Water Purification and Hydration

A real special headache has descended upon my brain.  My stomach has an unsettled queasy feeling.   I can’t concentrate on my fishing because I’m weak.  I only want to sit down somewhere and hang my head. 

Yesterday, the fishing had been as hot as the burning sun.  I was so caught up in the fishing that I neglected to drink at regular intervals.  I had returned to base camp with a parching thirst and bone crushing tiredness.  When I finally chugged some liquids my shriveled brain swelled uncomfortably in my hard confining skull.  The night had been fitful and now here I am on the next day still paying the price of dehydration.  It will last all day and wreck my fishing fun.

Water and hydration are VERY important.  We MUST have abundant and safe water to drink while adventure surf fishing.  We also need to understand the dynamics of dehydration and how to avoid it.

The tap water in Mexico and other Central American countries is generally not to USA standards.  It often contains bacteria that can make us ill.  In most cases, purified bottled water can be found.  But if it cannot, the cheapest and most convenient method is the way the hardcore mountaineers, explorers, and adventurers do it.  Many of them use Betadine.  It is a povidone-iodine 10% solution that can be cheaply bought at virtually all drug stores as a wound antiseptic.  Four drops in one liter of tap water (sixteen drops to a gallon) will kill the nasties in ½ hour.  Now here is the secret.  Crushing and dissolving a tablet of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) into the Betadine treated water (after the ½ hour rest) will completely neutralize the taste of the Betadine.  It will taste like spring water!  Betadine will render even pond, puddle, and river water safe to drink in an emergency.  Additonally, it is a very effective wound antiseptic in its undiluted form.  I always carry a small bottle of Betadine with me.

Dehydration is a nasty thing.  It creeps up on you when you are not looking and it will wreck your fun for 24 hours.  You cannot rely on thirst to tell you when to drink.  If you feel thirsty, you are in the first stages of dehydration.  It will make you feel weak, nauseous, a bit disoriented, and give you a headache.  It will make you quit fishing and go back to your room.  At it’s worst it can kill you.  It takes 24 hours to rehydrate from even moderate dehydration.  You will almost swear you are ill for 24 hours, not dehydrated.  Fishing will not be fun during this time.

Gatorade and other sport drinks like it are ideal for hydrating over long periods of time.  They replace the electrolytes (salts) that get flushed out of your system when consuming a lot of water.  Most importantly, they have some energy producing carbohydrates in a WEAK solution.  Water is adsorbed by the body in the small intestine.  If the carbohydrate concentration of the liquid is too high, the stomach will think it is food and retain it there.  We want the water to pass quickly through the stomach and get to the small intestine.   I always take a tub of powdered sports drink mix and use it religiously.  It makes a HUGE difference in your endurance and fishing happiness!  Poor mans Gatorade can be made with soda pop (non-diet) that is diluted 50/50  with water and a very small pinch of salt.  You can also use Kool-aid in 1/2 strength concentrations (with a very small pinch of salt).

I always start out the day with two full 1/2 liter bottles of water (Gatorade) and a full one liter bottle.  I carry the two 1/2 liter bottles to the water with me and keep the one liter bottle at my vehicle.

The best thing you can do is fully hydrate before you leave the room in the morning.  This means drinking as much water as you can before you start the day.  Drink a lot at the car when you arrive at the fishing spot and also when get back in the car for the trip back to home base.  It is best to drink larger amounts at intervals throughout the day rather than frequent sips.  Don’t let dehydration spoil your fun!!!  You haven't really lived until you have brushed your teeth with yesterdays left over Gatorade!  If you are not peeing, you are not drinking enough fluids!

Hydration Don’ts  

     Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink. 

     Don’t drink coffee or caffeine drinks before going to the beach.  They draw water out of your body.  That’s why they make you pee.

     Don’t drink straight soda pop or very sweet liquids.  They are retained in the stomach and not in the water adsorbing small intestine

     Don’t save your water if you are running low.  It will do you a lot more good in your body RIGHT NOW.  

     Don’t get so preoccupied with catching fish that you forget or delay drinking  

     Don’t go to the fishing grounds without enough water.

     Don’t eat food until you have hydrated well.

     Don't drink alcohol until fishing is done and you are re-hydrated (can you say SPLITTING HEADACHE?).