Fishing: How To Fish: Safety
The four ways to lose body heat
METHOD OF HEAT LOSS EXPLANATION
Conduction When a warmer body contacts a colder object such as a boat seat, rod, handle, rock, water and so on, heat will pass from that body to the object. To counter conduction, use insulation.
Convection Often viewed in terms of wind chill, convection occurs when moving air passes over exposed skin, blowing body heat away faster that it would normally be lost. To counter convection, use wind protection.
Radiation Warm air likes to heat cooler air. Heat producers, such as the sun or a fire, warm air through radiation. In the same way human body, as a heat producer, warms the air around it. The thin layer of warm air around a body, if unprotected, will move away from the skin to heat the cooler air. To prevent radiation, cover up and insulate. The outdoorsperson's adage: " if your feet are cold, put on a hat", is an example of an effective strategy. An uncovered head is heating the atmosphere. The body is ignoring your feet because it figures the brain is more important.
Evaporation* Wet skin loses heat faster than dry skin, because water conducts heat better than air. This is why it is so important to stay dry in cold weather. Avoid sweating if possible, and protect yourself from rain and melting snow. Wear clothing made of fabric such as wool or polypropylene that resists wetting and retains some insulating value even wet.
é Note: With another form of evaporation, respiration, the body breathes out warm, moist air. This likewise causes heat loss. You can't stop breathing, but in some cases it may help to cover the mouth and nose to preheat incoming air and minimize heat loss.
Insects and Wildlife
Though a secondary consideration for most anglers, be aware of critters that sting, bite, or otherwise pose difficulties, particularly when the possibility exists of anaphylactic shock. Insect and wildlife hazards faced by anglers may include the following:
é Biting insects such as mosquitoes, black flies, no-see-ums, punkies and so on.
é Ticks, especially deer ticks, which carry Lyme disease
é Stinging insects such as wasps and bees
é Venomous insects and reptiles
é Rabid animals
é Poison ivy and oak
é Stinging nettles
To minimize hazards from insects and wildlife, use appropriate insect protection measures, including dressing properly and using repellents. Certain insects are likely to be a problem in particular regions at specific times of the year and day. For example, to avoid blackflies, don't go to the Adirondacks in late May. Find out when and where the bugs are at their worst and avoid them. Certain weather conditions make bug problems more likely. Hot, still, overcast, and humid days are going to be buggier than cool, windy, sunny, and bright days. Evenings and morning are buggier times than midday.
In tick areas, stay in the center of paths, and avoid brushy areas. Do frequent tick checks. Dress to cover exposed skin and to foil a tick or blackfly attempting to access your skin. Tuck pants into socks or boots. Put a rubber band around pant legs and sleeves. Wear a hat and use a head net. Stay away from blue clothing, as insects seem attracted to it. Light-colored clothing is preferred by some people.
Avoid using colognes, perfumes, or other strong-smelling stuff. You might love the way FruitBowl shampoo makes your hair smell, but so will the bugs. Use repellents. Those containing DEET are popular and effective against all insects, including ticks. However, there are some serious questions about DEET's effects on human health, particularly with youngster. The most concentrated formula we recommend using is 35 percent DEET, and even then you should use it sparingly, making special efforts to avoid contact with the eyes and mouth, or breathing it. DEET also does a wonderful job eating anything plastic, so keep it away from fly lines, tackle boxes, raincoats, and so on. A good strategy is to spread it on with the back of your hand. Other repellents contain oil of citronella, which is effective for many. Oil of pennyroyal is another alternative, as is Avon Skin So Soft lotion. Some swear by the effectiveness of swallowing lots of vitamin B or E a few days before the outing or steady diet of lots of garlic.
Be sure any participant allergic to insect bites or strings carries an ANA kit with them, and be sure all instructors know how to use it. Medical permission forms should ask about insect allergies. Avoid areas where you know venomous insects, reptiles, rabid animals, and problem plants are common. Instruct participants on how to recognize and avoid them. Reactions to insect bites or stings range from mild itching to severe allergic reaction, even death. Review first aid procedures for insect situations every time an outgoing goes to an area where you find bugs. Be sure all leaders understand first aid procedures.
SUPERVISION
As with most recreation activities, the amount of supervision and level of credentialing required for fishing depends on the age and skill level of the participants, and the degree of risk in the environment where you are fishing. As a rule, the instructor-to-student ratio for fishing instructors actually fishing (not casting or doing dryland activities) with novice youngsters up to age 8 is 1:4. This is less for safety reasons than to ensure participants' success. As the developmental level and experience increase, the ratio can increase as well, but probably should never exceed 1:8.
Fishing instructors currently have no national credentialing body such as the American Red Cross. Many states offer aquatic education programs that train and certify fishing instructors. Most programs are based out of the state natural resource management agency
(Conservation department, fish and game department, department of natural resources, etc.) Also, in some states the 4-H Youth Development program trains and certifies fishing instructors. Contact the state land grant university, where each state's 4H administration is located, for information. In several states there is licensed outdoor guide program, which may require a certain level of competency in outdoor skills including fishing. The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) certifies outdoor leaders, some of whom have had fishing as a part of their training experience. Aside from these, we strongly recommend current certification in first aid and basic water safety from the American Red Cross.
SELECTION AND CONDUCT OF THE ACTIVITY
In general, the best course is to follow appropriate water safety guidelines while fishing. Using a buddy system, assuring appropriate supervision, making sure of current lifesaving and first aid certification, assuring that adequate lifesaving gear is available and in good condition, knowing the swimming ability of participants and proceeding accordingly, and establishing and enforcing behavioral ground rules regarding safety are all essential elements in conducting a safe fishing program.
Casting Safety
Casting with fishing rods, whether cane poles, spin casting, bait casting, spinning, or fly rodding, involves a significant risk from flying hooks and weights. To avoid hooking others or yourself, or having your casts wind up in unwanted locations, follow these guidelines:
é Always look behind every cast.
é Use dummy plugs when practicing. Save the hooks for actual fishing.
é Use short casts until you develop the ability to make longer ones.
é Watch the wind, especially while fly-casting. Try to position so the wind is less likely to pile up back casts around caster's head.
é Don't fish or cast around power lines. If lure gets tangled in one, cut it off and leave it.
é Wear hats, sun or safety glasses, and long-sleeved shirts for protection from flying hooks.
é Instruct participants in safe practices when a lure gets caught in the rocks or trees.
Safety Around Hooks
Although hooks are generally necessary when fishing, minimize their use until you need them to catch fish. Use dummy plugs for casting practice and eye bolts for knot tying. Use single barb less hooks whenever possible. Whether barb less hooks are more efficient or humane for fish is an open question. What is not debatable is the difference between barbed hooks stuck in humans. Barb less hooks come right out as they went in. Barbed hooks sunk past the barb mean a trip to the hospital.
In wilderness settings with no medical help available, if angler is impaled with a barbed hook anywhere except near the eye, you can remove the hook in two ways. The first is to continue to push the hook all the way through the flesh so the point and barb emerge. Using a pair of wire cutters, clip off the point and barb and back the hook through. Use lots of disinfectant, and don't let anyone else watch. This method is not for those with weak stomachs!
The other method is more controversial. It involves looping a heavy line around the hook bend, depressing the shank near the hook eye, and pulling the line backward to guide the barb back through the same wound channel it entered. This method is best practiced an orange before attempting it on humans. Please note that once the barbs is into the skin, we recommend no method of removal except by a doctor.
Barb less hooks are now available from many sporting goods outlets and catalog companies. However, if you cannot locate barb less hooks you can suitably modify a hook with a barb using a good pair of needlenose pliers. Simply press the barb all the way back down to the hook wire. If the hook is too large, a small file will suffice to take down the barb. We provide additional hook safety recommendations in table 16.2.
Safety Around Fishing Knives
Knife Safety is another important consideration. Knives have a certain mystique for many youngsters, and their possession is sometimes viewed as a mark of maturity. Because of this, knives offer fishing instructors a unique opportunity to have motivated youngsters learn and demonstrate responsibility. Consider using a totin' chip policy as is often used in scouting. After safety instruction, issue the scouts their totin' chip, or license to carry a knife. If observed doing anything unsafe, a corner is cut off the chip. If the scouts lose four corners, they can no longer carry or use a knife for a period of time.
Generally, tools other than knifes work best for most fishing situations. Wire or nail clippers can cut most fishing lines more safely than knifes. The most likely use for a knife is in cleaning fish. Keep knifes sharp, and cover the blade when not in use. Fixed-blade or lock-blade knifes are far safer than other types of knifes. Keep knifes out only when in legitimate use, and never leave them lying out.
Handling Fish
Fish handling is an important safety consideration. Certain species of fish can impart painful injuries, and you should handle them all carefully to minimize the danger of the hook getting entangled with the angler. When teaching someone to handled fish, use dead fish to model proper technique. Keep a few in a freezer, and thaw them out for the demonstration.
Teach each angler how to identify hazardous areas, such as teeth, gill covers, sharp fins, and spines. Most fish species have teeth, though not all are hazardous. Some species, such as the members of the pike family, bluefish, and barracuda, sport dental equipment that is obvious even to the novice. Others, such as walleye and salmon, are not so obvious. It is an excellent idea not to practice lip-landing (a practice you often see with bass anglers on TV shows in which the angler grips the bass's lower jaw between thumb and forefinger and lifts it from the water) until you know the youngsters can differentiate between black bass and all other species.
Other fish have stiff spines. The members of the catfish family posses spines capable of causing painful puncture wounds. These spines are located on their dorsal and pectoral fins and can cause an allergic reaction in some. Many fish have sharp rays on their dorsal fins, and others have sharp gill covers. Perch and walleye are among the prime offenders in this category. Understanding these safety factors can sometimes motivate youngsters in developing their fish identification skills.
Other considerations include quickly killing and preserving the flesh of the fish you wish to eat. Demonstrate proper killing techniques. Discuss catch and release techniques from both a biological and ecological and an ethical standpoint. Demonstrate the most humane practices for assuring optimal chances of survival by the released fish.
ADMINISTRATION
As with any outdoor recreation activity, administering it involves appropriate record keeping. Activity plans, participants attending, leaders assisting, dates, times, and notable occurrences should all be part of a standard log for the activity. Of course, if the fishing instructor wants to keep a record of fish caught, successful lures, and, best of all, fishing hot spots, the activity supervisor can't be blamed for waiting to see log regularly.
HOOK SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS
q Establish and enforce firm rules for behavior around hooks Horseplay around hooks should have serious consequences.
q Use safety glasses at all times when casting.
q Discourage any action that could result in hooks being tossed (for example, untangling lures).
q Develop incentives for not leaving hooks laying around.
q Remove hooks from rods except when fishing.
q Wear hats and long-sleeved clothing when casting.
q Demonstrate hook-sharpening techniques. Sharp hooks are safer than dull ones.
q Demonstrate and practice fish handling in a safe manner to avoid getting hooked while unhooking a fish.
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