Controlling your fish

[Ranger99]

I've watched a few " fishing " shows the
last week or so, and a couple  of the
" survival " shows,  and I've observed while
out and about how many people fail to
control their fish, or in other words they
let their fish flop around and often
LOSE the fish they just worked to catch.
That's why the good Lord gave us two
hands and the knowledge to make and
use landing nets and gaff hooks.
I can't understand losing a fish in that manner

[Land_Owner]

I WISH I had cut the line on that danged saltwater catfish I was trying to get off of my hook while fishing from a Jon Boat last Thursday.  When loosed, it fell upside down and on the top of my bare right ankle, at the joint, and buried its top barb 3/4 of an inch into my tendons and bone there.  It took BOTH HANDS and a VERY HARD yank to get that serrated, rear facing, sticker out of me.  I bled like a stuck pig for a little while, wiping out my shoe.  Interestingly, three days later and I have experienced very little negative effect as a result, some soreness and sensitivity at the penetration site (as would ordinarily be expected), some localized swelling (certainly not a lot), an overall "thickened" feeling in the top of the area due to the swelling, no infection, and only the can't-get-it-out-of-my-Mind's-Eye memory of that upside down fish wriggling to get away and stuck to the top of my leg at the ankle.  I was "anxious" at first, got mad 2nd (hurt like the dickens), and my fishing partner had us quit for the day 3rd.  Got all the barb out though, but am still waiting for the other shoe to drop (infection).  Maybe I will be the lucky one and not get infected...too soon to tell.

[ironglow]

.
   Keep on mind, most of those shows are "made for TV"!  Simply unhooking a fish and placing in in a creel or

  bucket, isn't near as exciting as letting it flop around on the beach or dock.

  For example..there is tha show called "Naked and Afraid" !  Supposedly, they are demonstrating somebody

  who is stranded, trying to make their way in the wild.

  I have tried too construe a survival situation, where the people arrive in the desert, jungle or forested hills, stark naked..and with just one or two tools.

    Plane crash, boat capsize, ATV blow an engine.. or just plain lost...I can't feature how someone would arrive

   on such a scene, completely bare..  One answer....."made for TV" !

[Ranger99]

I WISH I had cut the line on that danged saltwater catfish I was trying to get off of my hook while fishing from a Jon Boat last Thursday.  When loosed, it fell upside down and on the top of my bare right ankle, at the joint, and buried its top barb 3/4 of an inch into my tendons and bone there.  It took BOTH HANDS and a VERY HARD yank to get that serrated, rear facing, sticker out of me.  I bled like a stuck pig for a little while, wiping out my shoe.  Interestingly, three days later and I have experienced very little negative effect as a result, some soreness and sensitivity at the penetration site (as would ordinarily be expected), some localized swelling (certainly not a lot), an overall "thickened" feeling in the top of the area due to the swelling, no infection, and only the can't-get-it-out-of-my-Mind's-Eye memory of that upside down fish wriggling to get away and stuck to the top of my leg at the ankle.  I was "anxious" at first, got mad 2nd (hurt like the dickens), and my fishing partner had us quit for the day 3rd.  Got all the barb out though, but am still waiting for the other shoe to drop (infection).  Maybe I will be the lucky one and not get infected...too soon to tell.

OWWW !
My buddy's dad had a similar incident once
when we were catfishing, except he dropped
his fish and it dropped upside down on the
top of his thigh and buried the dorsal fin all
the way down all the while wriggling and
squirming. That was a gruesome one too.
He was pretty pale and sweaty for a long
time. I've had a few myself, but no more
than a half an inch.  That was pretty bad
to me

[BUGEYE]

I WISH I had cut the line on that danged saltwater catfish I was trying to get off of my hook while fishing from a Jon Boat last Thursday.  When loosed, it fell upside down and on the top of my bare right ankle, at the joint, and buried its top barb 3/4 of an inch into my tendons and bone there.  It took BOTH HANDS and a VERY HARD yank to get that serrated, rear facing, sticker out of me.  I bled like a stuck pig for a little while, wiping out my shoe.  Interestingly, three days later and I have experienced very little negative effect as a result, some soreness and sensitivity at the penetration site (as would ordinarily be expected), some localized swelling (certainly not a lot), an overall "thickened" feeling in the top of the area due to the swelling, no infection, and only the can't-get-it-out-of-my-Mind's-Eye memory of that upside down fish wriggling to get away and stuck to the top of my leg at the ankle.  I was "anxious" at first, got mad 2nd (hurt like the dickens), and my fishing partner had us quit for the day 3rd.  Got all the barb out though, but am still waiting for the other shoe to drop (infection).  Maybe I will be the lucky one and not get infected...too soon to tell.

My baby brother who lives in Titusville, had to go to the emergency room to have a saltwater cat removed from his upper back, he shouldn't have yanked so hard, and while there, a kid came in holding a cat with both hands with the side fins sticking out of the back of his hands.
My brother's back got infected but meds knocked it out in a couple of days.

[ironglow]

.
   Only way for cats..  My grandson and his wife both caught som larg ecats...by noodling for them.

  Don't ask me how it's done..I never did it ..

[Ranger99]

They do it north of here pretty often
If ever anyone controlled their fish,
It's people that do that.
JMHO-  I'm not sticking my hands in
places that I can't see whether or not
there might be a cottonmouth or a
big snapper or even a gator resting.
There's plenty of each in this area

[ironglow]

They do it north of here pretty often
If ever anyone controlled their fish,
It's people that do that.
JMHO-  I'm not sticking my hands in
places that I can't see whether or not
there might be a cottonmouth or a
big snapper or even a gator resting.
There's plenty of each in this area

   You're correct there...I too thought it was a risky trick !