NorCal Kayak Anglers

Kayak Fishing Zone => Safety First => Topic started by: StephKillsit on October 06, 2016, 08:52:33 PM

Title: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing
Post by: StephKillsit on October 06, 2016, 08:52:33 PM
Just wanted to share my little story during the Ocean Cove event, it was terrible judgment on my part that could have left me with only the hang loose fingers on my right hand. I got a snag using braid and tied the line up with my hands and tried to let the force of the swell that brought me up, pull out the snag. I knew this was not a safe thing to do but for some reason I felt like that snag could come off with just a little force. Next thing I knew the line was so tightly wrapped around my middle and ring finger that I could just feel it slowly slicing through! As soon as the swell brought me back down I cut the line with my knife that was fastened to my life jacket, using the left hand and broke my poor tiny fingers free from the impending disaster!

Hopefully someone reading this will learn from this, if they haven't already. I am so thankful to still have my precious fingers :)

 :smt006

oh Whoops can Moderator please move this topic to "Safety First" :)

Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing
Post by: TW on October 06, 2016, 09:00:37 PM
WOW...
That was a close call for sure.
Good thing you had a chance to get out of it and all is well.
Thanks for sharing your  experience.

Tim
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: MontanaN8V on October 06, 2016, 09:14:12 PM
Dang kiddo! That was a close call! Promise you Will never wrap braid around an etremity again! I am going to have nightmares for weeks.  :smt009
Thanks for sharing, Cody switched everything over to braid this year, I am going to have him read this too. I can see being lulled into a relaxed state out there and make a split second poor choice and try that. Lord knows I have done lots of stuff I should not have once, a buncha times.  :smt006
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: polepole on October 06, 2016, 09:25:05 PM
oh Whoops can Moderator please move this topic to "Safety First" :)

Done.

And thankfully you still have all your fingers.  Lesson learned.

-Allen
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: E Kayaker on October 06, 2016, 09:26:40 PM
Been there, done that. I had it wrapped around two fingers. On the bright side, it healed nice.  :smt044
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: mako1 on October 06, 2016, 09:32:07 PM
Once upon a time, on a long range tuna trip, while fighting a tuna, my braid sliced through the boat's anchor line. Serious sh!t right there!
Glad you can still count to ten on your fingers.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Darius (Burong Isda) on October 06, 2016, 09:36:55 PM
Whoa! Thats why I never tried wrapping my fingers, I used lighter leaders easy broke off. Glad you can still ask how many fingers you are holding.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: lopezcador on October 06, 2016, 10:42:07 PM
One lucky duck indeed. Glad all is good.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: FishingForTheCure on October 06, 2016, 10:43:06 PM
Braid ain't no joke.  That's for sure!  Glad all ended well & thanks for sharing the near disaster so that others may learn.  On a brighter note, braid is super useful around the shop for cutting stuff like a knife.  I use it for some of my wood turnings on the lathe to shape wood & acrylics and can attest to its strength & longevity under heat, pressure, etc.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: B0B on October 07, 2016, 12:16:56 AM
i found out braid did that when i was tying on leaders at home.  got it nice and tight, but the next day saw a cut on my hand,  took a while to figure it it out. it wasn't deep enough to be painful, but it did leave some flaps to peel and itch like helll while healing. 

im sure uts more dangerous on the water, as your hands will be cold, and the pain won't be felt.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: SOMA on October 07, 2016, 07:05:02 AM
Steph, if you snag again (or should I say when?) try wrapping the line around the nob that holds the paddle bungee on your Hobie.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Fish Master1 on October 07, 2016, 07:17:29 AM
Big Dummie. :smt003
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: crash on October 07, 2016, 07:25:40 AM
Great reminder to have a knife immediately accessible to either hand.

Way to own the stupid shit that you do so the membership can learn from it and not go through it themselves.  That's pretty great.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Cabeza de Martillo on October 07, 2016, 07:28:32 AM
left me with only the hang loose fingers on my right hand.

No bueno  :smt009
Glad you are OK and thanks for posting.

I'm going to greet you with a "Shaka Brah" next time I see you  :smt001
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Tote on October 07, 2016, 09:59:54 AM
Steph, if you snag again (or should I say when?) try wrapping the line around the nob that holds the paddle bungee on your Hobie.

Don't do this. It could easily roll your kayak.
Some wrap it around their fish bonker. I just thumb the reel.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Darius (Burong Isda) on October 07, 2016, 10:07:30 AM
Steph, if you snag again (or should I say when?) try wrapping the line around the nob that holds the paddle bungee on your Hobie.

Don't do this. It could easily roll your kayak.
Some wrap it around their fish bonker. I just thumb the reel.
Yup just Thumb on the reel and make sure you toghten your drag.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: newfuturevintage on October 07, 2016, 10:26:52 AM
damn!

/spools off all braid and replaces with mono, replaces paddling gloves with chain mail....
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: SOMA on October 07, 2016, 12:23:30 PM
Steph, if you snag again (or should I say when?) try wrapping the line around the nob that holds the paddle bungee on your Hobie.

Don't do this. It could easily roll your kayak.
Some wrap it around their fish bonker. I just thumb the reel.
Yup just Thumb on the reel and make sure you toghten your drag.

Not when you steer directly away from the snag and use you drive to apply pressure.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: sebast on October 07, 2016, 12:54:59 PM
I always have 30lb (used to use 20lb) leader or topshot - only once I had to cut line (ironically, it has happened at last Simply Fishing just before I went in - I was too tired and got too close to the rock, so figured it's not worth it)

I used to loose lots of jigs, but with time found that going around snag and trying different angles usually gets me unsnag. I'm doing hard pulls as well as bow and arrow. Of course, this is if you have time. But this is also how I got my pb 24" cab last month, after dealing with snag for at least 5 min.

As a rule I'm not wiring any lines to kayak after all the stories of catching whales (downrigger is a special case), I would consider lower rating leader/topshot if you can't break off the one you have.

Otherwise - at the depth we are usually fishing if you cut it you are only loosing 30-60' of line, not sure if it's worth the risk of flipping or breaking the rod (or cutting fingers ;)
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: pmmpete on October 07, 2016, 02:37:42 PM
Some wrap it around their fish bonker. I just thumb the reel.
Yup just Thumb on the reel and make sure you toghten your drag.
If you put your thumb on the reel of a level wind reel, be sure to put it on the back of the reel!  Once I was pedaling away from a snagged lure with my rod pointing straight back along the line.  I was holding the rod under my armpit with my hand above the reel. The reel started to slip, so I put my thumb on the reel.  The line handler moved sideways and clamped on my thumb!  I jerked my thumb out in time, but could have gotten pinched pretty badly.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: rockfish on October 07, 2016, 02:52:18 PM
Holey smokes that could have been a disaster!!
I use my fish bonker or the reel as suggested by others.
I have been cut by thin mono so many times, and the braid is about 8x stronger per diameter, treat it like a knife...
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: NowhereMan on October 07, 2016, 03:47:34 PM
Great reminder to have a knife immediately accessible to either hand.

+1
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Mienboy on October 08, 2016, 10:19:55 AM
One reason I don't like to use braid,I'm one of the very few people who is "anti braid".never ever a good idea to wrap any body parts to braid.on land or water.glad you still got all your digits
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: VK on October 08, 2016, 11:29:56 AM
my Mother `s side are commercial fishermen once when fishing with my Nonno I was  young kid about 8-9..  hook and line for fun  even though I was using mono  grabbed the line and twisted it around my hand to work the line...he smacked the shit outta me  and in broken English chewed me out  about getting cut up..have to say never did it again..always use a kill stick or wrap it on the rod handle ( Before I kayak fished) and pop it or just frikkin cut it
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: tiny on October 08, 2016, 12:39:29 PM
FOR SOME REASON A LESSON FROM A SMACK LASTS A LIFE TIME.MUST BE A GENERATION THING.THANKS FOR THE LAUGH VIC.GLAD YOUR O.K.STEPH.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: MontanaN8V on October 11, 2016, 09:04:40 AM
Yeah, time out, not so much....... :smt004
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: StephKillsit on October 20, 2016, 08:12:31 PM
Yeah, time out, not so much....... :smt004

Yeah the only time outs back in the 1960's ..were during sporting events

Now that's funny!  :smt044 :smt044
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: eiboh on October 20, 2016, 09:21:25 PM
breaking braid line can be tricky. if there's no tension on the line wrapping around a handle a couple times and pointing it at the Snag so as not to break the fishing rod kayaking in ocean involves putting your fishing rod in the soup. in the rivers its all about putting fishing rod over your shoulder Pointed at the snag and walking away from it. Braided is tough when main line is the problematic where your tring To Break. I think I've got all my fingers with braid before and I cussed at myself glad I never wrapped around my finger. that's what the site is all about sharing information. thanks Stephankilst for bringing this to light
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Fish 'n Brew on October 20, 2016, 09:37:07 PM
Thanks Steph for a couple of good lessons: 1. Never wrap line around your fingers.  2. Always have a good knife easily accessed on your PFD.  I have a Gerber survival knife in a sheath thats easy to remove when needed quickly.   I'm sure the are many similar knives available.  The Gerber is stainless steel and has a simple locking mechanism in the sheath that requires minimal effort to remove it.  It also has a blunt tip, making it a little less prone to a stabbing accident.
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Da Bruddah on October 21, 2016, 01:24:38 AM
I always join my 40# braid with 30-50ft of 25# mono so that I can break the line if it's a gonner snag. I also like to have the mono as I connect my leaders or rigs as it is much easier to handle and braid is so hard to handle with your hands when you're out in the ocean changing rigs. Right now I have 50' of 25# Berkley Trilene Big Game mono joined to the 40# braid. When I see the knot to the braid, I know that 50' of line has gone down. I use double uni knots to join the mono to the braid.
Aloha,
Da Bruddah
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Fish Master1 on October 21, 2016, 08:08:55 AM
Another big dummie. :smt005
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Cabeza de Martillo on October 21, 2016, 08:45:19 AM
This .Bad.At least wear gloves .

That's going to leave a nice scar when it heals.

Ribbed for your pleasure  :smt005
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: StephKillsit on October 25, 2016, 12:20:23 AM
VK my fingers hurt just looking at them! :smt044 :smt044
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: Scurvy on October 25, 2016, 11:12:30 PM
Yikes, scary!  Glad you got to keep dem fishin' fingers!


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Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: VK on October 25, 2016, 11:16:08 PM
Yikes, scary!  Glad you got to keep dem fishin' fingers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not my fingers ..some other poor bastard  :smt005
Title: Re: Almost sliced my fingers off when rockfishing (pls move to "Safety First")
Post by: sonoramike on October 26, 2016, 06:43:38 AM
That stuff will cut through anything just saw a picture of a mirage drive that braid sliced through the fins. Recently saw a pic where it had actually sliced the hull of an acsend kayak. Guy was shark fishing the shark made a run and the braid went about an inch deep into the bow.