This FEB stuff and surf safety has a little extra meaning today to think about ways to improve the safety of how we fish and to lessen the likelyhood of something like that happening. Last night, Redlite and I were fishing in RI on some rocky bars (not saying any more than that :eek5: ) when I was releasing a 5# bulefish caught on a Surf Howdy (caught several more bass with it though). As I popped one set of trebbles out of the fish and was working on the second, a wave came, the fish zigged instead of zagged and for the first time for me, I was seriously hooked in one of my fingers with the hook going deep inside one side of my finger and out the other. Fortunately the fish came off REAL quick. But Bernzy's Surf Howdy had probably caught its largest victim yet, me.

Neither Redlite or me had decent, hook cutting pliers with us and he hit up another guy and borrowed his. We cut off the hook and I pushed it back thru, cleaned the wound as much as I could and went fishing again.

I thought about several things, first, how well my Lip Grip works when its in the truck, second, what works better than a Lip Grip when not in the truck. Third, getting a decent pair of hook cutting pliers, And lastly, some kind of light, flexible but somewhat impenetrable gloves (are there such a thing?).

When you are ass deep on a rocky bar far from shore in some moderate wave action, it's easy to stick yourself with a plug.

JohnR...I got a pair of VS pliers to do my unhooking of fish if need be, but in the side pocket of my surf bag (that I always have with me);) I keep a pair of cutters (short nose) that I would not hit the surf without! On a couple of occasions they came in handy. 1. A young kid on the Point Allerton pier had put the hook through the skin on the back of his head while casting.....his Mother was frantic and fortunately I had these cutters with me. I simply cut the barb off the hook and safely "released" the youngun'! His Mother was thrilled. 2. The second time was last spring.....Fishchick had a schoolie she was trying to unhook, and while doing so lost her grip and the tail hook (siwash) was driven deep into her hand below her thumb! She was freakin':eek: ! Same thing, cut hook and released!:happy:

Folks, if you don't carry them now....get a pair and carry them always while fishing boat or surf! I got mine at Sears....a simple short nosed pair of cutters for like 8 bucks. I cut all kinds of hooks with them and they remain sharp. I just have to soak them in WD-40 once in awhile.;)

It scares me enough that I bend down the barbs on all my hooks. They still stay in and actually are not usually that easy to remove. The last time I was at a daytime bluefish blitz I saw two guys get hooked, both on shore with no pliers.
Pete

John I took a hook yesterday But the 6lb or so toothy bastage was still on the plug:smash:
My knuckle is killing Me.
The toothy one flaped just as I was reaching down to unhook it:smash:
so any way hows Ya hand:confused:

It must have been something in the air this weekend. I took a treble in the hand this weekend also. It was in the first half hour of a trip. Thankfully two hooks went into my hand instead of one. The 7lb blue was still flipping wildly, and the hooks were just about to drive beyond the barb. If it had been only one hook I would have been in more trouble. I ripped them out and continued to fish.
Which of you are going to get a tetniss(sp?) shot? I spoke to my Doc ( who we happen to have dinner with that night, and an avid fisherman) who said I should, but should and will are two different things.

You would be wise to get that Tetnus shot, if you have not had one for a while. I believe that you are covered for a certain period of time once you get one.

Since burying a 3/0 deep into my thumb unhooking one of those toothy bastages years ago, I don't fish without a good set of sidecutters (wirecutters) and a first aid kit on hand.

With all this talk of FEB, I have added a bottle of peroxide wash to the list.
I'm dying to get my large fish - but don't want to die in the process.

;)

*ouch* make sure you get a tetanus booster.

Gonna call the docs office tomorrow and get a few things checked out.

It's definitley wierd when you can see 3/4 of an inch of flesh between where the hook went in and then came back out :smash:

i allways wear a wader belt and korkers when fishing rocks. a headlamp with a red filter or red plastic rap over light. 28 inch boga type grip made by berkley good for reaching in to tight spots to get a fish and not get hooked. a little bottle of hand sanitizer incase i get stuck by a fish spine. needle nose plyers with a cutting edge for cutting line and hooks

Now I know another reason to replace rusty hooks!

It looks like the bluefish is the culprit in most hook-in-the-finger events. I've always tried to drag the fish onto dry land by the leader then position myself as best as I can, while being "kind" to the fish as to avoid getting stuck. You see, I'm one of those guys that faints when he bleeds.:o

I ALWAYS carry a sidecutter pliers whenever I fish. Also make sure that you can cut the biggest hook you usually use with your left(weaker) hand. Also position it on your belt so it can be had from both sides. Might come in handy when your out on a bar waist deep and hooked to a 20#+ bass by your lonesome in your right hand. Ask me how I know:( . Damn thing got hung in my jacket sleeve too. But that was fish 7 in a 13 fish night and the bleeding stopped before I attracted any sharks. I was able to push the cutoff shank of a 4/0 treble through my hand . I cook for a living so I keep my Tetanus shots updated. But my hand was sure sore the next couple of days.

Originally posted by CANAL RAT
i allways wear a wader belt and korkers when fishing rocks. a headlamp with a red filter or red plastic rap over light. 28 inch boga type grip made by berkley good for reaching in to tight spots to get a fish and not get hooked. a little bottle of hand sanitizer incase i get stuck by a fish spine. needle nose plyers with a cutting edge for cutting line and hooks

I use all that stuff but needle nose with a cutting edge WON'T work most of the time...

Originally posted by Crow
I ALWAYS carry a sidecutter pliers whenever I fish. Also make sure that you can cut the biggest hook you usually use with your left(weaker) hand. Also position it on your belt so it can be had from both sides. Might come in handy when your out on a bar waist deep and hooked to a 20#+ bass by your lonesome in your right hand. Ask me how I know:( . Damn thing got hung in my jacket sleeve too. But that was fish 7 in a 13 fish night and the bleeding stopped before I attracted any sharks. I was able to push the cutoff shank of a 4/0 treble through my hand . I cook for a living so I keep my Tetanus shots updated. But my hand was sure sore the next couple of days. Yeh, out on a bar, several hundred feet from shore... "It's only a rat bluefish :wall: :wall: . Had to just the remaining part of the hook too....


Teezer - cAnT sPeL ? :laughs:

Everyone should keep up on their Tetnaus boosters. They keep changing how often you need one so,frequent ER visitor that i am,i write the last date on the back of my liscense.
Had a pharmacist friend,of all people,die of Tetnaus after he stepped on a stick with his bare feet.
All puncture wounds are suspect as tetnaus grows where there is no oxygen,and it's not a pleasant way to die!
Just mho.

Just bring the Boga out next time.........

story time..what the heck

I tell my buddie "hey look at me" as I crank (and I mean crank) my 6500 on a 3-4 blue. the freakin thing gets about 7 or 8 ft from me jumps right at my head. I do a quick block with my forarm, the exposed trebles stick into my forarm. Blue fish is going absolutly nutts on me(it still had all the life in him) I was wading approx. 200 yrds out. My budd finally comes over and grabs the freakin thing. After un hooking it we go to my house where we made several attemps to pull it out,the pleirs kept loosing their grip. ER time.

The second time I was way out in a colman catchin, you guessed it blue's, I told my bud "the one who catches the most would have to buy breakfast next time out" I cranked that fish in so hard and once in the canoe there was no place for it to go. It was goin nutts. when I realized the treble was in the tip of my finger, it was to late. It felt like the hook hit a nerve, My buddie had just put a fish in the canoe himself and it seemed like forever. What made it even worst was he was in the front and he had less control of the canoe, we where a ways from the truck and a couple hundred yrds from shore in open water. All I could do was squeeze the fish with my knee's to keep it from moveing, each time it would bite down on the plug I would yell. I kept telling my bud I was feeling faint he said i was white a ghost. When we got to shore we find out the bottem trebles are in the roof of the blue's mouth way in, lucky we had a knife with us ad cut its head off to get at the trebles. Any suddle movement i could feel it all, my finger became swollen and look very nasty I then had to walk well over a mile and half back to the truck, one hand holding the other. I get back he had everything put away and ready to go. I hate needles. The doc said he had removed many hooks and asured me it would be easy one...MY A$$ he tried cutting the hook with a small pair of bolt cutters wouldn't cut, he put all his weight on them, wouldn't cut. a second pair finally did it. Then he had a real witch of a time tring to pull it out. when my wife showed up I was covered in blood from the waste down and stunk like blue blood.

What did I learn. DO NOT CATCH BLUES.:D but it you must,use a barbless hook. I use way more caution now, some times you get caught up in the heat of fishin and can't wait to set the hooks into that next fish .....screw that. I USE BAIT.:D

YOu guys don,t listen @#$% them blues ////

{1] m-80
[2] hatchet
[3] don,t catch them
[4] if you have a issue that needs consuling /because you enjoy them @#$%^&@#$%^ fish at least fish // with only single hooks///
[5] hold high it air //swing baseball bat///
[6] only fish in N/E in december thru march
[7] cut their @#$%%^ heads off//
[8] need I say more?????

@#$%^&*@#$%^@#$%^@#$%^@#$%^&:smash: :smash:

anyone tried the pull out the hook techique instead of the push it thru thing. there is a thread about it in the how too section, its a bit easier than pushing it thru. when i got stuck by a gamakatsu octopus it was sticking thru the latch on my huge tackle box that never leaves the truck, it was sticking out thru the latch so when i got hooked i wasnt just stuck to the hook i was trapped in the latch as well. if anyone bout two months was fishing pips rip area and heard someone yelling IM STUCK at the tip of their lungs it was me. I was on the other side of the ditch. after i got the hook out, off to the ER for my tetnus booster.

:smash:

JohnR,

I bought a single "fish glove" at Walmart's last season. It looks like "chain mail" just to look at it but it's made out of some type of loose knit fiber, is very light, and in addition to easing the handling of Bluefish, also works pretty well with live eels.

Smoke

I knew all this talk about Blues would get Clammer going :D

mr macy
is that your head ?

Ouch! Hope your hand feels better dude.

John, I feel your pain:(

Glad you caught some fish though:)

Bernzy

Add me to the list for last week. angry 8 pound blue attached to one treble in my finger all the way through, tail treble in the blue as well, long walk back to the vehicle, trip to the ER with plug attached, sure sounds like it was a wild week for hookups on people vice fish!!!! Did get the mandatory tetnus shot as well. I was way over due on the shot, 20 years or so. That was about the only good news I had that night.

Just had a tetanus shot. Might as well be current on the most important shot for an angler...

John...how long are they good for? I think I need a booster.:confused:

Yeeow! Sorry to hear it John. Actually , the best luck was it went through. If not , you'd have had to push it through.

I never had specialty pliers like the VS or Manley with hook cutters. I have found the nice heavy ones that will easily snip a hook are not too useful in getting hooks out of fish. The needlenose that get hooks out well won't cleanly snip a hook.

I carry nickel plated needle nose. My hope is that if ever needed , I can put a good notch in the hook with the cutter part then a bend at the notch will break the hook.

I been stabbed quite a few times but I never got seriously gouged but did split my thumbnail right through with a hook once on a bluefish. Just lucky the agle it got me. hurt like hell but no hook stuck in me.

Anyway , hurts just hearing John's story retold.

Saltheart - kinda used to think the same way but I realized if the fish had been thrashing on the end of the hook I'd want something to go thru the hook FAST. So I think I'll cary the long needle nose, side cutters (do they have a mechanical advantage being on the side??), and an ice pick so I can scramble thext bluefish's bRaInS!!!!

friggen things:mad:

MR mAcy ===cut off his @#$%^& head ;)

My primary hook removing tool is my Boga grip and a set of 8" needlenose pliers - I want to be as far away as I can from a double set of VMC's stuck in a thrashing fish and have a degree of control over the fish that you can't have lipping it.

And no, I don't recommend lipping bloofish...:rolleyes:

I had a bluefish thrashing in the bottom of a boat and put a set of trebles into my calf (I was wearing shorts) - bluefish are far and away the worst offenders that I've seen. I caught a small blue the other nite, maybe a coupla pounds and I just let it do a drum solo on the rocks until it calmed down enough to Boga - the small ones are definitely the most dangerous in terms of hooking yourself.

THe FEB thing is something I've neglected to pay enough attention to lately - after seeing mikecc's report on the poor guy from the Cape, I'm going to carry a bottle of peroxide in the Jeep as a matter of course, along with a kit.

Anybody try the new Shimano wire cutters yet? Saw them at Wallyworld the other day, looked like they would handle a VMC - I want something I can carry with me since I usually have a bit of a walk back to the Jeep if I need to dislodge a hook with a swinging fish on the other end -

Always be prepared, I guess....

I use 8" needlenose Manley pliers i bought a few years ago. I dont see this type anymore but for the $17 I paid for them, they are excellent and strong.

I fish all the time where John R got stuck the other night. If you are way out on the bar it can take awhile to get back in as it's rock, rubble (kinda like walking on slimy bowling balls).
More than once I have sacrificed a plug that I couldn't remove from a Bluefish. Plugs are cheap compared to a torn tendon, a damaged nerve or even worse bleeding to death before you get to help.
I fish alone much of the time, in the wee hours and if I get hooked 100 yards from shore out on the bar I could be in dire straights. Better to just cut the leader and let the b%$#d have the plug.

to fish in the surf or on a boat and not have a pair of manley-type cutting pliers is plain stupid. i've had to cut many hooks out of friends and peoples hands/fingers because i was the only one that could do it. i've cut 4/0 6x vmc's to 9/0 umbrella hooks to just name a few. i can cut braid or mono w/ the same ones and when they get a little dull i can file them for another season or so or just buy new ones for, ohh, $30. maybe occasionally they are a pain to try and get a hook out of a well hooked fish, but i can always cut the hook out. i've cut hooks out of fish because i cared more for the fish than my jig or plug. i can make more jigs or put new hooks on. and, if i cannot get the hook out, maybe i'll just take out my needlenose pliers i also carry.

that brings up another issue, how many people are smart enough to carry electrician's tape when they go fishing? i cannot think of how many uses where it can come in handy.

Needle nose pliers and a surf hand gaff. Lip gaff the critters then remove hook ( barbs are always crushed) and release. Tow weeks ago today I left my pliers in the truck and whilst fishing in the canal was bit by a samll bluefish that ate my jig. Last August I put a 2/0 through the palm of my hand as I was lifting a bass to unhook it. Had to push the barb through the pad by my thumb. ( skin is tougher than you think) that really bit the big one then I had to drive the boat to shore to locate some side cutters to get the 3x hook cut ( I had, in the fury of the fight, neglected to somehow crush the barbs on that particular plug cause it was new) anyway, I got two little scars on my hand from that. First time I had hooked myself in twenty years.:D