Pain, Pain, Agony, Agony and more of the same!

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Sue and I were up the Fitzroy this evening checking the pots. :) A couple of good crabs and it was just so lovely and peaceful up there we decided to anchor and fish for a while. Had one good run on a whole pillie on a gang of 6/0's but the hooks pulled. :-/ Suzi was battling with some sort of decent fish and so I grabbed the net. Up came a large catfish. :-/ I am always so careful removing the hook on these buggers. I grabbed the hook with the pliers and did the big flip and jerk thing but he turned just at the wrong moment. The dorsal spike went right into the knuckle on my middle finger. :o :o>:( >:( :'( :'(
I haven't been spiked before but I have seen other blokes cop it. I remembered reading on this forum that if you haven't got any hot water that you can use a cigarette lighter or the heat from the engine. I put the lighter on it. :o
I have to say that I almost passed out with the pain. And I even began to wonder if it would be less painful if I just cut the finger off!
I can only describe it as excruciating and sickening.
We came home asap and I put my hand in hot water for a long, long time. It is now 3 hrs since this happened and the ache and throb is still quite severe.
Bloody near brought me to tears!!!!! :'(

Be Careful

Dave

[Angla]

I feel your pain even though I have never been stuck that bad yet. I think that when I hear of others in pain it re-affirms the need for caution at all times. Thanks for the reminder Dave

Angla :o

[jackash]

Absolutely excrutiating pain. got done by a tiny one a few year back in the thumb. Even though it was a tiny fish and i barely got pricked, for an hour i was in total agony. NOT FUN!!

[Scott15]

Yeh i got done by a 6cm one, freakin hurts alright

[Bream_Reaper01]

I'd rather what happened to me on Saturday arvo than get done by a cattie.Upiring baseball and got hit in the left arm by 100mph ball.Many coloured shades of bruising,but that's better than a cattie spike.

[snakecatcher]

After being stung by a happy moment I can appreciate what you went through. When I catch a catfish they don't even come in the boat I just cut the bloody line - much better to retie your rig than spend hours in pain.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Trouble is they are fantastic crab pot bait. And the Fitzroy is loaded with the buggers!

Had a restless night with the finger throbbing and aching etc and this morning it is locked in a half bent position and 50% bigger than normal. Still bloody painful! :'( :( :'( :(

We had our girls in the boat with us yesterday and so I couldn't put my finger where I initially thought. Well you know, my wife there with me, me with a cattie sting and I need somewhere warm to put it ::) ::)........ I'm sure she wouldn't have minded. :D I wonder if that would be warm enough. :P ....probably a lot better than bloody nothing!!

Cheers
Dave

[fish2eat]

A pair of cheap leather gardening gloves costs around $2.

I keep a pair in every fishing kit and boat I have

[snakecatcher]

I'm sure the wife would have minded if she got some of the venom up there!

[bignick]

A Catfish spike can go through a Wellington Boot and 2 pairs of footy socks and still do the business. I would never bring one into the boat; I always cut the line and let them go. The dramas and pain and agony is not worth it for the sake of a few cents worth of hook.

Cheers,
NICK.

[MIKOS]

I had a cattie come off the hook while landing it in the boat and it landed upside down with its spike landing in the middle of my right foot.

The pain was unbearable. :'(

FU%$6ng thing copped a flogging ;D

Mike

[PeterT]

Dave, I love catties for crab bait too. Carry a good pair of side cutters preferably very long ones and snip the spines off before handling. try a cattie cooked in the ashes and you will think twice about using them for crab bait.

Only thing I have had that is worse, is a stinger on the crab line. Got me along the forearm and wrist. The scar has gone now but looked like I had an operation down my arm and throbed for a week. Lucky it had fired most of its venom on the rope.

Only remedy for catfish spike is to grab your fishing knife and stab yourself in the eye. That will divert your mind from the spine stab.

pete

[gogecko]

Where abouts are the spikes? Did someone say dorsal spike? Is that the only spike? Jees, Ive been handling catfish and didnt know they had spikes. I just used an old Tshirt to grab em. Sounds like I was real lucky. oops.

[MIKOS]

Gogecko,

The first large spike on the middle of the catties back.

Keep clear mate.Took me a couple of weeks to get over the soreness.

Mike

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Dave,
Haven't been stuck myself, but the discriptions of the pain I have heard from others has led me to treat unhooking catfish with the same sort of care I would take with defusing a bomb.

Here's a painful story to help take your mind off your own pain for a while:

When I was a young tacker, my old man was out catching tailor on a racing ski. One threw the hook as he was landing it and it fell down between his legs and promptly latched onto his scrotum through his speedos. As you probably know, they clamp their jaws shut in situations like this and nothing you can do will entice them to let go. So the fish was removed by main force, taking a fair bit of skin and speedo material with it. Tailor bites always seem to get infected no matter how much antiseptic you apply so needless to say, Dad was walking like a crab for the next week or so that it took to heal. He used to drive a grader before retiring, and his work mates still swear that they could see both his knees sticking out either side door of the cab during that week.

Hope it doesn't take a week for your pain to go away. I know its not much help to you, but there are worse places than a finger to get stuck. ;)

Cheers
Jeff

[MIKOS]

Gorilla,

Do you have any photos of the trauma ;D

Mike

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Gorilla,

Do you have any photos of the trauma ;D

Mike

Mike, fortunately no! ;)

[Benno75]

A Catfish spike can go through a Wellington Boot and 2 pairs of footy socks and still do the business. I would never bring one into the boat; I always cut the line and let them go. The dramas and pain and agony is not worth it for the sake of a few cents worth of hook.

Cheers,
NICK.

My dad stepped on one while he was doing a survival exercise in the army. Straight up through the sole of his GP boot - they had to cut the spike off the fish, the boot off his foot and then cut the spike out. I remember him saying he felt pretty crook for a while.

[PeterT]

Caught a stone fish a week or so ago. First ever. Straight to hospital with one of those buggers.

Years ago we were at Narooma chasing octopus for bait and a mate got stung by a Fortesque fish.Only about 2 inches long but put him on a respirator in hospital.

Juvi queen fish can give you a nasty sting up here and as well as the stingers like Qld we have the Irukandji stinger which is only about 2.5 cenimeters across. It can put you in intensive care. I have caught them in a cast net, sometimes by the 10- 15 a cast. If they are in the net with prawns, the prawns die instantly. Their stingers fire on the net so havn't been stung too bad. The sting is bad enough but you get head aches and feel crook later usually after you get home.

Pulled an esturine file snake up in the cast net once with a couple of Irukandji. The file snake died.

pete

[Canoedle]

They have spikes in the pectoral fins as well, not sure if they are poisonous, never been unfortunate enough to get spiked which is pretty amazing since I was landing em in our creek near gympie when I was 10, always let em settle and then grab em with gloves as suggested or a good thick rag. The few I got on hard bodies on the weekend at wivenhoe were horses and I just gave em a little knick with a sharp knife to free my hooks, wasnt donating any of my lures to the slimy buggars and sure they will heal up fine.
Gorilla, I had to cringe at that story m8, that's hard to top. My old man pulled a 50cm school mack into the boat one day and it started slapping like crazy, as they do, so he stuck his foot on it. It slipped out from under his foot and landed head first on his big toe, he was only wearing thongs. the thing nearly bit his toe clean off and as with your father's injury it got infected and didnt heal for a long time, think the old man took a week off work for that one, can still remember his slipper with the end cut off and the cursing that went on for weeks after.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

I think the pectoral spikes on the Catties are poisonous as well.

The spikes actually have to break or puncture your skin for the protein to be introduced. I don't think it would have caused Sue any grief. :P::) I think I now have two options: 1. Don't try to dislodge the hook from them. or 2. Leave the girls at home just in case......... ::)

Cheers
Dave

[gavsgonefishing]

Got hit by the pectoral fin of a cattie many years ago in the index finger, know the grief you are going through. Give me trouble off an on for a year, tingling nerves etc, About one year later I squeezed tge spike out the other side of the finger. took a year to work its way through. No wonder it bloody hurt :'(

[SeaHunt]

Don't stuff around with them. Either cut the line and leave them in the water or if you really want your hook back , stick a long blade knife through their skull to stop them moving around and then get the side cutters out and cut all their spikes off before trying to remove the hook. :'(

[seabug]

Hi,
I was fishing off Apollo Bay one day and landed a bulleye Gurnard.
It drove a spine into the base of my longest finger.
The pain was the worst that I had ever experienced.
I had some Panadol in my tackle box in case of headache,so I thought I would give a couple a try.Within minutes the pain had almost disappeared.
The swelling remained for about 4-5 days but the pain was gone.
I do not know if it would work on your northern fish ,but if you were to carry some it would be worth a try.
Regards
Seabug

[bidkev]

Unlucky mate. Hope it heals soon.

Funny things those catty spines. First time I got spiked it was agony as it had penetrated and scraped the bone. I've been done quite a few times since(invariably protecting the kids) ;Dand felt no stinging sensation at all :o Whether you can build an immunity or not, I don't know. OTOH, scat spikes drive me bloody insane with pain and I've seen other fishos simply brush 'em off as if nothing had happened :o :'(

kev

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has courage to lose sight of the shore.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Kev

I can assure you there was not one funny part of the catty spike to me! :'(
Maybe you can build up an immunity to them just as my Dad has with his bees. The stings hardly bother him at all, in fact he believes that a few every now and then is good for arthritis. :-?

I have no desire to test this theory with the catfish! :'(

It is now more than 24 hrs since the sting and my finger is still very swollen and bloody sore! >:(

Cheers all

Dave

[Haji-Baba]

The old freshwater jew has the same spines, one on top and two to the side don't get hit with either. Ditto saltwter catties, rays and catfish eels. if you ever catch a carp have a look at the spines on them, dorsal, pectral and anal fins. Boil one up in a tin on the fire and have a look. They will turn your blood cold. A definate hospital job if you get spiked.

Haji Baba

[DNO40]

Been there done that. I know where you are coming from.


DNO

[major-defect]

A mate once sat on a small 1 and the spike broke of in his bum cheek.He was 1 sore and sorry lad.

[Toppy]

Mate, I can totaly simpathise with you! When I was a young fella & didnt know any better, I spotted a school of what I thought was pody mullet. That was my first mistake, second mistake was once I had netted them I picked one up by the tail. Upon closer inspection I noticed it was some type of harmless black & yellow catie. Right on que as I thought the word harmless it swung around & jabbed me with one of its hyperdermic needle like barbs, right in the nuckle. :'(
Must be the prefered place to sting humans ;D The pain was as you say excruciating & almost instant. It lasted one 1/2 days and involved a trip to the Doc,s. For years later I had a lump on my nuckle where it stung me.
Yep, dont wana go there again!
cheers
Toppy

[INDULGENCE]

Hi Dave
Is it possible there is still a small part of the spine in your finger?
Get it checked if the thing persists.
Bundy poured into mouth good for the pain,dont waste it on the wound.

Wally

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

G'day Wally

I wonder whether the end of the spike might have broken off. It is still bloody sore and swollen this morning and doesn't feel as though it is getting any better. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon. I'll keep an eye on it!

Cheers to you and Ruth

Dave

[DICER]

Payback should be in order - cook and eat the blighter.

I have had quite a few jabs in the legs over the years, none of the wounds lasted being sore more than a couple of hours - they get me on the first lift out of the water. Seriously have it checked if it keeps going.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Well it is now 4 days since the cattie got me. The swelling is beginning to abate and the pain is pretty much insignificant. Still can't bend my finger properly, but clearly it is on the mend.
We have managed a few more feeds of crabs through the week, and caught a few more catfish, but no more do I try to dehook them. They are held over the drum and line cut!
Stuff the buggers!!!!

Cheers to all
Dave

[snakecatcher]

Holy shit 4 days of pain from a single cattie spike - always careful around them buggers but I'll be even more careful from now on.

[JasonT]

Mate, I got spiked beteen index and 2nd finger the day before new years eve 05 and still have a lump and pain when pressure is put on it!
Had it all checked out but nothing had broken off! I guess the buggers just really know how to hurt!
Good luck with yours!

[Navi]

hey malcom douglas the old bugger that travels around oz with his tinny and 4x4 was on tv yesterday and he was catching catfish, he showed the spikes on it one either side of the head and the one on its back, but what got me was that they are like a bread knife they go in easy but very hard to get out , we caught about 20 of these suckers in 4 hours in the logan river then we cut up an old thong and every time we got one we stuck a peice of thong on it's spike to see if we were catching the same ones after about another 20 we still never caught the same fish....


Cheers Chris 8-)