See that you wear polarized sunglasses while fishing

Summer is here in full force, 90 degrees. Isn’t it wonderful? I have a couple of tips to keep you healthy and maybe catch a few more fish.

First, you should definitely be using polarized sunglasses when outdoors. Polarized sunglasses are the best protection you can use to protect your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.

In addition to eye protection, polarized lenses also improve your fishing. Look down into the water while wearing non-polarized sunglasses or no specs at all. You’ll be able to see down into the water a short distance. Put the polarized specs on and look down in the same place and I will guarantee that you will be able to see many times deeper than without these magical glasses.

Wearing polarized glasses when fishing is an absolute no-brainer. To check the difference between lenses, hold two pairs with the lenses up against each other. Hold one pair horizontally and the other pair vertically. If you can’t see through the two lenses, you have found yourself a winner.

Price doesn’t matter when choosing polarized sunglass lenses. I used to buy the cheapest sunglasses I could find. I figure that I didn’t need to spend a fortune on sunglasses because I always tend to sit on my glasses, either in the boat or in the car, so why go broke buying sunglasses I’ll most certainly destroy out of negligence?

I finally made the decision to upgrade my sunglasses and just be more careful in how I handled them. I hope my lovely wife doesn’t read this, but last year I paid $275 for a pair of Costa polarized sunglasses. They work perfectly, feel very light on my face and look so deeply into the water that I have a hard time believing it.

One tip when buying any brand of sunglasses is to experiment with the lens color. There are many different colors of lenses available. Different lens colors provide different levels of vision, depending on the color of the water.

The legendary Babe Winkelman swears by copper-colored lenses and says they work with any color water. You need to experiment to find out what works best for you.

Tip No. 2 is about sun protection. My wife worked for a very busy dermatological practice for many years, and she tells me that the number of skin cancer cases encountered each year grew and grew. The cases of dreaded melanoma, which can be fatal, become more numerous each and every year. Of course, this is anecdotal, but I truly agree with it.

These docs could afford fancy vacations. They’d come back to work after an exotic trip and show their photos around the office. I had the opportunity to see many of them.

Every outdoor picture I looked at showed the doctors and their families dressed in long-sleeved shirts and wide-brimmed hats, yes, even in the swimming pool. If these guys believe the sun can kill you, then who am I to argue? I think it’s better to look nerdy than to have to have skin tumors hacked off your body, don’t you?

Sunscreen is your friend. There are a jillion brands out there and I don’t know if any one is better than the others. What counts is the SPF number printed on the container.

SPF stands for “Sun Protection Factor.” It’s hard to explain the science, but basically, use the highest SPF that you can and reapply it often when you are fishing.

Now, go catch some fish and don’t forget to take care of your skin.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.