If anyone learns how to use this I PROMISE it’s a gem. I’ve used it for a long time and don’t leave home without it when I fish the river. In fact, I keep a couple in my boat. The first one we had way back was made of a solid rod, but after losing several by them falling in the water, I’ve adapted them so they float if they fall in. Now, I’ve shown this to some people and they either love it or hate it. If you don’t use it correctly you’ll think it’s a sham and it’ll bend your hooks. Trick is to not let your wrists give/roll ANY when you are unhooking a fish. Here’s how it’s done: 1/ Hook the curved part of tip around the line and slide it down into the fish’s mouth and onto the hook- as far as you can towards the back of the curve of the hook. 2/ Hold line and doohickey (that’s what we’ve always called the instrument) in a straight line, VERY IMPORTANT that you stretch each out very tightly. The fish will be hanging down, unless it’s big but I would practice on smaller ones first. Should look like this (paint brush is the fish). 3/ Flip the fish over the top of the line made with the doohickey and leader that the hook is attached to. Flip it away from you, I once had a hardheaded friend who wouldn’t and ended up with a fish hanging from his kneecap. Note: Once you get the feel you can make it even easier. I just hold the two taught and break my wrist over- the wrist holding the doohickey. I posted this on another forum and learned that they're used on saltwater charters too.
Yeah. Some women I know use something like that or a catfish grabber. I just grab them, with my hand.
On a related topic...I always thought the stinging barbs in the wiskers were an ole wives tale. Thoughts?
My dad always thought that so he'd slide his hand behind the dorsal and side fins to hold the fish while using long needle nosed pliers to unhook the fish. When he found out the barb was in the dorsal fin he was shocked but thankful he never got finned.
Catfish such as the stone and tadpole catfishes, can inflict stings by means of poison glands in the pectoral spines. With our freshwater catfish it's a result of a puncture moreso than an active "stinger" like a wasp, for example. The barbs on catfish fins are coated with a stinging venomous slime but I do not think, or at least I do not know of any mechanism for the actual injection of venom. It does "Sting" cause catfish skin toxin and the venom from their dorsal and pectoral spines causes a menacing sting. Stepping on a nail can "sting" too. Although these stings are often innocuous, I've read of cases in which severe tissue necrosis may occur- it's not anything to take lightly but I've also had "punctures" that didn't "sting" at all. Most people refer to the wound as a "Sting" though: >Catfish Sting< I've also read that the best thing to do is, get this, rub the catfish itself on the puncture wound.
Doohickie Meat tenderizer helps with the pain, same with stingrays and jellyfish. In a pinch you can piss on the owie. This technique is useless if your fish are supplied by Krogers.
doohickey - definition of doohickey by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. :wink: Good to sea you ya sandy saltwater bastid.
