Dave Keith used a hooded sun shirt and baseball cap to help cut the heat during a recent trip with the writer. Jeff Knapp/Special to the Eagle

It was early morning and surprisingly pleasant when I met my clients Fran and John in the parking lot, one shared by only one other rig. Light cloud cover obscured what would become a sunny, dreadfully hot day.

A couple hours later, having boated a few bass, my guys said that they’d had enough. We’d enjoyed some action, but the sky was now clear, the sun piercing, and the comparatively cool pleasantness was just a recent memory.

During this outing of last week – taken in the midst of a prolonged spell of sweltering heat – our conversation included a discussion of how to deal with the hot weather, the inspiration for this week’s column.

One of the most obvious responses to extreme hot weather is, as implied earlier, to start early and end early. Admittedly this can be easier said than done. Summer days are long, with the predawn twilight brightening the skies around 5:30 am. Add in travel time to get to the water, boat prep, and whatever other morning obligations that might come into play (in my case a dog that insists on her morning two to three-mile walk) and hitting the water right at the crack of dawn might not be feasible. Just make it as early as you can. An extra hour in the cool and one less hour in the heat makes a difference.

A less obvious tactic is to keep your skin covered. While it might seem counterproductive to wear long sleeves and long pants when the sun is blazing, minimizing the radiant heat generated by direct sun contact will do much to keep you cool, not to mention the benefits of reducing the chance of developing skin cancer.

The same can be said for headgear. Flopping “sun hats” provide the best protection, sort of like umbrellas for your noggin, but tend to blow off easily during boat rides. I prefer the classic baseball-style hat and the hood of a sun long sleeved sun shirt of the level of sun intensity warrants such.

Speaking of headgear, one of my favorite tactics when the heat is on is to soak my hat in the lake. Wring it out enough to keep it from dripping, and the evaporation process will keep your head cool. It’s been said that the head is the body’s chimney, that keeping it warm in cold weather keeps you warm all over. The same is true when it’s hot, only in reverse.

The last tip falls back into the obvious category: To be sure to drink lots of fluids, even prior to feeling thirsty. I offer it here because having had hundreds of different boat partners over the years, ones of both sexes, there’s a common factor that keeps people from following this well known health suggestion. That is the resulting need to answer the call of nature. The more that goes in, the more (and more frequent) that comes out.

Be that as it may, it’s smart to come up with a plan to deal with such inconveniences, to put your health first.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle