Fishing in the Heat

I thought I’d share some hard earned, from the school of hard knocks, late learned wisdom. I was out on the river both Sat. and Sun. fishing and of course it was hot. I ended up with either heat stroke or something. Felt very strange, vomited a dozen times, felt like I was going to pass out many times. My sunburned red face turned very pale white my daughter said and my heart was pumping 110 per minute she said. Never felt like this before, was different than being sick. Wanted to share this hoping to help keep someone else from going through it. That sun and heat index is not something to take lightly I found out. Always make sure you have plenty of water with you, caffine pop helps to dehidrate you. Staying out too long with very little breeze and high humidity adds to the chances of heat stroke. Becareful, and I’ll see you on the water. Bill

Very good heads up Bill.

I’m glad everything ended out ok !!

Ive herd that once that happens the first time ….it comes on even easier the next….so

BE CAREFULL

ec

Hey bill; something that has been working for me the last 8 years has been to wear light fitting white pants and long sleeve shirts. The first half hour you might be cooler with shorts & a tee shirt but after that my way rules. Take the test; when you get home from a day of fishing check out which way radiates more heat from your body. Also,,, always wear a hat, & sunglasses keep the headachs down. Of course drink plenty of liquids. Hope I’m not boring you, and sorry to be so long winded. {John}

So you are telling me that I should stop fishing naked? But the gentle breeze is so refreshing.

Bill,

Glad to hear you are Ok. Man was it hot Sunday. One of those days where you couldn’t touch anything that was black!

I think I was a little dehydrated from Saturday, and I felt it on Sunday too. Thanks for reminding us of those heat sickness symptoms. Got to remember to drink a lot of water.

Take care,
J.

Hear are some tips on ways to help beat the heat, fist I wear my new FTR Sunblocker Hat, this hat is very light weight, I was able to wear it all day long on Sunday, allot of hats just make my head way to HOT to wear for any length of time. And the best part about this hat is no more sun burnt neck!!!

Second I drink allot of water, I freeze plastic jugs of water, I use the juice containers (my daughter loves V8 Splash) I like this size, about 2 liters, I went through 3 of them on Sunday, you can use what ever you have around the house like, pop bottles, milk jugs, or whatever. Not only do you have cold water to drink they also keep everything in your cooler nice and cold, I always freeze a bunch up when I get back from a day on the water that way they are ready to go for the next time, this saves me money on buying ice & no more water in the bottom of the cooler from melted ice cubes.

Third I use allot of sun block, you can not be too careful when it comes to skin cancer. I do wear shorts & short sleeve shirts but I like gills and specks idea of light fitting white pants and long sleeve shirts, I will have to give that a try, that way the only place you need sun block is on your hands and face.

Bill was not the only person suffering from the ill effects of too much sun on Sunday, these simple precautions will prevent what is to be a fun day on the water from turning into a trip to the hospital.

As one who has heat intolerance from Graves’ disease, I was able to fish the hot Sunday without too much discomfort. Here is what works for me.

-Light colored long sleeve shirt
-Long pants
-SPF 45 sun block on face and hands (reapply frequently)
-Sunglasses
-Up-downer hat similar to the EFN sun blocker hat
-Drink lots of cold water
-Frequently pour lake water over your hat, shirt, and pants (the evaporation acts just like air conditioning)

Dave Gulczinski

Thanks guys. What I felt was not signs but end results, too late for preventing it. I had a light hat on [EFN summer one which was alot cooler than other hats], but I wore shorts and short sleeve shirt which would allow a breeze to be felt but there wasn’t one. I used sun screen but didn’t eat all my lunch and didn’t drink as much as I usually do to keep liquids in me. Was too hot and nothing sounded or tasted good [probably a sign]. Even with a 35 pound weight lost my shirt was sticking to me [a sign?]. Live and learn the hard way I did. Just hope bringing this up will help someone else to NOT have this problem. The water instead of pop [ I had pop ] sure make sense as for the 1st. time in my life I really craved water, not pop, but water. I even drove to the store after the weigh in to buy water. Which is not me, I’m a diet pop drinker. Thanks for caring enough to share things to help. I’m not use to people doing something to help me, I am the one who does the trying to help them. Thanks, It means alot. Bill

My oldest sister is an RN and she’ll back up gills’ suggestion. The reason is that while you still may perspire, it significantly slows the evaporation, which helps with the cooling if any wind can get to you and helps you control your hydration level. No wind? Go for a boat ride! Using lake water to soak your clothes is quite similar in it’s effect. No argument about the water……………it can make all the difference and fishhunt must have gone to the same school as my dad…………..he does the same thing with ice and jugs. Keep your crawlers in the cooler too…………..makes a huge difference!

Bill, we’re all glad you’re still with us! Most of us don’t know you well but this site is like family and it’d be a hard pill to swallow. Take care of yourself and I’ll keep you in my prayers as well!

I would indorse the long sleeve shirts a 100 percent!! Works great for me,worn them for quite a few years now.Make sure you get the light weight and color kind tho.Also for a few years I’ve been using the type of fingerless gloves worn down in the tropics for deep sea fishing.Tan in color and real durable.Dip your hands in the water and it will keep your rist and hands cool in which helps cool the rest of your body.Also protects the back of your hand from that sun and no need for sun block on your hands.Still can hold on to the rods(cork handles)with no problems. Well take care Bass Bull

The other way you can keep cool is to just jump into the water like Nate, he has a lot of practice at it! Nate’s next seminar at Walleye Searchers will be on the correct form for jumping out of your boat

And climbing back in with no latter Steve!

Ahh, that’s my favorite trick! I’ve been known to slip and fall out of the boat several times during the course of a hot afternoon. You just have to be a little careful, if the wind is blowing the boat can get away from you real quick.

I spend alot of time in the high desert of Wyoming in August.
It gets really hot(95-105), but you’ll never see a native
cowboy in anything but long sleeve shirt. I guess they’ve
known this forever. Same goes for being in a boat or on
a horse. They all drink water or iced tea, instead of
coffee or pop.

Boy Bill we both had about the same Sunday Night and Monday A.M. Just like you it hit me all at once with no warning. I haven’t the slightest idea what I did differently , cause I’m out in it almost everyday. I think the worst part was the weak legs, and that just about to pass out feeling you had, too. I’m very glad both of us are better. The thing thaT IS REALLY BOTHERING ME THIS LAST TWO YEARS IS THAT THE SUN SEEMS SO MUCH MORE INTENSE. I HAVE BEEN SUNBURNED AT LEAST 15 TIMES THIS YEAR, AND I NORMALLY BURN ONCE OT TWICE AND THEN TAN UP WITH NO MORE PROBLEMS(Indian Blood).. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING TO THE OZONE BREAK DOWN THING , BECAUSE I’M HEARING SIMILAR STORIES FROM OTHERS. Just drives home the need to be even more careful out there and use all of the excellent ideas left here on this post and mabey even over do a couple. Much more liquids and redoing the sunscreen 2 or three times a day sunscreen. I actually haven’t needed the sunscreen at all till two years ago. Sorry about the caps. Anyway glad to here you feel better. Lawrence

Hey Bud how are you doing? Alot of holes in the o-zone lets in alot more stronger sun rays and they are actually dangerous. Plus we are getting older hey. Good to hear from you. Take care. Bill

I had a basil cell carcinoma removed from my eyelid this spring. Now I have to watch all exposure very carefully. No fun! It’s one of those things that happens to “Other people”. Guess I gotta stick with night fishin’….
Tuck