Take Care of Your Hands Now. You’ll Want Them Later.
Most anglers are pretty proud of beat-up hands.
Calluses, scars, cracked fingertips, sunspots, cuts—we tend to look at them as proof that we've spent some time outdoors. And to a certain extent, they are.
But there's a difference between hands that have done some work and hands that have been neglected for 30 or 40 years.
I plan on fishing for a long time. I don't want to quit because my hands are too cracked to tie a knot, my fingertips hurt every time I strip line, or my skin can't handle another three days of sun, wind, and water.
Taking care of your skin isn't about making your hands look younger.
It's about keeping them working.
Calluses Aren't Always the Badge of Honor We Think They Are
A little callus is normal. Your skin naturally responds to repeated friction and pressure by becoming thicker.
Anglers get plenty of both.
Fly line runs across our fingers. Oars rub against our hands. Rod grips, knots, nets, fish, anchors, trailers, boats, and gear all put our hands to work.
But extremely dry, thick, callused skin isn't necessarily better skin.
When skin becomes excessively dry and thick, it can lose some of its flexibility. Eventually those rough areas can split and crack.
And every angler who's had a deep crack on a thumb or fingertip knows exactly how much something that small can hurt.
Now put that cracked finger in cold river water.
That's always enjoyable.
Cracked Hands Can Cost You Time on the Water
One cracked fingertip probably isn't sending you home.
But damaged hands can make fishing less comfortable than it needs to be.
Think about everything your hands do during a normal day of fishing.
You're tying knots, changing flies or lures, handling line, gripping a rod, rowing, working a net, handling fish, opening boxes, moving gear, and doing hundreds of little things without even thinking about them.
When your hands hurt, suddenly you think about every one of them.
That's why I look at hand care as maintenance.
We maintain everything else we depend on.
Why wouldn't we maintain our hands?
Moisturized Skin Isn't About Having Soft Hands
There's a misconception, especially among guys, that using moisturizer means you're trying to have soft, perfect-looking hands.
That's not what we're talking about.
Healthy skin needs moisture to remain comfortable and flexible.
When your hands are constantly exposed to water, dry air, wind, sun, cold, salt, and repeated washing, that moisture gets harder to maintain.
A good moisturizer or hand balm helps support the skin barrier and reduce moisture loss.
That doesn't mean you can't have working hands.
You can still have the scars.
You can still have some calluses.
You can still look like you've actually used a fly rod instead of posing with one for Instagram.
The goal is simply to keep your skin from becoming so dry and damaged that it starts working against you.
Your Hands Change as You Get Older
Here's the part most of us don't think about when we're younger.
Skin changes with age.
Over time, skin generally becomes thinner, produces less natural oil, and may become more prone to dryness and injury. Decades of sun exposure also start showing up.
If you've spent most of your life fishing, hunting, boating, guiding, hiking, or working outdoors, you've probably accumulated a lot more exposure than the average person.
You can't go back and change the previous 30 years.
You can change what you do tomorrow.
And that's really what Wrapped in Water is about.
I Want to Fish Into Retirement
This is the part that matters to me.
I don't take care of my fishing equipment because I'm worried about how it looks sitting in the garage.
I take care of it because I want it to work the next time I need it.
I look at my hands the same way.
I want to be tying flies when I'm older.
I want to be able to grab an oar, strip a streamer, tie on a size 18 fly, and handle a fish without thinking about whether my fingers are going to split open.
There are plenty of things that can eventually slow us down as we get older.
I'm not interested in helping them along by neglecting something I could have been taking care of all along.
Clean Them. Moisturize Them. Maintain Them.
Hand care for anglers doesn't need to be complicated.
After fishing, clean your hands properly. Get the fish slime, sunscreen, dirt, salt, grime, and whatever was growing underneath the boat seat off your skin.
Slim Scrub does a great job of cleaning the funk off your hands!
Dry them thoroughly.
Then use a quality moisturizer or hand balm.
If you've got particularly rough areas—thumbs, fingertips, knuckles, cuticles, or the fingers you use for stripping line—give those areas a little extra attention.
And don't wait until your hands are already cracked.
That's the important part.
Maintenance works better when you actually do it before something breaks.
Your Face Deserves the Same Treatment
Your hands aren't the only skin taking abuse.
If you've spent decades fishing, think about how many thousands of hours your face has been exposed to sunlight, wind, heat, cold, and reflected light off the water.
That's why taking care of your face shouldn't begin when you're 65.
Use appropriate sun protection. Clean your skin after a long day outside. Replace moisture afterward with a quality facial moisturizer or hydrating oil.
This isn't about looking 25 again.
That ship sailed a while ago for some of us.
It's about taking better care of the skin you have.
Think About the Next 20 Years of Fishing
Anglers spend a lot of time thinking about the next trip.
I think we should occasionally think a little further ahead.
Where do you want to be 10, 20, or even 30 years from now?
Hopefully you're still standing in a river, sitting in a drift boat, walking a beach, running a boat, or dropping a line through the ice.
Your hands will have a lot more miles on them by then.
Some wear and tear is unavoidable. That's part of a life spent outdoors, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
But there's no prize for having the most neglected hands at the boat ramp.
Keep them clean.
Keep them moisturized.
Protect them from the sun.
Take care of cracks and damage instead of ignoring them.
And make basic skin care part of maintaining the equipment you plan on using for the rest of your life.
Because someday, when you're retired and you've got nothing on the calendar except deciding where you're fishing tomorrow, you're going to be glad you took care of the two hands that are still tying the knots.
Take care of your hands now. You're going to want them later.
Wrapped in Water — Skincare Built for Anglers.