Please wear sunscreen and/or cover up when you’re fishing, don’t be one of those anglers who burns themselves in the sun

The whole bastard that is cancer thing has really been at the forefront of my mind for the week+ since dad died, and although he didn’t die of skin cancer - bowel cancer and then metastatic bowel cancer is what got him - whenever I see the odd photo of an angler on social media which shows a sort of “I forgot my sunscreen/look at my sunburn” look, I wince. Before I had skin cancer (melanoma) myself a few years ago I don’t think I would have winced at stuff like that, but I know a lot more about the realities of it now. In some respects I was unlucky to get a melanoma, but on the other hand I was very lucky that they got it early…………..

Me grabbing a shark on a remote Indian Ocean flat - don’t ask! - and every bit of exposed skin has got waterproof SPF 50 sunscreen on it.

The simple fact is that if we fish we tend to spend a lot of time outside, and whilst nobody could deny that fresh air and the great outdoors isn’t incredibly good for us, too much sun is harmful to our skin, and as blokes especially we really should stop seeing a bad dose of sunburn as almost a right of passage. Take me as a typical angler who has already had the most dangerous type of skin cancer once. Yes, I have also done a hell of a lot of fishing photography work in some seriously hot and sunny places all around the world, but I was always incredibly careful with good clothing and waterproof SPF 50 sunscreen on these trips. I also am and indeed was one of the more careful anglers who would put sunscreen on and/or cover up more than nearly all other anglers I have fished with here in the UK or Ireland. But I got skin cancer.

“Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Non-melanoma skin cancer refers to a group of cancers that slowly develop in the upper layers of the skin. The term non-melanoma distinguishes these more common types of skin cancer from the less common skin cancer known as melanoma, which can be more serious. In the UK, around 147,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are diagnosed each year. It affects more men than women and is more common in the elderly” (copied and pasted from here).

So use me as an example of what could happen to anybody. My body has a weakness in that it doesn’t process exposure to the sun as well as most other people, but if it can happen to me then it can happen to some of you here. I got lucky once and I am even more careful than I used to be these days, but my getting a melanoma surely proves that none of us are immune to the damage that too much exposure to sun can wreak on our skin. “Melanoma is the most invasive skin cancer with the highest risk of death. While it’s a serious skin cancer, it's highly curable if caught early. Prevention and early treatment are critical, especially if you have fair skin, blonde or red hair and blue eyes……...Melanoma accounts for only about 1% of all skin cancers, but causes the great majority of skin cancer-related deaths” (copied and pasted from here).

What has always struck me as odd about where I got my melanoma on my lower left leg was that it was underneath the one part of leg that was always completely covered up by long socks and gravel guards when I would be taking photos on the saltwater flats in very powerful tropical sun for hours on end (look at the anglers above for an example of what I mean about lower legs being covered up). Again though, please take this as a simple example that skin cancer is real and you can do a whole lot of very simple stuff to prevent getting it. One of my dad’s best friends died some years ago now from a melanoma, and back when he would have been out in serious sun in Australia for days on end, it was a time when far less was known about the potential dangers of too much exposure to sun. We know a lot more now.

Cancer may be at the forefront of my mind at the moment because it killed my dad, but I have been thinking about putting this type of blog post up for a while now. It has become a bit easier to take a few photos of myself actually fishing with this Sony camera gear I am now using, and a number of people have commented and/or asked questions about the face coverings and sun gloves I often wear, as per above. Of course I have a good giggle about the many Pulp Fiction “bring out the gimp” references, but hopefully the important thing here is that who cares what you look like when you are out fishing? I certainly don’t as I am sure you can tell! The face covering is called a Buff UVX Balaclava which isn’t easy to track down in the UK, but you most likely do not need to go as far as me here. There are loads of those simple BUFF-type neck roll things out there these days which you can simply bring up over your face as per below. Covering up your arms is easy, and I would guess that most of us here are wearing waders or something similar for UK and Irish shore based fishing.

I often wear something gimp-like because I find it easier to cover up than to have to slap sunscreen on for a few hours of fishing. If I am out and about all day with the family then for sure I will put at least SPF 50 sunscreen on and get on with it, but for fishing I’d rather cover up as much exposed skin as possible and be done with any worries. As for sunscreen, I can’t personally see much point in wearing anything less than SPF 50, but again that’s me and what you do or don’t do has to be up to you. If you have got to here then please have a think about your time outdoors and whether you should be doing more to protect your skin and of course your kids’ skin and so on. Sunscreen is a no-brainer, but if like me you would rather avoid putting it on nearly all the time then have a look around for wide/brimmed hats and neck/face tubes etc. Polarised sunnies should be a given for much of our fishing, check here if that helps.