How not to Deep-Six your Deep Sea Fishing Trip with Seasickness
On a deep sea fishing trip, the one thing that can ruin your day beyond repair is a bad case of seasickness. Most people already know whether they either are, or are not, prone to seasickness. The only way to find out is to go offshore. And, trust me, no matter how sick you may get, the boat won’t turn back to shore for you. Seasickness takes at least three days to get used to. Thus, for a one-day charter trip, you need to prepare well ahead of time.
The feeling of seasickness is one of the worst physical feelings you can experience that does no lasting harm. Once you are back on land, everything is right again. So what can you do to prevent seasickness when going deep sea fishing? Common remedies include ginger pills, Dramamine™, wrist straps, acupressure straps, and a relatively new pharmaceutical drug that must be prescribed by your doctor. Different people swear by their own remedies so often you will just have to use trial and error.
The popular TV show MythBusters© tested the various seasickness cures on their staff. The results only supported ginger pills as a “plausible” cure. The doctor-prescribed drug is pretty certain to work; however, users often feel very loopy. Of course, if the fish are really biting, you do tend to forget to be seasick.
One thing to consider is to try a four-hour party boat first. It is not as much fun and there is often some line untangling going on, but it only costs in the neighborhood of $25-$40. If that trip goes well and you find your sea-legs, a six-person private charter boat is the way to really go deep sea fishing. And, with your new-found sea-worthiness, the $125+ fee will be well worth it. Local Florida charter boats usually guarantee a healthy catch limit and a grand time.