Hook in hand - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Mr. Sandman · 09-14-2006, 06:37 PM

While albie fishing at the hooter about 6 miles south of Wasque, in the boat by myself I hooked a 32" bass and while I reached down to lip it she shook hard and drove a Owner Stinger treble deep into the base of my thumb/palm.

Trying to remain calm, I reached over with the other hand and hauled the fish into the boat. Now the plug is in my hand and the fish and she thrashes

(I emit an explitive...you might have heard it), anyway I pin the fish down between my my legs and cover the fishes eyes with a rag and manage to de-hook the fish from the plug. Now somewhat relieved, the plug has one of the trebles deep in my hand, I worked on it for about 10 minutes and finally ripped it out the same way it went in. It was not in a position where I could not cut it and drive it thru. I almost called it a day and went back but I washed it up and it stopped bleeding and was able to get a couple more hours of fishing in until I had problems steering the boat with that hand. Thank night (after washing and putting anti bac stuff on it) it swelled up and I showed it to the doc who said " hmmmmm, that looks bad, take this 4X per day. It seems to be getting better now. Going to give it ago tonight, I think I can hold the rod.

What was weird was while the hook was still in my hand I was thinking what a good photo that would make for this board and our local paper during the derby....but I didn't have my camera and I was not about to keep that thing in my hand until I got home.

Raven · 09-14-2006, 06:41 PM

take care of it.... or loose it... make sure that antibiotic is workin and the swelling is going down...

that sucks...

Mr. Sandman · 09-14-2006, 06:51 PM

The hook was brand new and my antibiotic appears to be doing its job now. It just was an awkward and painful situation for a few minutes. Maybe my luck will change now for the better..

.

NIB · 09-14-2006, 06:53 PM

The line trick where u rap a piece of mono on the hook an bend the eye down an yank it works.There's been plenty of little articles on it in all the fishing magazines.Jack Yee a Montauk "sharpie" has probably done 1000's of hooks over the years with the technique.Kinda tough to do urself though..

Tagger · 09-14-2006, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NIB

The line trick where u rap a piece of mono on the hook an bend the eye down an yank it works.There's been plenty of little articles on it in all the fishing magazines.Jack Yee a Montauk "sharpie" has probably done 1000's of hooks over the years with the technique.Kinda tough to do urself though..

good trick ,, will that work with braid too ? what about fireline ?

BEETLE · 09-14-2006, 07:10 PM

Hey Sandman,
Be careful out there. Good job winning one of the mystery prizes yesterday. Look forward to seeing your name many times on the board.

Water Treater · 09-14-2006, 08:49 PM

Similar thing happened to me about a decade ago whan a 32 inch bluefish that I had boated to tag prior to release shook its head and imbedded a 3/0 treble hook into my right hand. Before I knew it I had a 3/0 treble book completely through my right index finger. When I looked down and saw what had happened I almost went into shock.
With my left hand, I manged to remove the lure (treble) hooks from the bluefish and release it. Then I managed to cut the set of trebles free from the plug after which I headed back to port (30 minutes away). Two hours kater I walked into the emergency room at Newton Wellesley Hospital (Newton, Mass.) sporting a set of 3/0 trebles through my right index finger. I didn't have to do much explaining.

The emergency room intern used a heavy duty cutter to cut the shank of the hook, backed the hook out of my right index finger, and applied some antibiotoc. That did it for me. No more barbed hooks! Ever. Since that episode I always crush the barbs on all the hooks I use (singles and trebles) and instead sharpen my hooks with a thirteen dollar commercial hook sharpener. Funny thing happened after that: I stopped dropping fish. I'm convinced that barbs on hooks prevent hooks from penetrating the flesh of fish. If you crush the barbs on your hooks and learn to sharpen your hooks you'll catch more fish, and eliminate trips to the doctors office.

Bill

mrstriper · 09-14-2006, 09:01 PM

Has happened a couple times...I take my leatherman and cut the hook off leaving a post for the ER to work with...keep fishing and go to the hospital later...hurts when you hit the post

, but I do not want to miss a blitz

blue oyster · 09-14-2006, 09:47 PM

another reason why i fish barbless hooks , hope your hand is well soon

vineyardblues · 09-15-2006, 06:27 AM

Ouch,
Hope it heals quick
VB

Tiderunr · 09-15-2006, 06:28 AM

Tagger:Using braid or fireline for that procedure would be a no-no. You could wind up with two people bleeding instead of one.

Careful do it !

Slipknot · 09-15-2006, 07:00 AM

OUCH!
Take care of that Jim, you don't need any complications from that cutting into your fall fishing.

Back Beach · 09-15-2006, 07:38 AM

that's why I hate trebles. F@#!$~ those things.

Get well soon, sandman. Hopefully I can shake that hand next week. Will be out your way from weds. through sunday.

ProfessorM · 09-15-2006, 08:18 AM

Always keep a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide on the boat. Cheap and good for the cut as soon as you do it. Unfortunatly not good for getting hooks out. I catch a lot of 22 to 32 inch fish and those things are hardest to get off the hook without getting your hands beat to crap. They never stop moving and there mouths are small enough to make it difficult to get your thumb in. Good luck on your recovery. P.

RIJIMMY · 09-15-2006, 08:22 AM

heal up fast, that must of really sucked

zimmy · 09-15-2006, 12:10 PM

I did the same thing in may with a similar size bass. HOok went in just in front of the knuckle on the inside of my thumb. Was so deep that there wasn't enough movement in the hook to do the string yank. Luckily I was less than a mile from the hospital. After struggling to unhook the all to lively fish, I drove my manual shift to the hospital with a yozuri darter attached to my shifting hand. Didn't have a pliers capable of cutting the hook or split ring. You can really feel the vibrations in the shifter when there is a hook point pressed against your carpal bone. After an hour wait, the er doctor spent about ten minutes fileting my thumb to get the barb free. I really got a kick out of it when I heard him tell someone at the desk outside the room "that was really nasty." Weird thing about it is I always (well almost) crush the barbs on trebles. I also realized as I brought the fish in that I forgot to on that plug, which I had pulled out of the box that night. So I was being extra careful when it happened. I now carry one of those trigger gripped long shafted hook removers that keeps my hand well away from the hooks. Crush those barbs...

HESH2 · 09-15-2006, 12:21 PM

My son got hook in leg from a popper.Had read asout the push down hook eye and wrap line where hooked,then one quick pull.Hook came right out.Son was no worse for where.

MrHunters · 09-15-2006, 01:49 PM

when i read the topic i thought i was a positive fishing experience...

YEEEOUCH!

hope you get a cool scar.

tynan19 · 09-15-2006, 04:42 PM

Didn't see you out there Yesterday. Keith and I had one bass and a lot of smaller blues.

numbskull · 09-15-2006, 04:46 PM

One word of caution. Be careful if your whole hand swells after a puncture injury. A tendon sheath infection in your hand can quickly cause a lot of permanent damage if not treated appropriately. Often intravenous antibiotics and sometimes surgical drainage (by a hand surgeon) is required. Make sure whoever looks at it has some experience dealing with hand problems, sometimes oral antibiotics are not enough.

Mr. Sandman · 09-15-2006, 06:18 PM

tyan...took the day off, I didn't fish much this week, just poked around a bit. Hope to cross paths with your tonight if I can.

Numbskull, Will-do. I am fortunate to have my personal doc (a General surgeon) keeping a close eye on it. (I am actually married to her.

)

Others: Thanks it appears to be OK, a bit sore but I landed a few last night to test it out.

Beetle: I tarket mystery prizes!

Goose · 09-15-2006, 07:03 PM

Glad to hear it worked out,,be glad it wasn't a blue.

Swimmer · 09-15-2006, 08:48 PM

Its nice to come home and find a doc in the house, ha ha ha.

tynan19 · 09-15-2006, 08:58 PM

Jim, I am back at work already. Time flew by called you one night but we didn't hook up. That long walk was not worth it but the skinny bait is in.

doyle007 · 09-16-2006, 09:31 AM

sorry far i am lucky that i've never hooked myself, especially with a fish on the other hook at the same time. i mostly fly fish, but i also like to plug the beaches, and i crush my barbs 99% of the time (the other 1% is when i buy a new plug, and forget to crush the barbs the first time i use it).

anyway, even though i go barbless, i still wanted to have a pair of bolt cutters that is capable of going thru the biggest hook that i'd use, probably around a 5/0 or 6/0. i figured that if i didn't need the cutters, someone else might, so i like to have them.

i found a pair of mini bolt cutters at lowes. they are about 8" long, and very easy to operate using only one hand. they can cut thru a 5/0 hook without any effort, and they have a small ring on the end so that you can secure it to your plugging bag with a length of cord. the price of these cutters is just under $10. pretty cheap insurance, and you should be able to continue fishing if you ever do get hooked.