By Elie Godsi
I’m going to have to get down and dirty with you on this Top Tip. As anglers we come into contact with water every time we fish. Water is the very place that many pathogens (those nasty germs that cause diseases) are at their happiest, just waiting for their next victim to contaminate. Yet it amazes me how careless and sloppy most anglers are when it comes to hygiene while they’re fishing. It’s a case of ‘it will never happen to me’ type scenario. Think so? Think again.
A friend of mine caught Weils disease – (Leptosperosis) a potential killer – from a gravel pit in the Colne valley and it nearly ended his fishing career. Our own Jamie Simpson recently contracted Weils disease while fishing in France and wrote and excellent article about this in the April 2007 edition of Carpworld. Jamie offers some important advice here that’s well worth taking seriously.
Weils disease is just one of many. It is usually caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals. Like many other water borne diseases, it can infect us through swallowing contaminated food or water, through skin contact such as with the eyes or nose, and especially through cuts or broken skin, which is how Jamie caught it. Lets face it – how many of us fish with cuts? How many of us lick line that’s been in the water to tie a knot? So always wear waterproof plasters if you have broken skin and be very careful what you put in your mouth!
But it’s not just water borne diseases getting into our systems that concerns me here. Why is it that some people’s standards of hygiene drop completely when they are fishing? Why is it ok to handle a spod that’s repeatedly been in spod mix and the lake, wipe your hands on the back of your trousers and then eat a sandwich? I fished with a good mate for a week in France. At one point he picked his nose, cleaned his toes and then, I kid you not – proceeded to cook me some sausages! Now just because it’s not easy to wash our hands with soap and clean water doesn’t mean we can’t stay clean while fishing – and more importantly – healthy.
For many years now I have always carried a packet of hygiene ‘wet wipes’ with me while fishing. They are ‘dirt’ cheap and you can get them from any supermarket as baby wipes, toddler wipes or ‘hand and face’ wipes. I got the orange packet in the picture from Wilkinson hardware store. Before I prepare food, eat anything or brush my teeth I give my hands a quick wipe. If I am fishing longer sessions of say, a couple of nights, on venues where there are no showers or toilets I also use them to give myself a final wipe after going to the toilet.
I have just started using two great products from Medi-Clenz that come in the form of wipes and gel. The gel comes in a neat 150 ml non-breaking plastic container for £2.50 and is the same stuff they now use in UK hospitals. The wipes come in a plastic dispenser of 80 wipes 130mm X 230 mm for £3.30. According to the blurb in just 15 seconds “Medi-Clenz provides the unparalleled rapid broad spectrum anti-microbial activity of Alcohol, providing full protection against MRSA bacterium, common fish and animal pathogens and viruses such as Weils Disease and rat feces etc”.
The gel requires no water or towels – you just need enough to coat your hands (back and palms) and in seconds it dries to nothing leaving your hands totally germ free. You can get both of these from Specialist Tackle.
Elie G
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