First off, I'm not talking about the injuries that come from "Night Fishing". That's a euphemism among some guys for catting around on the sly. That's the type of trip you don't want to bring anything home from. Divorce attorney's are probably expensive, and then you won't have any money to actually go fishing. Your liver could be bruised for weeks, too. No, what I'm talking about is the type of thing that usually happens to me right about the middle or end of August, months of paddling the solo canoe and fishing combine to give me a nice case of tendinitis in my left elbow/forearm. I call it "fishing elbow" in polite company, but it's a real pain in the... arm. And wrist, too. I'm not alone, anyone who does a repetitive movement with some force to it can get injured, just look at sports, or even a production worker doing the same task thousands of times a day, every day. I saw a story over at Bassfan.com that has a list of all the touring Bass Pro's injuries, and let me tell you, it's a big list.
The list from the story goes like this:
George Jeane, Jr. - Rotator cuff, surgery
Brent Broderick – Hand ligaments
Rusty Salewske – Painful shoulder (baseball)
Bill Lowen – Back
Mark Tucker – Rotator cuff and bicep, surgery, also recently tore all hand ligaments on hookset, shoulder problems
Dustin Wilks - Elbow, Tommy John surgery
Michael Murphy – Ankle/knee (football)
Luke Clausen – Elbow, surgery
Bill Chapman – Back, missed entire tour season
Matt Herren – Broken tailbone
Mark Menendez – Skin cancer
Shaw Grigsby – Elbow
Mike Surman – Elbow
Bill Dance – Skin cancer
David Fritts – Struck by lightning in boat, likely cause of serious eye injury
Scott Suggs – Rotator cuff, elbow
Gerald Swindle – Back and shoulder (football, trade work),
Bernie Schultz – Neck
Jack Gadlage – Shoulder
Greg Pugh – Hernia
Mike Ward – Elbow and shoulder, surgery
Charlie Youngers – Back (surgery, bacterial infection complication)
Fred Roumbanis – Elbow
Zell Rowland – Back (surgery)
Ken Cook – Shoulder (from Lyme disease)
Robert Hamilton, Jr. – Shoulder/collarbone/rotator cuff (surgery)
Clark Wendlandt – Frozen shoulder (surgery), elbow
Mike Wurm – shoulder (surgery)
Brent Broderick – Hand ligaments
Rusty Salewske – Painful shoulder (baseball)
Bill Lowen – Back
Mark Tucker – Rotator cuff and bicep, surgery, also recently tore all hand ligaments on hookset, shoulder problems
Dustin Wilks - Elbow, Tommy John surgery
Michael Murphy – Ankle/knee (football)
Luke Clausen – Elbow, surgery
Bill Chapman – Back, missed entire tour season
Matt Herren – Broken tailbone
Mark Menendez – Skin cancer
Shaw Grigsby – Elbow
Mike Surman – Elbow
Bill Dance – Skin cancer
David Fritts – Struck by lightning in boat, likely cause of serious eye injury
Scott Suggs – Rotator cuff, elbow
Gerald Swindle – Back and shoulder (football, trade work),
Bernie Schultz – Neck
Jack Gadlage – Shoulder
Greg Pugh – Hernia
Mike Ward – Elbow and shoulder, surgery
Charlie Youngers – Back (surgery, bacterial infection complication)
Fred Roumbanis – Elbow
Zell Rowland – Back (surgery)
Ken Cook – Shoulder (from Lyme disease)
Robert Hamilton, Jr. – Shoulder/collarbone/rotator cuff (surgery)
Clark Wendlandt – Frozen shoulder (surgery), elbow
Mike Wurm – shoulder (surgery)
Most people think of fishing as a sedentary pastime, but fishing at the B.A.S.S. or FLW tournament level is an exercise in punishment. Pounding 80-mile per hour boat rides, the hours spent driving, and the constant casting of large lures can damage everything from your lower back to your elbow. Another issue is the amount of skin cancer on that list. All day, every day in the sun can do that. Ever get hit by lightning while playing tennis? Golf maybe, but you usually don't break your tailbone golfing, either. That one hurts just to read it.
My issues with my left arm were serious enough to warrant a trip to my doctor, and that got me referred to a physical therapist. What I learned from the physical therapist is that simple warming up exercises probably wouldn't eliminate the pain, but it would make it manageable. In that article at Bassfan.com there's the link to Troy Lindner's website, Fit4Fishing.com. where he covers the basics on how to stay mobile and pain-free enough to carry on through the years. I knew Al Lindner's son was a competitive angler, but I didn't know he was a physical therapist/trainer. Bassfan.com is doing a whole series of his exercises at their website, the first one addressing my problem, "Fishing Elbow". Fit 4 Fishing Part 1 – Fishing Elbow
Here's one for us that use Jerkbaits all the time. He calls them "Rip Baits". Same thing.
Here's one for us that use Jerkbaits all the time. He calls them "Rip Baits". Same thing.
Check out his other videos on his website or there on YouTube.com
This is kind of short compared to some of my other articles on this site, by I'm sticking this one in the Fishing Articles section. I'm going to go ahead and put Troy Lindner's website in my link list for future reference, too.
