Sun Protection for Fishing

Hi, guys. This is Gene Jensen with BassResource.com. I'm going to talk a little bit today about something that has become very important to me over the last couple of years, and that's skin protection. There are a couple of options with skin protection. You can wear sunscreen or you can wear clothing that protects you from the sun. 

   Me, personally, I can't stand sunscreen. I end up getting it in my mouth, and then I taste it all day long, and I can't stand the taste of it. So, I've opted to start wearing protective clothing. I've done a lot of research and tried out a lot of things over the last couple of years and I've come up with a little system that is working for me, and I'm going to show you what it is.

   First of all my Columbia shirts, they're all UPF 50 plus, that's my minimum. All my clothing has to be UPF 50 or greater. Then, when I started buying these Columbia shirts I didn't realize, duh, that I needed to start getting the long sleeve ones, so I have a bunch of these fishing shirts that are short sleeve.

   So, I looked for an option and just recently I found these Simms sleeves. They're called Sun Sleeves and they're by the Simms company. They're basically just socks for your arms.  They go up and they tuck in nicely under your long sleeves. These are wonderful. You put them on and they instantly feel a little bit cooler than the outside air. I guess they have something in them that makes you feel that way, but it really doesn't matter to me. They're UPF 50. They protect my arms.

   Then I've got the same type of material, but they're Simms gloves and they'll protect my hands. They work pretty good. For me, I'm still trying to get used to them. I'm not used to a pair of gloves on when I'm fishing. But they do protect the back of your hands. 

   Then the other thing is my hat, my sunglasses, and then there's my buff. I've got a couple of these. Many of you have seen the saltwater guys wearing these. But they go on your head and they protect your neck, and then when you pull them up over the top of your face, they protect your nose, your ears, and things like that.

   They look kind of weird. People think you're... Well, you get second looks from people, but I really don't care. I'm being protected by the sun. You don't even notice it's on most of the time. But when you're videoing, it kind of gets in the way, kind of becomes annoying to me, anyway.

   But that's my system. I keep myself pretty much covered. I'll wear long pants most of the time, but I really don't notice a big problem with being burned on the legs and things like that for me because I'm usually standing up most of the time, I guess. Who knows?

   But anyway, just remember, always protect yourself.  Protect yourself from the sun. You don't want to grow old and have to have things cut off of your skin because you've got skin cancer. So, figure out what works for you. There are tons of good sunscreens out there, and there's a lot of different products and different clothing that'll protect you from the sun. You can buy anything in - the prices that I've found range from $30 all the way up to $130, so it all depends on your budget.

   But like I always say, visit BassResource.com for the answers to your questions about bass fishing, and have a great day.