Top Tips No. 4 - Hygiene Matters. Stay Healthy!
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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Tags: angling, anti-bacterial, bait, carp, fishing, france, hygiene wipes, product reviews, tackle, technique, tips, uk, weil's disease
Having seen first hand the state jamie was in when had a fight with roland rat i would’nt wish it on anybody,it absolutely knocked him sideways for months and i know he still gets spells of weariness even now.We all know rats carry the disease but i recently found out that cows do as well,and on a water of mine a mega popular swim is…..the cow drink.I know exactly how Elie feels because when its a really good friend who gets really ill with a condition we all know about but pay little attention to it certainly opens your eyes.The only positive to come out of Jamies illness is that he’s now the most rat phobic man on earth,which i find extremely amusing!!
Ah a subject close to my heart.
Well put Elie.
I must re-write the article for the blog or web sitein general incase people missed it.
Very good points regarding general hygeine and I tell you what mate I really can’t remember seeing anyone wash their hands after a toilet brake whilst fishing.
Baby wipes are a brilliant way of cleaning your hands that I hadn’t thought of ntli the birth of Lucas the other year.
Oh and Lee you don’t need to butter me up, if anything should happen to me, you get the tackle in my will. LOL
Cheers
Jamie
Thanks for the comments guys.
Jamie - your Carpworld article “Beware the Rat” is available to read as a pdf file and it’s linked on the Angling Lines website. I have also linked it in the Top Tip above - if anyone wants to read it click on the word ‘Carpworld’ - ah the magic of the internet.
Lee, you’re right mate, it’s a misconception that rats are the only carriers of Weils, any infected animal can carry it. I have learned to be wary of infected water through hard experience. Over the years I’ve had amoebic dysentary and bilharzia, as well as various other skin boring parasites, none of which was much fun. Oh and thanks for the tip, now I know how rat phobic Jamie is then this could be a source of great amusement. A mate of mine is seriously scared of snakes. Some of the lads at the lake left a rubber snake under his bedchair. Well you can imagine the scene when he found it the next morning!! Jamie beware!
Best fishes
Elie G
Hi Guys
One quick word on the subject of baby wipes, and this is in no way intended to go against Elie’s excellent advice… but when using baby wipes… PLEASE, PLEASE don’t throw them down the toilet. 99% of all lakes in France are on septic tanks and baby wipes aren’t biodegradable… they just block the toilet up good and proper…
We have had several cases of this happening this year, which not only puts the loos out of commission for the rest of the anglers but cost several hundred Euros to fix…
Cheers
Gareth
Thanks for pointing that out Gareth - I had overlooked that important issue and should have been clearer about this. NEVER put baby wipes down any toilet - they should always go in a rubbish bag with all your other waster to go in a proper bin at the end of your session or trip.
Elie G
On a recent French trip, I was rudely woken by a rat sat on the side of my face trying to eat my ear! In total shock I swiped it off and watched it scuttle away, and then noticed the blood on my hand. My ear was bleeding and the first thing I thought of was Weils disease. Going back to a point Eli made about plasters. I’d scratched my ear the day before on brambles while stalking, I can only assume the blood attracted the rat. I’ll certainly think about covering cuts up next time.
Luckily I was going home that day, so as soon as I got home I called the doctor for an appointment. Two days wait, good old NHS. By the time I finally saw a doctor I was worried sick. Then your problems start, he’d never heard of it so he looked it up on his computer. The computer said up to four week incubation so thats what he recommended, wait!!!. I know from what Jamie Simpson had told me that he had could not convince his doctor and the delay in diagnosis had caused him problems. So I’d done my internet research as well, printed it off and banged it down on his desk, doctors must hate the internet. Finally convinced he prescribed some antibiotics and boosted my anti-tetanus. Now I don’t know if I will contract Weils Disease its still early days, but the treatment has given me some peace of mind. All I will say is that if you are ever in the same position, prepare to stand your ground when you visit the doctor and insist on early antibiotic treatment. Early treatment is the best treatment. By the way when I saw the staff nurse for my tetanus jab she knew all about Weils Disease, and warned me to come back the first sign of illness. You bet I will
Cheers Ron