by Capt. Neil Eisner
When fishing in Florida, the sun can be brutal. Protecting your skin is a must. From head to toe, you can now protect yourself from sunburn with fishing apparel. From the local bait shops to the best outfitters you will find everything you’ll need. Boonie type hats with big brims are great for ear protection. Face masks will also help ears, nose and lips. When it comes to fishing shirts, there must be about a thousand to choose from. Collared or tee style, they all have an SPF of thirty to fifty. I personally like to wear long sleeves. Surprisingly, they’re cooler than wearing short sleeves because you don’t have the sun baking on your arms. Here’s a tip, I buy my shirts one size bigger than I need. This allows more air to flow through. Gloves, and light weight long pants also work well. What you don’t cover with apparel, there’s always sun block you can rub on. Don’t forget the bug spray when summer fishing; you’re going to need it.
For years and years our military and hunters alike have been wearing camouflage clothing. Over the last ten years or so, anglers are starting to catch on. Clothing manufacturers have started producing camo fishing shirts, hats, face masks and gloves. Whether you’re fishing grass flats or mangrove trees you need to blend in. Most likely you’re fishing in shallow waters, and fish can see! How many times have you said, look there is a school of mullet or some other fish, well if you can see them they can see you. I fish around a lot of mangroves, so my camo is a green marble that blends perfect with the back ground. There is blue marble clothing with clay mixed into it to look like the sky with clouds. There is also a boat manufacturer that will paint the bottom of your boat to give a sky appearance. So before you buy the next fishing outfit that you can hide inside an Easter basket, check out some camo fishing shirts.
Want to learn more, email or call me and your question may be featured next month. I’m your captain, Neil Eisner
Captneileisner@gmail.com 239-860-4242