We’ve all done it, but it is kind of part of fishing, the same way we lose a lure, we break a rod tip or on a really bad day a combo goes overboard. And, just like we can be cautious to try and prevent those mishaps, we have to pay attention to our glasses and try to avoid calamities with those as well.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Once you’ve invested in a good quality pair of sunglasses, you will reap the rewards. There are many advantages. Less eye fatigue and headache is only the beginning. With a pair of inferior glasses there can be a lot of minute lens movement which is detected and compensated for by your eyes. Of course, this can be a cause of eye strain. Fishermen also face other hazards to their eyes, including UV rays; hence, eyeball sunburn also known as photokeratitis can occur. Sun damage to the eye can occur throughout the year, even in the winter as both UV and blue light rays can penetrate on overcast days. Quality sunglasses that block most of the UVA and UVB as well as blue light rays with large lenses that fit close to the head can help protect from
cataracts, pterygium (surfer’s eye) a benign thickening of the outer coating of the eye that grows on to the cornea, age-related macular-degeneration and other eye conditions and diseases. They block wind, bugs and debris from getting in your eyes on a run and also provide protection against “hook eye”. A quick pull, a snap back and a flying frog, crankbait or other lure has been known to make an embedded landing in an angler’s eye or two over the years.
BETTER FISHING
Another aspect of sunglasses is how they give you “x-ray” vision. Okay, so it isn’t really superhero style vision, but anyone that has ever donned a pair of good polarized glasses and compared them to gas station stand cheapies has seen the difference and knows how much they can enhance a fisherman’s ability to see into the water. While now isn’t the time of year that most of us think about sight and bed fishing, the ability to detect what can be seen subsurface is just as important in fall and summer as it is in the spring.
fall 2013
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