Hardhead Catfish Spines
Catherine A. Murphy
Last weekend I got finned (for the first time) by a
hardhead catfish. The sucker ripped a hunk of flesh out
of my little finger and went in pretty far. I bled quite a
bit and the pain was surprising, immediate and intense. The
pain spread up my arm to my elbow; my finger turned blue,
swelled up, and went numb. Luckily, more experienced
fisherfolk were nearby to reassure me that I was not going
to die or need amputation. And, I couldn't remember any
Live-at-Five news coverage of people dropping dead on the
beach due to catfish attacks. By the next day, the pain had
subsided.
Today my finger is starting to itch, and the skin to peel;
it's still blue and swollen, but I think the itching is a
good sign.
Any other finning experiences out there from those who
lived to tell the tale?
Cathy
PS: A big thanks to the Texas Parks and Wildlife person
who reassured me and gave me antisepic wash, cream and
a bandaid.
CKLINERT
In article <4t3d4b$8...@masala.cc.uh.edu>, "Catherine A. Murphy"
<CMu...@uh.edu> writes:
>Any other finning experiences out there from those who
>lived to tell the tale?
>
>
I was stung by a sculpin (scorpionfish) while trying to remove
a lure. It was similar, but not as severe. The only cure,
according to California Fish & Game, is immersion in very hot
water. This worked instantly and stopped the pain and
swelling. There was a hard lump under the skin at the
site of the sting, but this disappeared after a few months.
Cliff
Longrigger
>Any other finning experiences out there from those who
>lived to tell the tale?
I have two, and they both involve my brother.
I grew up on the James river in VA. In the 1960s there was this commercial
fishing practice called haul seining. This is when the dragged a net up
down the river and scooped up all the catfish. The commercial fishermen
then cleaned the fish as they dragged down the river. The river shores
were always littered with the bodied of filleted, decaying catfish hulks.
Our house on the river had a little 30 foot section of beach and there
were always five or six catfish skeltons or rotting hulks laying on the
beach.
My brother at age 8 and 9 and I knew to avoid them but one day Southall
Bowles, who was twice our size, came down to the beach with us. We started
paying and I busted him in the head with a stick. Of course, he got mad
and pick up a 5 lb catfish half rotted body and threw it at me as I ran
away from him. I felt it whack me right in the center of my back and I
turned to see it arc through the air from my back 15 feet strait over into
my brothers calf. There, the three inch pectoral spine speared him the
full three inches into the fat part of his left calf. He scream that
child-blood-run-cold scream that you always remember. we tried to pull it
out, but the barbs held it tight. We drove him 40 miles into run screaming
and crying in the back of my Mom's brown vista-cruiser station wagon. We
didn't even have the sense to clip the catfish body off from his calf so
he cried the whole way with every bump.
At the hospital, the doctor made a two inch long slit up the leg and
pulled the barbed fin out and then sewed him up. Two days later, my
brother developed gangrene and they almost had to amputate. But the doctor
decided to cut a chunk of flesh out and left the wound open this time so
it could drain and it finally healed.
Two years later, I had left my bamboo pole on the dock with a worm on the
hook. A half pound catfish had been patiently wait for us to come back to
the dock. My brother ran down the dock first and grabbed the dipping pole
and swung the fish at me as I ran towards him on the dock. The fish poped
me in the arm and I look down to see the damn fish stuck past his elbow in
the top of my left arm arm. Not again, I thought. This time, I grabbed a
pair of plyers and clipped the little fellows arm off, threw him on the
dock and cruched his head with my shoe, almost sticking his other fin in
my shoe. Then we drove back to the same doctor who looked at me in his
office and said " not Again!" This time he left the wound open and it
drained and healed with in a week or so.
I am looking at the one inch scar on my left arm as I type this.
Longrigger
Capt. Ed
On Jul 23, 1996 20:36:27 in article <Hardhead Catfish Spines>, '"CatherineWell put, but, if anything, an understatement.
The closest I've ever come to taking a drink after several years of
abstinence was when a well meaning friend on a fishing boat offered me one
just after I had run one of those saw toothed beauties into my finger about
a half an inch. You are right. It SMARTS!!!
Regards
Capt. Ed
--
Capt. Ed cat...@usa.pipeline.com Nokomis, FL
(Just a little south of Sarasota on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico)
Leny Freeman
Luckily I don't have a spine story and hope I never do. This story is
related and may help someone.
I had a metal sliver in my hand and didn't know it until it swelled
up. It was late on a Sunday evening when I noticed I had a red streak
from my hand to my wrist. New to Los Angeles, no money and no health
insurance, I got desparate. I chilled the infected area to numb
'some' pain and cut it open with a sterilized x-acto knife and removed
the sliver. That part was "easy". Then I made a bandage with a pile of
moist salt, pressed it into the wound and taped the salt bandage
around my hand. The pain was intense but I knew the nerve endings
would die in about 15 minutes. Then I finally went to sleep.
The next morning ALL redness and most of the swelling was gone.
A much milder repeat treatment the next night and everything healed up.
This may come in handy some day but I hope you never have to do it.
/\ /\
((o o))
---oOOo->(Y)<-oOOo---
Leny Freeman <`)))>>< <`)))>>< le...@usc.edu
University Computing Services <`)))>>< <`)))>>< 71533,1011
University of Southern California <`)))>>< <`)))>><
I love the smell of Netware in the morning. Smells like...victory!!
brett rowley
I've been reading this thread with lots of interest and fun. I've been
spined so many times, I can't remember them all (I used to manage a
4000 acre catfish farm). I guess one of the most memorable was before
the catfish farm when I worked for a small hatchery away from the
coast. I was in Rockport doing a consulting job for the local golf
course/country club. That evening I went over to Port Aransas to pier
fish. I was alone on the pier and catching the poo out of hammerheads
and bonnet sharks, generally having a good time. I caught a big
hardhead, got it dislodged from the hook, and kicked it off the pier
(big mistake). The spine went through my sneaker and deep into my foot
before tearing loose and the fish went back to the gulf. I though I
was gonna die. I was definitely finished fishing. I gathered up my
gear and headed straight to the convenience store where I bought three
Hienekens. I sat in my car and drank two before the pain subsided and
sipped the third as I sat parked by the intercoastal watching boats. I
sat there about an hour (having poured out my third beer as I needed no
more and had to drive back to Rockport). That was more than ten years
ago and I still feel it in my foot.
My other problem with hardhead (and any kind) of catfish spines has
been flat tires. Lately, you can't drive the beach without getting a
flat from a fish spine. The catfish farm had ten flats a day until
some enterprising fella showed up with some "magic" tire goo you put
into the tires. I bought 50 gallons and gooed up all the tires on the
trucks, tractors, aerators, 4 wheelers, etc. We wnet down to one flat
a day and I was a regular goo customer after that.
Thats my hardhead story.
Brett Rowley
Fisheries Biologist
Great Lakes Sportfishing Resort and Koi Breeding Farm
West Columbia, Texas
http://home.cdsnet.net/~dearlix/index.html
Monster Fisherman
>Any other finning experiences out there from those who
>lived to tell the tale?
>
I was wade fishing and 200 yds. out when I caught a tiny
hardhead. I thought I'd stun it so I used the rod and
slapped it on the water. Wrong move. It bounced off of
the water, came off the hook, and stuck in my forearm. I
pulled it out and headed for the car.
My grandfather taught me to keep some ammonia in the tackle
box for these occasions. I rubbed plenty into the wound and
got back to fishing with no more than a dull ache.
Dave
+==================================================+
| Dave Prochnow | Technology sufficiently advanced |
| | is indistinguishable from magic. |
+==================================================+
Mike Welborn
In article <4t77ts$5...@mercury.hiline.net>, cns...@hiline.com says...
>>hardhead catfish. The sucker ripped a hunk of flesh out
>>of my little finger and went in pretty far.
>
>fish into the wound. It acts as an antidote (Tinsley, "Fishing
>Texas").
>
>Craig
>
>
I've heard them same thing, but who wants to do that. yuk,
Best just to use alot of care before getting stuck. :)
Mike
Craig Self
abp...@ibm.net
saltwater cat about 2 years ago right in the knuckle joint of a finger. I bled like
hell. It ached for a few weeks then the swelling went down. I still feel some
aching even now.
I've seen a couple of postings suggesting rubbing the slime on the wound to
stop the pain. The slime is what causes the pain. Don't do it.
Laura McDonald
>>Any other finning experiences out there from those who
>>lived to tell the tale?
Years ago I failed to look where I was going and jumped off
a jetty rock on to the beach and right on top of a dead hardhead
(I had no shoes on). The spine went an inch into the center of
the bottom of my foot.. I pulled it out and let it bleed for a while
but the next day I was at the emergency room in tears. I stayed
on crutches for 3 days because any pressure on my foot sent
waves of pain through my leg that I haven't felt since I was in a
major motorcycle/car incident. OOHHH how I hate seeing a
catfish on the end of my line now....and I watch a little more
closely where i'm walking :)
Laura McDonald "A bad day fishing
lau...@nettally.com is better than a
#1 FSU FAN great day at work"
Ken Marx
rue meat tenderizer on the wound to deaden the pain and counteract the
poison or, if caught without, use the slim off the hardhead's belly for
instant gratification