Vision Protection Important for Anglers

What piece of equipment is often overlooked?

Maybe your landing net or an extra rod and reel.

Nope. Your sunglasses, prescription or non-prescription.

Aside from the obvious benefit of comfort, wearing sunglasses on a bright day can help protect your night vision; as well as help preserve the long-term health of your eyes.

Studies show that exposure to strong ultraviolet light will slow your eyes’ adaptation to the dark, meaning you might not have normal night vision until several hours after the sun sets.

Intense sun bleaches the chemicals out of your retina that you use for night vision. The chemicals do recharge, but it takes time, especially if your eyes have been exposed to strong light over a period of days.

Shielding your eyes from ultraviolet (UV) rays can also slow the development of cataracts, essentially a clouding of the lens. Cataracts are caused by a host of factors, including heredity and poor nutrition. Studies indicate long-term exposure to bright sun and glare can make folks already predisposed more susceptible.

UV Standards

You can hold a sunglass lens up to the sky to see how much visible light it factors out, but your dependant on the manufacturer’s work regarding the most important aspect of sunglass performance: filtration of UV light.

Ultraviolet rays are the invisible light rays that cause sunburns and can jump start skin cancer and cataracts. There are three types UVA, UVB and UVC. UVB has the potential for causing eye damage.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends sunglasses that 99 percent to 100 percent of UV light. “UV absorption up to 400 mm,” a measure found on some labels, is the same thing as 100 percent UV absorption.

A wide variety of coating colors and types can also filter out UV rays. Glasses that don’t seem especially dark can still provide complete, or near complete UV protection.

Even sunglasses with 100 percent UV blocking can’t seal all UV light out. Moving a pair of standard sunglasses one-quarter inch away from the forehead increases UV exposure by 4 to 45 percent, depending on the design of the glasses.

Side panels will prevent light bleeding in the sides of your eyes, but depending on the shape of your face, you’re always going to have some bleeding at the top and bottom of the lenses.

Polarization

Polarized glasses are famous for letting you see structure just below the surface of the water and fish. Polarized lenses contain microscopic mesh to diffuse reflected glare. You get a lot less fatigue with a polarized lens. You do get a little less depth of field and contrast because of the way the light is diffused in the lens.

A higher price can buy you better optics and more durable frames. Fashionable colors and frames may also boost the price of a pair of shades, as do special features like polarization.

A quick test for lens distortion is to look through the glass at a straight, horizontal line. Turn your head from side-to-side. If the line seems to wobble and stretch, the lens quality is poor. Good quality sunglasses tend to have lenses made of either glass; a plastic called CR-39, or polycarbonate.

In general, glass is the most scratch resistant; plastics are lighter and more shatter resistant. CR-39 is naturally more scratch resistant than polycarbonate, which wins the impact-resistant category. Both CR-39 and polycarbonate lenses can be molded and polished to achieve a superior optical surface, neither is cheap, and CR-39 lenses tend to be expensive.

For those who still insist on tossing their glasses into the tackle box with the car keys, manufacturers have mixed up special ultra-hard coatings.

Remember, you have spent lots of dollars for fishing equipment. Don’t leave out the most important pieces the next time you go fishing. A good pair of quality sunglasses is essential and should be a part of your basic tackle.

See y’all on Galveston Bay.

Capt. Paul Marcaccio

Role of the Wind in Salt Water Fishing

Make no mistake about it, the wind can make or break your upcoming fishing trip or trips. Obviously, the stronger the wind, the rougher the water will have on your fishing trip. For general sport fishing, anything over 12 to 15 knots will make for an uncomfortable day.

The story of Texan saltwater fishing and the wind, however, is more than one of velocity. Direction too, plays a very important role. Then, there is the duration of the wind out of the same direction.

Start by looking at a map of the Gulf Coast. Beginning at Sabine and moving toward Corpus Christi, the coast runs northeast to southwest. However, from Corpus Christi to Mansfield and further south becomes almost due north to south.

What would you say are the best fishing winds? As a rule, the best winds are east to southeast along the coast, less than 12-15 knots. These winds blow in from the sea to bring in clearer and sometimes cooler water. That, folks are the ideal winds for our coastline. Even stronger east to southeast winds may make your fishing a bit unpleasant, but will have little effect on water clarity.

Now look what happens when the blow comes from the land to the sea? Meaning from the dreaded northwest or west. These winds are not conducive to fun fishing, because they drop tides below normal and water clarity becomes non-existent. There is an interesting note about northwest winds in the winter from mid-November to April. These “blue northers” generally cross the coast in excess of 25-40 mph. Old and seasoned fishermen call it “blowing the water out of the bay”.

Look for areas that hold land structure to give you some protection, such as Clear Lake, Moses Lake, Taylor Lake, Offats Bayou and numerous other bodies of water you can find on your Gulf Coast maps.

In addition, it is an ideal time to survey areas normally covered by normal tides. Bottom structure such as reefs or wrecks will hold bait. Remember, finding active bait; will most often result in finding game fish.

Strong and sustained winds from off shore, especially, those from the east, can be a fishing bonanza, making tides run higher than predicted. These winds flood the salt grasses and generally on a falling tide, can result in excellent catching of speckled trout and redfish along with the 3rd member and sometimes over looked flounder.

And last but not least, dead calm wind is generally slow to poor for fishing. There are no ripples on the bay to offset the noise a wader or someone drifting might make. Make no mistake, sound underwater travels 5 times that of what you hear on top, or so the experts say.

Next time you and yours plan a trip, keep this information and use it to make a wise decision for your outdoor adventure on Galveston or any area along the Gulf Coast.

Enjoy the out doors.

See ya’ll on Galveston Bay.

Capt. Paul Marcaccio

galveston bay fishing reports