outdoorsmen simply were not educated on the need to protect their skin and eyes from the bright summer sun.
Today, I can’t tell you how many times fishing guests board my Amelia Angler charter fishing boat and their first order of business is applying a good coating of protective suntan oil or lotion on their skin. While the much needed protection is taking place, fishermen often relive their early days of fishing in the hot summer sun.
“I wish I would have worn a shirt while fishing as a young man,” the guest explains. “Now I have to visit with the dermatologist every six months to make sure I don’t have any new skin cancers.”
The good news is that the fisherman has his skin condition under control and is having it checked on a regular basis. There are forms of skin cancer that when not taken care of during early stages, will permanently end your fishing days on the water!
My experience with skin cancer also came on suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly. As a young man, my parents were also unaware of skin cancer, so I never applied suntan lotions while outdoors. However, the good news was that I always wore shirts and long pants when fishing.
Many years later a small irritation formed on my left arm, the same arm that rested on my truck’s doorsill as I drove for multiple hours to and from fishing destinations. Keep in mind that when the general public was brought up to speed about the dangers of the sun’s harmful rays, I began applying sun block when fishing or outdoors. However, when I was driving or working inside, I did not apply any protective lotions. Consequently over the years of driving for hours with my forearm on the doorsill, a small irritation formed resulting in basal cell carcinomas. Fortunately this form of skin cancer is treatable.
Light-colored skin, sun exposure, and age are all important factors in the development of basal cell carcinomas. People who have fair skin and are older have higher rates of basal cell carcinoma. About twenty percent of these skin cancers, however, occur in areas that are not sun-exposed, such as the chest, back, arms, legs, and scalp. The face, however, remains the most common location for basal cell lesions.
Melanoma is a skin cancer that develops in melanocytes, the pigment cells present in the skin. It can be more serious than the other forms of skin cancer because it may spread to other parts of the body (metastasize) and cause serious illness and death. About 50,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the United States every year.
Because most melanomas occur on the skin where they can be seen, patients themselves are often the first to detect many melanomas. Early detection and diagnosis are crucial. Caught early, most melanomas can be cured with relatively minor surgery.
The highest rates of skin cancer are found in South Africa and Australia which are areas that receive high amounts of UV radiation. Obviously the southeastern United States has higher amounts of UV radiation than the northeastern portion of the United States.
Applying zinc oxide to highly exposed areas of your face such as the nose and ears is the safest and most effective ingredient for protecting against long-wave UVA rays, which deeply penetrate the skin and cause elastic tissue damage and photo aging. What’s more, UVA rays weaken the immune system and increase the risk of skin cancer such as melanoma.
Lip block should be applied to your lips as the thin skin on your lips is especially sensitive to the harmful UV rays of the sun.
Suntan lotions offer the highest protection which should have at least sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or higher. Sprays and oil are actually easier to apply, but simply do not offer the same protection. If you are planning on a day of serious fishing, apply your protective zinc and lotion before you leave home!
It’s too easy to get caught up in the excitement of the fishing trip and not only prolong applying protection, but worse yet, not applying any at all. Be sure to reapply suntan protection during mid morning and once again during mid afternoon, to be double safe.
Just to be on the safe side, have your wife or someone else apply suntan protection to your skin before your fishing trip. This way, when you handle baits and lures, targeted game fish species will not detect that offensive smell produced by the lotion. However, I have to say that during a past fishing trip I tested this theory by applying a potent suntan product to my live baitfish targeted for king mackerel. Suntan protected baits were trolled off from the starboard side our kingfish boat, while unprotected baits were trolled off from the port side of the boat.
Amazingly, fast striking kingfish ate both the live baits both with and without suntan products applied. With this said, I still do not allow any lures, or baits to come in contact with any foreign smells, particularly while tournament fishing!
There are several clothing options that will certainly increase your protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays.
A wide brim hat with an optional back and neck side curtain gives sensitive areas of your neck and face full protection.
Buff manufactures headwear that offers optional uses such as a full face and neck wear with 95% UV protection from the sun. More and more fishermen and outdoorsmen are employing Buff’s unique headwear not only for protection from the sun, but also to keep their neck and head warm during the winter, or cool during the hot summer months. Buff also offers Angler Performance fishing gloves that protect the sun sensitive top of your hands with 95% UV protection.
Beware! Just because you wear a long sleeve shirt and pants doesn’t mean that your skin is protected from harmful UV rays. A variety of fishing shirts and pants are also manufactured with UV protection as well. Guy Harvey fishing shirts offer 50% UV protection. While most outdoor clothing has at least a 30% UV ray protection.
The harmful UV rays of the sun can also damage your eyes. Over a period of time, fishing in the bright summer sun without the protection of a premium pair of sunglasses will certainly weaken your vision while damaging your pupils. Sunglasses with 100% UV protection rating, are critical when protecting your eyes from the sun. 100% polarization will also allow your eyes to penetrate the surface of the water when identifying fish and structure.
Albert Einstein tried to imagine what it would be like to ride on a beam of light. “What if one were to run after a ray of light?” he asked. “What if one were riding on the beam? … If one were to run fast enough, would it no longer move at all?”
Certainly even the speedy king mackerel is not able to out race a single beam of sunlight. However we can out race the harmful UV rays of the sun by wearing proper clothing and applying suntan protection products.
August, 2011
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