91: The Importance Of A Hat And Glasses While Fishing

Fish Safe: Wear A Hat And A Pair Of Glasses

By: Phil Foo

The sun is a good thing. It provides us with vitamins such as Vitamin D to stay healthy. It kills certain viruses and bacteria. It helps plants and trees grow. It is a source of light that allows us to see the world that we live in. But when the sun gets too hot, glaring, and overbearing; it becomes a bad thing. Sun burns can be painful and with the glare in our eyes; fishing can be a problem. Wearing a hat with visor helps.

[ Your angling buddy may accidentally swing a lure to your head … ]

As anglers, wearing a hat and sunglasses or glasses in general not only protects us from the sun. It also provides us protection from “stray” hooks that may come from someone we are fishing with or even our own lures. Your angling buddy may accidentally swing a lure to your head while he or she is casting. I had that experience before. I was fishing with a friend on a boat. I sat behind or the stern, since I was the one maneuvering the boat.

A hat with a rim offers added protection.

My friend who is seated in front or the bow had on a few occasions swing his lure really close to my face while casting. After the first time I told him to be careful. On the second and third time I again told him to be careful. On the fourth time I moved the boat under a shady tree and just parked there. No more fishing on the same boat with him.

I have also had on one occasion where I was fishing with another bunch of anglers on a boat out at sea and my hat just flew off my head right into the sea together with a popper that one of the anglers was using. During the cast he somehow swung the popper behind my head and as he pushed the rod forward the popper hooked my hat and took it on a flight with it into the sea. Needless to say he had the honor of being the very few who had words of wrath turn him into coal by my darker side.

A hat with visor offers more protection not just from lures but also the sun.

Fly fishermen especially should always wear a hat and a pair of glasses. A fly may swing towards them during the cast too. Could be caused by a change of wind direction or simply a bad cast. There are pictures of people getting hooks caught in their eye, on their heads, etc. on the internet. So, a hat and a pair of glasses is certainly an important thing to wear when we are out fishing.

A pair of glasses to protect your eyes.

If you do not yet have a hat or at least a cap, and a pair of glasses or sunglasses; do get yourself one. If you are a fashionable fellow with a need to look stylish there are many hats glasses to choose from. If you don’t really bother about looks since you are fishing and not trying to impress someone of the opposite sex; get a hat that offers good amounts of cover with a cloth to cover your neck as well. And as for glasses, polaroid glasses are awesome for anglers.