Fishing with George Tunison | Do you have a thermometer in your first aid kit?
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What's missing from your onboard first aid kit? You do have a clean, well-stocked, updated and readily accessible first aid kit, don't you? Of course, your answer is yes but does your kit contain a thermometer?
If anyone starts complaining about sudden headaches, or starts to exhibit slurred speech, acting confused or disoriented, throwing up, or has a racing pulse or goes into an obvious seizure, it's trouble time.
If any of your passengers or yourself exhibit these symptoms while on the water this summer, it's time to call for emergency services and wait in place to be evacuated (Radio gear and cell phone onboard?), or if you're relatively close to shore at the very least a quick trip back to the dock and immediate first aid relief which should have been already started before heading in.
Once a person's core body temperature reaches 104 degrees F. you are in big time danger and facing the possibility of sudden death. Break out the thermometer and keep a check on yourself or the patient while waiting for help or choosing to motor in.
Provide immediate relief by providing shade any way you can. Improvise. To provide quick temperature relief, use cold moist towels around the neck. On summer charters I pack two towels per passenger in a separate iced cooler. Remember, drinking alcohol only adds fuel to the fire, especially under a hot sun at sea.
If you've lived here for decades and you've somehow gotten used to the steam bath, (BTW, when does that happen? I've been here for 25 years and still waiting!) well that's just peachy but go easy on visiting grandkids, seniors and even dogs, which aren't accustomed to such extreme Amazon-like conditions.
Plan your trips for the very early mornings and late evenings or if you're an experienced captain, evening trips into the cooling night under the stars are very pleasant and highly recommended.
"Experienced captain" means knowing your path of travel through years of nighttime on-the-water experience, knowing how to pull back on the throttle and how to take it easy, having proper lighting, electronics and safety gear onboard, signed up for towing insurance and always observing the rules of the road. More folks are killed on the water by collisions with other yahoos, boats and stationary objects like channel markers, bridges and docks than heat stroke.
If you haven't spent the time on local waters at night, it takes some getting used to as you've now entered a completely different visual world. So, go slowly on your own several times, or better, with an experienced friend and definitely not with a boatload of visiting relatives.
This time of year that's also where you'll find me, at night practicing my personal favorite angling pastime, which is throwing lures and flies at giant night-feeding tarpon typically around area bridges and sometimes in the passes. The only problem is the by-catch, typically huge snook and, of course, sharks looking for a free handout or a free hand to chew on. Be very careful releasing tarpon and snook at night as I've experienced some very close calls over the years while releasing fish. Also, if you're casting at night even solo, always wear lightweight clear safety glasses.
As far as daytime inshore fishing, going after a cooling rain pays off, otherwise putting your baits or lures into naturally shady spots is the deal. This is where learning how to efficiently skip cast lures back under the shade puts you far ahead of the cautious edge-of-cover angler.
If you like a real angling challenge, juvenile tarpon are showing off in the many miles of the Cape's canals and area backwaters. Adult tarpon are moving along the coast and in and out of the passes while snook fishing along the beaches and passes is red hot.
If going offshore, use common weather sense and bring home the delicious snapper.
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-579-0461 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.