Bass thumb (kind of)

[Sphynx]

1 hour ago, stk44 said:

That sucks, sorry that happened. I was there in the 11-1 rotation. 

I'm not sorry a bit, chap was doing no more than his duty and I wouldn't hold that against any man, besides, any man ballsy and skilled enough to get that close to me while I'm paying attention and not trying to do him any favors has earned my respect, no doubt about it, it wasn't personal, just business. My tours were 08-09 Kunar with the 1st ID, and also 10-11 with 10th Mountain

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, stk44 said:

I haven’t caught a ton of catfish in my life. I caught a 20+ lb flathead this summer and was like, yeah I’m using my fish grips. They are definitely not to be messed with. Can you imagine noodling for those things?! 

Flathead spines aren't venomous, and noodling is pretty wild but I don't know that I'd do it again. They're more fun to catch on rod and reel.

 

 

I caught a huge longnose gar a couple years ago, big enough I thought it might challenge the state record. I wasn't fishing for them, didn't have a way to weigh it (cradle), but I thought maybe I could get it's mouth pried open and clamp down my grippers back far enough to weigh it that way, big mistake. She flopped with her mouth open, raked her teeth across my hand and bit down on my knuckle of my middle finger. For about the next 6 months I couldn't bend my middle finger fully. I'm pretty sure she left part or all of a tooth in the joint of my finger.

[Lead Head]

The body does indeed (eventually) expel stuff. My dad pulled a piece of glass out of his foot from a 35 year old injury. My brother still finds threads from his pants and small pieces of shattered tac holster in his 10 year old gunshot scars.

[stk44]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Flathead spines aren't venomous, and noodling is pretty wild but I don't know that I'd do it again. They're more fun to catch on rod and reel.

 

 

I caught a huge longnose gar a couple years ago, big enough I thought it might challenge the state record. I wasn't fishing for them, didn't have a way to weigh it (cradle), but I thought maybe I could get it's mouth pried open and clamp down my grippers back far enough to weigh it that way, big mistake. She flopped with her mouth open, raked her teeth across my hand and bit down on my knuckle of my middle finger. For about the next 6 months I couldn't bend my middle finger fully. I'm pretty sure she left part or all of a tooth in the joint of my finger.

Yeah, I’m not well versed in catfish to say one way or another which are venemous or not. 
Nice gar story. It’s crazy the damage toothy critters can do. Did you just throw her back after she bit you or did you snap a few pics at least? 
 

Those tiny bass spines were in my joint and it is was pretty uncomfortable. I can only imagine what a tooth would feel like stuck in a thumb. 

10 hours ago, Sphynx said:

I'm not sorry a bit, chap was doing no more than his duty and I wouldn't hold that against any man, besides, any man ballsy and skilled enough to get that close to me while I'm paying attention and not trying to do him any favors has earned my respect, no doubt about it, it wasn't personal, just business. My tours were 08-09 Kunar with the 1st ID, and also 10-11 with 10th Mountain

I can see the respect thing, but I would still prefer not to give the Taliban any credit lol.

I think 2010-2011 was the bloodiest time period in Afghanistan. I was in Helmand Province the majority of the time in various FOBs and COBs in the area. It would probably be weird to go back now with so much abandoned or turned over the the ANA and ANP.

[TnRiver46]

One of the you tube fishermen I watch got a spine stuck in his hand that is still there according to x ray 

[stk44]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

One of the you tube fishermen I watch got a spine stuck in his hand that is still there according to x ray 

Interesting. The surgeon told me that fish spine would not show up in an X-Ray. I think it has something to do with the fact that they do not show as opaque on x-Ray, plus in my case, were extremely small maybe about 1/4” per spine 

[Bluebasser86]

14 hours ago, stk44 said:

Yeah, I’m not well versed in catfish to say one way or another which are venemous or not. 
Nice gar story. It’s crazy the damage toothy critters can do. Did you just throw her back after she bit you or did you snap a few pics at least? 
 

Those tiny bass spines were in my joint and it is was pretty uncomfortable. I can only imagine what a tooth would feel like stuck in a thumb.

That's a 30 size Supreme XT that looks like an UL reel next to that fish and a 6' 8" rod laying next to it. I've never seen a longnose gar with that kind of girth, and you can't even see all of it in the picture. The looks of the people at the Dollar General down the road when I walked in with my hand covered in blood was priceless. No way I was washing my hand off in the dirty river water though.

[DomQ]

These stories are wild!!!! 

 

Once time I bit down on a chicken wing and the bone got stuck between my teeth and went into my gum, it was so painful I told the fiancee to end it all right there for me. 

[Lead Head]

@Bluebasser86 good grief! That is one FAT gar. I've seen some monsters down here in the AR river but never one built like that. He was eating good!

[stk44]

34 minutes ago, Lead Head said:

@Bluebasser86 good grief! That is one FAT gar. I've seen some monsters down here in the AR river but never one built like that. He was eating good!

Just think of all the hands he had to eat to get that big. 

[KayakJimW]

Wow, that's nuts!  Glad you got it taken care of...  Luckily I've never been spined that didn't heal on its own...  But, I had a nasty case of Microbacterium Marinum from scratching my knuckle on some rock in my old reef aquarium.  My hand looked like the Toxic Avenger for a few months

[cheezyridr]

On 1/12/2021 at 10:01 AM, Lead Head said:

@Bluebasser86 good grief! That is one FAT gar. I've seen some monsters down here in the AR river but never one built like that. He was eating good!

the last time i saw a gar that big was 40 yrs ago, in the nanticoke river.  good for you! that's an awesome catch!

[Sphynx]

The part that concerns me about noodling for catfish hasn't got anything to do with catfish, it has everything in the world to do with snapping turtles, which inhabit a lot of the same places as catfish do, and are quite happy to relieve you of any fingers you graciously offer for a snack, also of concern is the fact that there's no telling who kind of junk folks toss in a lot of rivers/lakes these days, tetanus, needles, all kinds of unpleasantness can be the result of an adventure in noodling.

[schplurg]

On 1/9/2021 at 5:57 PM, stk44 said:

Neither did my thumb ? Now I’m a 33 year old with the thumb of a 90 year old. 

 

That's some Lewis and Clark level exploration!  

 

I once rested my hand on a sea urchin in Hawaii. Several weeks later it was bothering me. 

 

I did some research on sea urchins, learned that pieces do often remain in the wound (they're barbed), then found myself digging a very tiny piece of it out of my finger with a razor blade and magnifying glass. I just used the corner of the blade to dig in and scrape around. Wasn't deep though!

 

I don't recommend self-surgery but after looking at your thumb - yikes! I'm no tough guy, I almost passed out once trying to dig something out of my hand.

 

I would think it's not uncommon for a tiny piece of bass spine to remain in a wound. Tell your wife it isn't likely to happen again, so you should be safe now.  Or maybe mention that she's right and you'll be getting into skydiving instead of fishing.

[stk44]

2 hours ago, schplurg said:

 

That's some Lewis and Clark level exploration!  

 

I once rested my hand on a sea urchin in Hawaii. Several weeks later it was bothering me. 

 

I did some research on sea urchins, learned that pieces do often remain in the wound (they're barbed), then found myself digging a very tiny piece of it out of my finger with a razor blade and magnifying glass. I just used the corner of the blade to dig in and scrape around. Wasn't deep though!

 

I don't recommend self-surgery but after looking at your thumb - yikes! I'm no tough guy, I almost passed out once trying to dig something out of my hand.

 

I would think it's not uncommon for a tiny piece of bass spine to remain in a wound. Tell your wife it isn't likely to happen again, so you should be safe now.  Or maybe mention that she's right and you'll be getting into skydiving instead of fishing.

There was a medical student involved in the exploration, so that may have something to do with it. 
 

No need to tell my wife she’s right. She’s always right lol. 

[Whatever]

I impaled my knuckle on a 4" rockfish spine (the fish was 4", not the spine). A week later it swelled up like a sausage and stayed that way for 2 months. We were in a remote location, and no med help available. Eventually my friends wife (an ER nurse) gave me some topical ointment (silvidine, as I recall) that solved the problem.

Regarding sea urchins, I would caution anyone Not to dive in Mazatlán, Mexico in December (this was 1975). The urchins were just unbelievably thick, to the point you gave the sea bottom a 6' berth. And they have nasty spines.