If there’s anything that can discourage you from going saltwater fishing it’s seasickness. Nothing else about the trip would matter – whether the sensitivity of the line or the quality of your fishing gear – if you don’t feel too good for the entire trip duration.
Feeling seasick can be quite annoying because it can affect your mood throughout the entire fishing trip. It may also influence your performance greatly, especially when deep sea fishing.
It’s a great idea to learn how to prevent motion sickness. While there is no cure for seasickness, you can do a few things to prevent this condition from ruining your fishing experience.
By learning how to prevent sea sickness while fishing, you’ll get the best out of your fishing experience. These tips will cover your actions from the moment you make a booking till you get off the boat.
This piece will look at some comprehensive tips for effectively preventing seasickness. Let’s begin!
Table of Contents
What Is Sea Sickness?
Before we get started on how to fight seasickness, it’s important to get familiar with the meaning of the condition and how it occurs. First, you need to note that sea sickness is a type of motion sickness. It’s quite popular and will affect about 60% of people at least once in their life.
This condition occurs when the eyes and inner ears do not send signals quickly to the brain. At the end of the day, this would create a feeling of sea sickness. When on a water vessel for the first time, its motions can be quite erratic and strange.
These movements will cause an imbalance in your inner ear and brain. This imbalance will send a signal to the vomiting center of your brain and cause you to spill the contents of your guts.
You see, sea sickness is your body’s natural response to the movement of a boat or sea vessel. This type of condition can trigger cold sweats, dizziness, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. The severity of these symptoms varies for many people and, in extreme cases, may totally prevent the person from functioning on fishing trips.
Watch this video to learn the causes of motion sickness:
Simple Fishing Tips To Help You Prevent Motion Sickness
To avoid a scenario where you get seasick during your fishing trip, you need to prepare adequately. If you have a history of motion sickness, it’s a great idea to take preventive measures before getting aboard the fishing boat. You may try out any of the following tips:
Don’t Panic
Many people send their central nervous system into a lot of hassle through panic. They are already nervous and jittery before getting on the fishing boat. The state of your mind can affect how your body handles certain health conditions. Therefore, you need to remain confident.
Whether through controlled breathing or any other effective technique, you need to learn how to stay as calm as possible. Even if it’s your first time deep sea fishing, the chances are that you’ll be fine. All you need to do is prepare adequately and eliminate fear from your mind.
Drink Enough Water
An important tip to prevent seasickness is to stay hydrated as much as possible. In simple terms, drink enough water. The truth is that staying hydrated will reduce the severity of your motion sickness.
Regular sips of water or other electrolyte-enhanced drinks before and during your trip will go a long way. However, you need to note that cold beer is not a reasonable alternative to help you avoid motion sickness.
Avoid Drinking Alcohol Till You Get Off The Boat
Getting on a fishing boat can be quite exciting. As a result, many people get carried away and begin to celebrate with a few alcoholic drinks – before getting to sea and while on the boat. While this may seem like a good idea at first, it can cause many problems during your trip.
It’s important to avoid taking too much alcohol a night before heading out into the sea. Even a mild hangover could be problematic and aggravate any motion sickness symptoms you may have. If you must drink alcohol while out at sea, make sure that you take only a little. Alcohol will affect your body’s capacity to adjust to the boat’s motion and make you feel worse.
Eat Light
While going on a fishing trip on an empty stomach can be quite discomforting, you need to be cautious of the type of food you eat before you head out to catch fish. If you must eat during fishing trips, the best idea is to eat light.
Also, ensure that you avoid overindulging in spicy or acidic foods because they can cause problems in your stomach and digestive system. Therefore, making you more susceptible to motion sickness. Another good idea is to avoid greasy foods and processed packages.
Before departing from dry land, your best options are light and bland meals – usually made from freshly sourced ingredients. Some good examples include oatmeal, lean protein, fruits, and vegetables.
Avoid Sitting At The Front Of The Boat
It’s easy to get tempted into staying at the front of the boat. The front is where you get to soak up the magnificent view of the horizon. However, it may not be the best position to help you avoid getting seasickness. The front of the boat will sway a lot under the force of the ocean’s waves.
Therefore, it’s a great idea to stay around the middle or back of the boat. Here, you’ll be less exposed to aggressive motions that may cause you to throw up. It will also help you maintain your balance better in during the fishing trip. Another important thing to remember is to avoid staring at the waves.
When seated in a boat and enjoying the fresh air, it’s easy to feel tempted to stare at the roaring waves. But you really shouldn’t. Looking at the waves for too long will increase the chances of you falling seasick. Instead of staring at the waves, it’s better to look into the horizon. The view is more relaxing and will not trigger motion sickness.
Have A Good Night’s Rest Before Heading On The Fishing Trip
You need to note that the 24 hours before you get on a fishing boat is crucial to whether you experience motion sickness or not. Don’t spend the whole day working yourself to a pulp and fail to rest properly before heading into the boat. Lack of rest will make it easier for you to feel disoriented on the boat. As a result, it’s important that you rest properly.
Have a light, non-spicy dinner and go to bed. A good night’s sleep will ensure that you can maintain your balance orientation for the rest of the trip. This way, you’ll wake up early enough and with lots of energy. Eat a light breakfast before heading out and avoid drinking coffee.
Plan Ahead Of Your Trip
The logic behind this is quite simple. If you know that you will be going on a fishing trip and don’t have strong sea legs, you must plan ahead. The first thing to do is to think about your trip and where you are going.
Remember that deep sea fishing will take you into the middle of the ocean. If you fall seasick, there will be no quick routes home. Consider the entire duration of the trip and how long it would take to get to and from your destination.
Next, consider your underlying health conditions. Are you currently using any medications? The use of antibiotics can cause people to feel nauseous and even interfere with other medications. If you have any prescription medication to help you with seasickness, make sure to use them a few hours before getting on the sea vessel.
If you really want to give yourself an edge and a chance to fight off any nausea-related symptoms, you may decide to start vitamin B6 tablets weeks before your trip. Pregnant women use this medication to prevent nausea. It will also prove helpful in helping you find your sea legs and prevent seasickness. Food substances that contain vitamin B6 include; tuna, chicken, salmon, and chickpeas.
What Are Some Remedies To Help You Deal With Seasickness?
Let’s say that you get seasick during your fishing trip. How do you take care of yourself? What are a few tips to restore you to optimal health?
These simple tips include:
- Avoid panicking: When you get seasick, the natural reaction is to panic. However, you have to do your best to avoid it. Anxiety will only trigger nausea and make you feel sick. At the end of the day, your condition will only get worse. The best thing to do is to relax your body with deep breaths. The fresh air intake will calm your body down and relieve seasickness symptoms.
- Take some Dramamine: Dramamine is an effective way to fight seasickness. It helps to fight nausea in the stomach by blocking brain receptors that trigger motion sickness. Also, Dramamine is FDA approved and will not cause your body any harm. You will easily find it in most drug stores. However, there’s a catch. This medication is more effective when used a day before the fishing trip. If you use it after nausea and vomiting have started, it will take longer to feel its effects.
- Opt for aromatherapy and herbal remedy: Aromatherapy is an effective way to prevent motion sickness. The use of sweet-smelling scents such as lavender, rosemary, and pepper mind will help your body cope with nausea. You may also travel along with some ginger root. It serves as a type of Chinese medicine and a natural remedy to seasickness. You may either chew the ginger root, soak ginger or drink some ginger ale to help your body deal with high seas.
Watch this video for more tips on proven remedies to sea sickness:
Frequently Asked Questions
How to know if you get seasick?
Sea sickness is a type of motion sickness that happens when your brain receptors are disoriented, sending signals to the brain’s vomiting center. Getting familiar with its associated symptoms will help you easily identify it and cope better. When seasickness occurs, the person will develop headaches, dizziness, cold sweats, nausea, and vomiting.
What to do when seasick?
Whenever you or someone in your fishing crew falls seasick, you can alleviate the situation if you know the right thing to do. The first thing to do is to get the person to calm down. Next, you can administer medication to make them feel better. You may also try out unique solutions such as aromatherapy and ginger roots.
How to avoid seasickness?
The best way to avoid seasickness is to rest properly before setting foot in your fishing vessel. You should take precautionary measures by avoiding spicy food or alcohol before your trip. Another important thing to note is to stay hydrated.
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