July Fishing - How to Beat the Heat
Dateline 07/06/98
July in Georgia is HOT - so hot you know as soon as you leave the air conditioned comfort inside, beads of sweat will pop up all over you. And within seconds you will feel trickles of water running down your back. When it is that hot you do not perspire, you SWEAT!
Only one thing will get me out of my cool house in July - a fishing trip. I go fishing no matter how hot it gets. Even if I have trouble keeping my sunglasses on because the sweat makes my nose so slick they slide off, I won’t pass up a trip to the lake. There are several things I do to survive the heat and my methods to beat the heat may work for you.
Fishing at night is one of my favorite ways to avoid sunstroke. It is always cooler at night and there is little chance of getting a sunburn! The fish seem to bite better too. From casting a black plastic worm around rocky points to pitching a small jig to dock lights, you can catch fish and be comfortable. If you really want to relax you can tie your boat up under a bridge, put a light over the side, drop a minnow down where a fish might swim by, kick back and veg out.
If you don’t like fishing in the dark, try sunrise and sunset. Few sights are more beautiful than the sun rising over a calm, quiet, peaceful lake. And if a big old bass hits a topwater plug by a stump at the same time, it is exceptional. Sunsets are also pretty, but the lake is likely to be much more busy with others enjoying the afternoon on the water, and it is hotter that time of day. Late afternoons are still better than the noonday sun!
Another favorite way to keep cool in the heat is to wade and fish. The Flint River is near me and the shoals are full of bass and bream. It is hard to beat standing in waist deep water while fishing to keep you cool. Wading in ponds and lakes also works, but the fish are often deeper and harder to catch than in rivers and streams.
A few folks are lucky enough to be able to go fishing any time they want. If you are one of them and can set your own schedule, plan to fish on cloudy days. Always be ready to go and, if the weather man says it will be cloudy or cooler than normal the next day, head out!
Sometimes you just have to go out during the heat of the day to fish. You may be in a tournament and to have a chance of winning, you must fish all the time available. Your time off may not allow you to fish at night or at any time except when the sun is beaming down. On those days, look for shade. Run up the river until the trees close overhead, protecting you from the sun. Ride a lot in you boat, creating a cooling breeze - unless you found a hole where they are really biting. If not, pull up on a spot, fish for a while and then try another place.
If you are going fishing on bright, sunny days, dress for it. Wear light weight, light colored, loose fitting clothes. Expose as little skin as possible. Shorts and a tee shirt may seem a good choice but the sun on bare skin will cook you! And a loose long sleeved white shirt will allow sweat to evaporate off your skin, keeping you more comfortable.
Put on a wide brim straw hat - they didn’t get popular with farm workers chopping cotton and cropping tobacco without a reason. They create shade for your face and neck while keeping your head cool. A tight baseball cap keeps the heat in and doesn’t shade your neck or ears. Try some kind of wide brim hat to help keep a cool head.
I use my hat to dip water and pour it over my head on extremely hot days. I used to jump in and get good and wet, and that will cool you off, but I hate to fish very long wearing wet underwear. And changing to dry clothes defeats the reason for jumping in. By pouring water over my head I can control how wet I get and still keep cool.
Several products are available to help you keep your cool while fishing this summer. One is called a “Aqua Cool” and is a scarf with some kind of material inside that holds the cool. You wet it and put it in the freezer. Take it out, put it around your neck and it cools you for about an hour. By carrying two and alternating them in the ice chest you can stay cooler all day. Other similar products work by evaporation - you just keep them wet and they cool your neck as the water evaporates.
Always carry lots of fluids to drink. Avoid the beer until after you get out of the sun, stick with water or drinks made to replace the fluids you lose. Gatorade, Bulldog Punch and other newer drinks help you stay cool and replace what you lose while sweating.
Even when a breeze feels like a dragon is breathing on you, there is no reason to stay home. Take advantage of the ways to keep cool on the hottest days and go fishing. You may catch one so big it will make you forget about the heat!
Any comments on fishing when it is hot? What do you do to beat the heat? Tell me about it. Do you have some stories relating to fishing? If so, you can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have a story about fishing, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale"or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 EST. Tell others what you like.
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