Buried a hook in my thumb today :(

[BonairII]

Been a tough weekend for me. Tore up my skeg and prop the other day when I hit a hidden shoal. Cut my fingers on the mouth of a Northern Pike the next day. Then today, I buried a hook DEEP into my thumb. :facepalm:

My third cast of the day, I hooked a large pickerel and as I was swinging him into the boat....the fish spat the hook and my pole snapped upward and set the treble hook into my thumb. My son turned white when he saw how deep it was.

I cut the hook off(leaving it as long as I could for later removal), then I duct taped the embedded hook to my thumb and we fished for another hour or so.

Ended up having to drive to my sister's house to have my BIL take a pair of pliers and YANK it out. Stung like hell for a few minutes after the "surgery". My sister patched me up with a "Captain America" band-aid, so all is well now.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

Ouch, That hurts like h*ll. Does Capt. America bandage work or feel better than a plain one?

 

[BonairII]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

Does Capt. America bandage work or feel better than a plain one?

The Capt America band-aid stopped the pain just as well as when my mommy kissed my "boo-boos".

 

[JB]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

That is why I always have a vial of Anbesol (Benzocaine) in my tackle box, BonairII. Great for numbing such events, as well as fire ant bites and hornet stings.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

That is why I always have a vial of Anbesol (Benzocaine) in my tackle box, BonairII. Great for numbing such events, as well as fire ant bites and hornet stings.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt after a few minutes. Maybe duct tape now has benzocaine in it.


The hook hurt like hell any time I tried to back it out even a tiny bit.

Hook was in this position INSIDE the middle of my thumb.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

Actually, duct tape does have some antiseptic properties. I found it odd but true. The funny part is that the one thing that stuff doesn't like to stick to is blood. If you're squirtin just wrap a shop rag around it first then use the duct tape to hold the rag in place. Seriously are your really gonna ask me how I know that works.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

If you got stuck with a jig head as rusty as that one I hope you are up to date on Tetanus shots.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

Nope. The jig head was all I had handy to illustrate how deep the hook was in my thumb.

The culprit was a brand new KVD(Kevin Van Dam) square billed crankbait. See pic.

 

[Cap'n Chaos]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

This reminds me of when I was flyfishing and hooked myself right between the eyes... don't try to flyfish when it is windy.

Note to self: put a bottle of anbesol in the first aid kit.

Nice fish - hope you heal up soon.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

I bought myself a pair of these grippers so there are no more mishaps...
http://www.basspro.com/EconoScale-Fish-Scales/product/90579/37876


We used them today for the Pike and bass we caught. They work great!

 

[mommicked]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

I "placed" a smaller treble in the exact same area in the center of my thumbpad. I was suprised it really didnt hurt too bad as i stared at it and thought about how to best remove it. I entertained the thought of going home to get help removeing it, but fishing alone I decided loading the boat w one hand would be tough. I took some pliers and cut the split ring off the treble grabbed it firmly w pliers and didn't pull hard enough the first time! :facepalm: OUCH! I gathered myself after some loud words and jumping up and down I think.......and yanked hard as the hook came out w a loud, audible POP It hurt pretty good after that for a while.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

A couple pics of the "fish grippers" doing their job.

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Buried a hook in my thumb today

I've been hooked several times over the years and if possible, I always just push the point on through, cut the barb off and pull the hook out the way it went in. This past July was a first time for my wife though and here's how she told it in a letter to her kids:

"...........we did have a bit of excitement that morning. Usually, if Mel hooks one and is reeling it in, I’ll pull in and help him get his off the line and it’s mostly my job to put them on the stringer and back into the water. I was helping him with a good size black bass when one of the hooks on the lure went into my left index finger. Deep into the fleshy part at the end. The fish keeps jumping around and we can’t get him loose. Finally, got him off the hook and onto the bottom of the boat.

I’m in serious pain. I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut my finger open, sans anesthetic, to get it out. It’s that deep. Obviously, we can’t pull it back through the way it went in because of the barb. I showed Mel where the point was trying to come through. “Oh,” he said. “We just push it on through and I’ll cut the barb off then we can take it out the way it went in.” Right. I didn’t think there was enough room on the hook to do that but while I thought about it he went ahead and did it. As I was screaming in his ear he took the dikes that he keeps in the toolbox for that purpose and cut off the barb end. I took the hook out the other way and all was well except that I kept breathing heavily for the next half hour as the throbbing gradually subsided. Mel said I was very brave and he was proud of me for not panicking. I'm not a wuss.
I washed it with some bottled water that I had handy. By the time we started home, it had mostly quit hurting. Later in the evening, I soaked it in epsom salt water just to be on the safe side. It feels pretty much ok today. But I sure hope I don’t have to go through that again."