Ever get very sick on a fishing trip?

[Junk Fisherman]

Who gets pneumonia in June?   I do. 

 

I left to go camping on a Tuesday while my wife and kids would come up the following Saturday after school was over to spend a week in northern Michigan for our yearly vacation.  I felt great the first couple days and caught some big fish even though it was the heaviest fishing pressure I had ever seen in the area.  Camping was excellent with great sleeping weather.   But come Saturday I was completely exhausted and initially attributed it to spending 8-10 hours in a boat for 5 days in a row.  I literally laid in my boat on Saturday twice since I was so tired.  The sun was warm but not hot and it felt great just to lay down.  But exhaustion led to a 104-105 fever by the end of the day and a trip to the ER where I was diagnosed with either sun poisoning or some virus.  They ran a bunch of tests but everything came back negative.  So for the next 4 days I primarily spent it in the bedroom of our rental taking Tylenol and Advil and a variety of fluids.  Nonstop alternating between sweating and shivering, a yo-yo-ing fever that had a daily morning and evening spike, with some absolutely awful nights of sleep or lack thereof.  Oh yeah- and there were some gorgeous days but I was so sick I wasn't really thinking about the fishing I was missing.  Without any appetite, I lost 10 lbs from the start of my trip to the end.  Thankfully, my wife and kids had a good time and were able to do most everything on their agenda except getting out on the boat and catching some fish.  

 

Then came the 5 hour drive home while towing my boat and still suffering from a 102ish temp.  That was brutal!  I spent all my energy focusing on driving and thankfully the traffic was very light.  I literally had metal goals to reach throughout the drive which made it a little easier.  Thankfully, I didn't have to pull over and rest or even get a hotel room and sleep.  Got home, went to the ER again, and was finally diagnosed with pneumonia.  Now I am on a couple antibiotics and on the road to recovery.  Haven't had a fever in several days, am getting good sleep, and am feeling stronger everyday.  Hopefully, I can get out next week.

 

So how say you?  Ever have sickness ruin a fishing trip?    

 

[gunsinger]

Not a long trip but I did get extremely nauseated an dizzy last Sunday. So much so that I cut my trip short. It may have been a touch of heat exhaustion. 

[scaleface]

Not as bad as you but yep, I was sick for the whole week the last time I visited Table Rock .

[volzfan59]

I got one of the worst migraines I've ever had fishing on Percy Priest in Nashville one day. When I got home, I didn't even unload. Just went to bed.

[CrankFate]

Seasick. Yes. These were the days I caught most of the biggest fish in my life. It’s hard to understand how crazy I am about fishing. But I’m literally reeling up fish while throwing up. This is why I don’t like being on boats in the ocean. As far as losing 10 pounds goes, when I’m not overweight and trying to trim down, I normally lose 10-12 pounds every week between Sunday and Tuesday.

[DitchPanda]

Not really on a trip like that but the past few months I've missed out on alot of fishing. Had Covid at the end of April and had to quarantine for ten days...was fatigued for a week or so after. Then a few weeks later I got a nice nasty sinus infection that knocked the crap outta me way worse then the covid. This past weekend starting Friday I had some stomach issue which took until Tuesday or so to get back to normal.

[geo g]

Severe diarrhea on an everglades trip.  Had to let it hang over the side and hope no big gators come to investigate.  Never leave home without a few heavy trash bags and a fresh roll of T/P!  A horrible feeling!

[FryDog62]

Staph infection throat/sinus 4 years ago. Worse than any strep throat I’ve ever had. Got it on a day trip fishing locally. Was on the DL 3 weeks, lost 15 pounds... 

[Bubba 460]

 

Well, knock on wood... Went on a 8 person charter out of Homer Alaska for halibut. Of the eight of us on board all got horribly sea-sick except for me and my brother in law. Waves were about 3 feet and tight, just right to get you sick. They were puking over the side or laying down somewhere between puking over the side... yep, some real "chumming" going on. That just left me all the more room to fish.... 271 pound "barn door" halibut. Took me an hour and a half to get him to the boat. Fish was 8 foot 4" long. If there would have been six more lines out maybe I would not have been so lucky.

[Bankbeater]

A couple of times I've had to pack it up and call it a day when I've gotten migraines.  

[PressuredFishing]

I completley understand this lol, I have a ton of, well shall we say, medical issues lol.  when we go up to high altitude lakes for trout or fish anywhere higher in elevation I never feel good the first few days, and get bad headaches, and other problems. when bass fishing I also dont go out much in the heat because you gatta be careful with your heart and for me, fainting is known all too well even with plenty of fluids. ?

[bish0p]

I mostly get sick ocean fishing. When the local winds and waves are rough, or there's a bad swell I can become ill. I've personally chummed the water.

[Bluebasser86]

Went to Table Rock to fish our clubs year end tournament a few years ago in April. I was already a bit under the weather with a sinus infection. I was coughing my lungs out the whole time and having difficulty breathing. Went out to eat with the whole group one night and I got laughing so hard and so short of breath I really thought I was going to pass out. My buddy I was fishing with said he was really worried I was going to die in my sleep because of the way I was breathing. Weather was cold and rainy so I'm sure that didn't help. Full blown pneumonia by the time we got back. Still walked away with the win.

 

I get bad aura migraines where I lose vision in my left eye, get really nauseas, my left hand/arm goes numb, sometimes I start vomiting uncontrollably. Had it happen a couple times on fishing trips, but usually more mild ones with just the bad headache and vision loss and mild nausea. 

[GreenPig]

I'm glad you're on the mend JF. I've literally passed 4 kidney stones from the deck of my boat. Does that count?? I could've laid home & hurt or fished & hurt. I fished. 

[Bluebasser86]

42 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

 I could've laid home & hurt or fished & hurt. I fished. 

I drive my wife crazy with this. I get sick with a head cold and go fishing. She tells me to stay home and rest, I tell her I'm going to be sick at home or sick at the lake, I'm going to be sick at the lake. 

[Catt]

Blew my ACL out, fished the final 3 days on crutches with a knee that wouldn't straighten out. 

[gim]

I’ve had food poisoning the night before I left for my annual deer hunting opener trip in early November. I couldn’t eat anything and was constantly dry heaving so I was also very dehydrated. I think it was e-coil or norovirus. Pretty rough just sitting there in a deer stand for hours being that sick. On the second day of the season, I vomited so loudly out of my stand that my uncle heard it a 1/4 mile away and thought a moose was grunting lol. Turns out I sent a trophy caliber 10 point buck his direction that is now on his wall.

[Fallser]

I've been going to a lodge in NE Ontario for almost 30 years.  Back in the early 2000's when I was about 80 lbs heavier than I am today I was diagnosed with AFib.  I had  a couple of attacks but wasn't being treated for it.   It's a 14 hour drive, two days driving by myself.  I had to unload the car on what was a very hot day at the pick up point, and then once we got settled in my fishing partner and I went out and sat out in the hot sun for a couple hours fishing.  I woke up early the next morning  with my heart racing and after being stoic till the sun came I woke up Charlie and told him I was having an attack,  he got the lodge owner and told him I had to get to a hospital.  He called the nearest hospital and they loaded me into the fastest boat at lodge.  It's a 19 mile boat ride.  The ambulance was waiting when we got to the pick-up point, a place known as Mowatt's Landing.  Loaded me into the ambulance, they put me on oxygen and a heart monitor.  My pulse was running between 120 and 140 beats per minute.  Then it was a 10 mile ride to the hospital.  I was conscious the whole time.  They took me into the ER, hooked me up to various machines, gave me something to calm me down.  As I was lying on the table I looked around and notice this room had over 100 various fishing lures hanging on the walls.  I asked one of the doctor's why they were there.  It's a big fishing area and most of their ER customers were fishermen who managed to impale hooks in various parts of their bodies.  He told the lures were the part of the cost of them removing them.  They kept the lures that they removed.  I was in the hospital for two days.  My pulse rate had dropped by heart wasn't in rhythm, so they shocked it back into rhythm, kept me over that second night to make sure it stayed in rhythm, then released me.  The lodge owner picked me up and I went back to the lodge and finished the week out.  That was just the beginning of a series of attacks.  I eventually was told to lose weight and put on some medicines to keep it under control.  Still take two pills a day, plus a blood thinner but it's under control.

[ironbjorn]

I fished when I had Swine Flu during the Swine Flu pandemic. I felt many times like I would pass out. I ended up catching one of my top 5 biggest bass up to that point in time. 

 

Other than that, I've only fished with the brown bottle flu. I remember one time when I was around 21-22 that I was so hungover that I was walking the banks fishing and puking simultaneously lol. Dedication.

[Michigander]

Yes. Missed Day 2 of our end of year tournament the other year. I assume from exposure.

[NYWayfarer]

I fished all weekend with a sinus infection and a huge scrape on my calf from falling over a fire pit. Unlit fire pit thank goodness.

 

I probably would have fished with 2nd degree burns knowing me.

[HaydenS]

My stomach hurts in anticipation of fishing trips sometimes ?‍♂️  I find it hard to get to sleep the night before going fishing, especially if I spending the night somwhere, so that doesn't help.  I broke my shoulder without knowing it and fished a lot, went to the doctor a couple weeks later, and what do you know... 

[Deleted account]

Sounds like you ran yourself ragged, and fell victim to opportunistic infection due to your compromised immune system. I'd be willing to bet it was weeks in the making. Pneumonia usually doesn't affect young healthy folks. Listen to your body, get plenty of sleep, and try to eat semi healthy things. Fish will be there.

[slonezp]

Nope. Never been sick on a fishing trip. If I was,  I would never admit it. 

[Yuddzy]

I went on a fishing/camping trip with a few friends for several days. We were swimming in a lake with a large beaver presence, one of my friends got a stomach bug and permanently ruined a pair of his orange undies. I don't know if he caught a milder case of giardia from the beaver water or if it was because he was cooking raw sausages with his fingers while eating.

 

Anyway, that's all I got.