Topic: In almost 30 years of fishing

[kneedownnate]

I've never done more than stick just the tip of a hook in my skin... until tonight.  The shad have been schooling hard around the docks at work, and temptation became too great to avoid.  Myself and a few others from work hit the private docks after we got off and started in on the fish and were doing pretty good. 

I almost always flatten down the barbs on my hooks because barbless hooks are required in the rivers, and I don't want to tear up the fish in the creeks and lakes in the alps so I try and do away with the barbs.  Since I was using one of the lures I do in the alps the barbs were already pinched, but weren't totally smooth.

I rarely ever keep fish so I try to release them as easily as possible.  Tonight I caught a bass and was bending down to the water to grab it by the lip and BAM, fish was off and I noticed the lure didn't fling very far.  There it was, one of 3 points on the kastmaster was stuck in my wrist.  Quick check, then doublecheck and it missed my veign by almost 1/2 inch    Now how am I gonna get it out 

Ok, I bent the barbs down so maybe I can back it out.... tried that for a couple minutes and the only thing I was accomplishing was slightly bending the hook open.  I tried forcing the hook further through so it'd poke back through the skin but it was tough, really tough!  I finally realized I needed to do something I hate, ask somebody for help.  I hollar over to one of the guys and ask if he has anything to cut with.  He says he has a knife and I say "nope, that won't do it".  He asks what I need it for and I told him I stuck myself with a hook.  The other guy hollars over and said he had something so I head over there. 

Somehow we had to get it done with my leatherman and his needlenose pliers.  We decided the only way anything was gonna happen was if I poked the hook the rest of the way through my skin again and cut off the hook somewhere.  I didn't realize I had the point so close to coming out that you could see the metal, so I forced it the rest of the way through.  They were both saying "damn, you have tough skin!" cause that hook didn't want to go through at all.  After I got the point through I tried to get it past the bent over barb, but that was a pregnant dog.  I had to hold the body of the hook with the leatherman while one of them bent it out a little flatter to get a better angle to cut the hook off.  I pushed it through as hard as I could to expose as much as possible, he went in with the cutting edge  "just don't get my skin!", cut it off and I pulled the hook back out. 

Luckily one of the guys had a sanitary wipe so I could clean it up a little.  I figured I was done for the night because it'd start throbbing any minute, but when I went back down the dock to get my rod I couldn't help but think of the fish I would miss out on if I left    Good choice 

Luckily, it doesn't hurt unless I touch it.  It's kinda puffy, but that's probably more from me tugging on it trying to pull the hook back out. 

[Cheesemaker]

OUCH!!  That hurt just reading it. Put some Neosporin on it!

 

[jimbo74]

x2 on coming from an emergency medical background i want to see this....

[kneedownnate [OP]]

It's really not impressive to look at.  I'd snap a pic if I hadn't taken cheesy's advice and also installed a bandaid for a little sanitary action, maybe tomorrow.  When putting on the bandaid I noticed another veign just to the right of it 

[jimbo74]

eh, you probably wont die from ripping a vein..... an artery... and your screwed though

[jrock]

What size hook? I hope this wasn't a 1/4 oz kastmaster. 

I use this method:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Remove-A-Fishing-Hook-Using-Fishing-line/?comments=all
but I think that's a barbless.

[Trunkz]

dad hooked himself once and got a really bad infection in his hand, whole thing swelled up to like 2.5 times normal size... watch that cut

[kneedownnate [OP]]

I think it might have been a 1/4 oz., which is kinda what made it such a pita to get out!  I'm gonna watch it pretty closely and try to keep it clean.

[Tice]

Ouch!!  Buddy from High school got a Rapala stuck in his CHEEK!!!!! Good thing we were drunk, cuz he would have cried like a baby when we held him down to pull it ou!!!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

  sucky!  I may run in to town tonight, and if I do I'll stop by and snag an assortment of barbless hooks.  It's inevitable that it could happen again, so I may as well make removal much easier!

Oh yea, I was hopping between boats today at work and noticed one of those large jig-head hooks stuck in one of the boat ropes.  I always pull them whenever I see one so customers don't get stuck with one, so I grabbed it with my leatherman (it seriously goes everywhere with me!), gave a few jerks and it came out.... and somehow in the process of jerking it back and forth I stuck it in the same arm!  Luckily it had such a big barb on it which stopped it from going in past the barb.  All I could do was shake my head, suck out any impurities and shake my head a little more.

I'll probably go fishing atleast a couple more times this week, so at this rate I'll be chock full of holes by next monday  :haha

[kneedownnate [OP]]

I watched that video and    Don't know how he did that without snagging a bunch of meat 

[toyotamobing]

i was thinking the same thing

[brainlessfool]

Well how bout that! I was fishing with my boy last weekend and hooked a nice trout. got her in the boat and went to grab her and bam. the other treble on my repala (3" brown trout lure) drove into the bottom of my ring finger, sweet.
so there I is, hook in the fishies mouth and in my finger. would not be so bad if......... SHE WERE NOT JUMPING ALL OVER THE BOAT!!  been a long time sence I had pain like that.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Damn brainless, that had to smart!    Sounds like you got it a lot worse than me, I just had to worry about the nathan squirming around, not the fish.  Barbless hooks on the house 

[WHITE_TRASH]

I do my fishing at safeway.... much easier and it doesn't take me all day to NOT catch something... 


Glad your ok Nate, next time just fish off the bridge... 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

As far down as the water is... could you imagine the speed a lure could gain coming back at me    I was actually fishing off the marina which is closest to the bridge.  I'd fish at the store, but they don't have a live tank and would get pissed when I kept putting them back to catch again 

[jrock]

I'd fish at the store, but they don't have a live tank and would get pissed when I kept putting them back to catch again 

Nothing like fresh fish.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Only fish I really keep are salmon.  I caught my first steelhead out of the trinity this year and let it go cause everything seemed ok, turned around to grab my rod and cast out again and it was sitting on the bottom of the river.  Turned around to set down the rod again and by the time I looked back at the fish it was surrounded by a cloud of blood.  I dropped my lure in the current, got lucky and hooked it right in the mouth, brought it back up and took it to the truck.  I don't like keeping trout cause I think they taste very bland, but stocker likes trout so he got a free one    I also hook him up with the occassional salmon from the river when I have a good day.

[jrock]

I'm glad you feel catch and release is the right choice, I do the same. If the fish didn't take the fight well I will keep it but if it's kicking and strong it gets released. But you gave away a steelhead! Those are not a normal trout. Salmon is good, so is striper and halibut but steelhead is still good.

[Brenjen]

I watched my grandmother (tough 'ol bird) push a hook through herself & snip it off with a pair of wire cutters once; it's about the only thing you can do even if you bend down the barb the flesh still hangs on it. Of course this is the same woman who cut her toe off with an ax, stitched it back on, soaked a rag in lamp oil & wrapped the toe in it & went back outside to finish the chopping. I'm surprised she ever died, I was beginning to think it might be impossible.

I miss you granny.

[abnormaltoy]

I do my fishing at safeway.... much easier and it doesn't take me all day to NOT catch something... 

C'mon...you just like to read "People" in the check out line.

[WHITE_TRASH]

C'mon...you just like to read "People" in the check out line.

Close I like to laugh at the enquirer....

[MiniSimp]

[jrock]

Dog ate a baited leader?

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Quick update;  no infections    I thought there might be on the side where we snipped it off since I didn't wipe it clean before pulling it back through, but it looks very good!  I've been keeping it covered pretty much the whole time.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Oh yea, and I looked through my gear and found some barbless gamakatsu (sp) hooks for the medium/bigger size lures, then went and bought some for the smaller lures. 

[jrock]

Gamakatsu and Owner are the only hooks I use. Ooooooober sharp.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Werd, but I had to ditch the gamakatsu for salmon because they kept bending open or breaking and losing fish    I switched over to eagle claw and stopped losing so many salmon.  I've had good luck with owner too, but I haven't found them in the medium and larger treble hooks.

[toyotamobing]

i thought you arent allowed to use treble hooks for salmon...i use gamagatsu heavy wire 1/0 circle hooks while fishing for sharks and bat rays. ive caught bat rays up to 400+lbs and not had a problem yet, ive only had cheap hooks break

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Yea, just try and keep up with california fishing regulations    You can use a treble hook as long as point to shank distance is 1/2" or less I believe, but it may be slightly less.  I use smaller ones for sure in the trinity, 1/2" may be sac river regs.  Gamakatsu single point hooks are super strong, I've broken very few, but for some reason their trebles are super weak.

The look on the kid's face is classic    Is that like a shallow plateau you walked out on?