There is an incredible amount of sun-resistant clothing on the market. If you didn’t read the label, you’d never know it was sun-resistant. The clothing is very stylish.
It doesn’t have to be scorching hot to get a sunburn or even be exposed to extremely bright sun. You can get a bad sunburn on a day when it is gray or hazy outside. The sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays penetrate the overcast skies.
Two summer tips I’d like to offer are that you should definitely be using polarized sunglasses when outdoors, and always be armed with a good-quality sunscreen.
I always wear polarized sunglasses and preach that practice constantly to fishermen who do not wear sunglasses. Polarized glasses are the best protection you can use to protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays. In addition to eye protection, polarized lenses also improve your fishing.
To continue with a subject I addressed recently, I wanted to give a little more praise to the valiant warriors of the DNR, not just in our home state of Illinois, but in all of the states in this country and in Canada.
I am sure that everyone is aware that legally you can only use fish for bait that are caught in the same body of water where you are fishing. That goes for panfish and game fish – and for seined minnows, too. The intent of the rule is to prevent the spread of invasive species.
For example, flathead catfish love to dine on bluegills. Although you can use bluegills for flathead bait, the bluegills have to be caught from the same body of water that you will be”flatheading.”
When we learn to do things, we are usually taught that there is a right way and wrong way of doing them. We are taught to do things “by the book,” but usually, for whatever reason, we get away from perfection and slide into a bad habit of doing it the easy way.
I was recently shocked to hear about the passing of Captain Walt Koch of the Red Rock Guiding Service. Koch passed away on April 28 at the age of 77.
I was fairly close to Koch at one time but grew apart about three years ago. I don’t know why but the blame is mine. Koch did nothing to cause the breakup.
With a little spare time to kill, it’s not a bad time to read the State of Illinois Fishing Regulation guide that is published every year. There are not a lot of changes each year, but it is important to know any changes in order to be law-abiding and legal.
You might be wondering if it is absolutely necessary to change your fishing line at the beginning of a new season. That depends on a lot of factors. If you ask a professional fisherman, you probably know the answer that will be given. The pro would tell you that you need to strip your reels of line and replace it a number of times each year.
That’s easy for a pro to say.
It’s really never too early to get out on the water or go down to the shoreline for a few early-season casts.
If you haven’t had your reels serviced by a competent professional, you are about at the time limit for getting them in so you can have them back by the time you are really going to give them a workout. It’s the same time schedule for rod repairs – and that time is now.
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