When most of us think of heat exhaustion we think of slaving away at work or in the yard under a merciless sun with no breeze. Now think about the best time to fish, how about in the warm summer on a day with little to no breeze. The fact of the matter is heat exhaustion can hit you just as easily out on the water fishing as in the yard taking care of the honey do’s.
Last weekend a good friend of mine and I fished in a private fishing tournament our club, The Island Sportsman’s Club, was holding. Since it was an inshore tournament we decided to fish out of his flats boat around the harbor for some Blues, Trout, Spanish and Flounder. The morning began around 7 am with light and variable winds and temperatures around 80 degrees. By 10 am the temperatures were in the low 90s and I was on my third bottle of water, and by mid to early afternoon temperatures were in the upper nineties with heat indices in the low to middle hundreds with a slight southwest breeze blowing. Since the boat had no top we were sweating like pigs and guzzling water every 15 to 20 minutes. We would fish a spot for 30 minutes and then pick up and run just to cool down. By 2 pm we had all we could stand and returned to land for the comfort of some AC.
Had the fish been biting, the decision to leave would have been tough to make. If you plan to fish during the dog days of summer the following tips will help you prevent heat exhaustion.
Wear lightweight light colored loose fitting clothing, including a full brimmed hat. In recent years such manufactures as Columbia and Hook and Tackle have come up with lines of clothing specially designed for warm weather fishing. These special lines, available at both The Reel Johns and Barton and Burwell’s Fishing Supplies, provide full coverage from the sun and are vented thus promoting air circulation and evaporation of sweat from the skin.
Take breaks from the sun when possible. If a top or cabin is available on the boat spend at least a portion of the day