By Bob Jensen

Sunglasses will help an angler see shallow cover and protect your eyes.

Buying stuff for fishing isn’t the best investment we could make from a strictly traditional definition of investing. Rarely can we sell a rod, reel, lure, or whatever for more than we paid for it.

But some items that we should use when we go fishing are good examples of smart investments. Not investments for financial gain, but investments for our well-being. I’ll explain.

We go fishing for a lot of different reasons, but for most of us, we go fishing because it’s a good time. A good time is an investment in your emotional well-being, and that in itself is a good reason to go fishing.

So, we’re going fishing because it makes us happy. Let’s contribute to that long-term happiness by wearing sunscreen. And wear a sunscreen that is going to protect your skin. I learned this one in a painful way.

It was many years ago in my very brief involvement in tournament fishing. A friend and I were going to participate in a local Chamber of Commerce tournament. It was a one day deal, a Saturday. I spent Friday on the water practicing for the event. It was early June.

After a long, cold, dreary winter, I was ready to enjoy being outside. And since I was young and concerned about such things, I was going to work on my summer tan. I covered myself with a sunscreen that the bottle said would create a “Savage Tan.” It had a sun protection factor(SPF) of 4. That’s not enough!

I fished all day under a bright sky with a light breeze. Shorts, no shirt, and flip-flops.  Horrible idea all the way around. The next day it was too painful to slide my fried body into regular clothes.

Thank goodness for a cheap, loose fitting rainsuit. That was all that I could comfortably get on over my sunburned skin. It was that day that I quit worrying about a tan and put more thought into skin protection. If you’re going to be outside, wear adequate sunscreen. Many dermatologists say that a 30 SPF is the minimum.

Wear a shirt with long sleeves and long pants when you’re going to be in the sun for an extended period of time. There is clothing available that reduces the chance of sunburn but is also very comfortable even on the hottest days.

Wear sunscreen when you’re ice fishing. On the ice, you get direct sunrays and sunrays that reflect off the ice. Put sunscreen on any exposed skin. Also, invest in lip balm.

Just as important as investing in your skin is investing in your eyes. Vision is precious. Wear sunglasses. Sunglasses will help you see shallow water fish-holding spots, but more importantly, they protect your eyes. If you’re motoring across the lake, sunglasses provide protection from bugs.

Maybe more importantly, they’ll protect your eyes from flying jigs and sinkers. When we get snagged, when the bait releases from the snag it will often fly through the air like a bullet.  Getting hit with a jig or sinker in your forehead is no fun. But a jig in the eye can be a lifelong reminder that sunglasses are more than a good idea when you’re fishing.

They’re an investment in your vision. Strike King has a nice selection of sunglasses at an affordable price.

Invest in appropriate sunscreen, lip balm, and sunglasses. You’re not going to make money from them, but they’ll help you enjoy your fishing even more. The stock market can’t provide a better investment than that.