can we discuss hand injuries from fish?

I have taken to the routine of using kitchen shears to clip off ALL the fins of fish before I move on.  running a scaler back and forth vigorously, I will slam a finger against a spine of a fish.  that tiny hole hurts like the dickens!

currently my thumb is perforated.  I absentmindedly fed it to a pissed off lingcod.  that fish was mad!!  and lighting fast.  I was reaching for the swimbait and hovered to close to long.

I'm going to put a glove on my left hand, I think.  and be less dumb.    the bigger hole in my thumb is slow healing.   I think fish slime is an irritant? 

crazy how it isn't the knife that gets me.  (usually it is)

I wear SHOWA Atlas KV660 Triple-Dipped PVC A2 Cut and Chemical Resistant Safety Glove with Kevlar Liner when I clean fish on my left hand.  Ask me for a pair when we hookup next time.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VRIKFW/?coliid=IS1DAT6ZJYNRH&colid=2IP2SHYUKL6Z5&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

Paul

With rockfish spines, apply heat to the wound. ~105° F or hotter. That is usually enough to denature the venom and mitigate the pain/swelling.

It's always Christmas when Paul's around . I recently got some kevlar gloves for sharpening knives.  Well, just hand protection in general but a sharp hook or spines do not hesitate to perforate.

I was spiked in several fingers on Monday and it's a stingy healing.  just handling these species is a learning curve for me.  I dropped my keelah heavy duty spike trimming scissors into the sea but another thread suggested garden pruning shears and I'm going with those next season to give all my catches a haircut on the spot.  Don't forget the anal fin spike.  Teeth though...no bueno and I'm not qualified for marine dentistry...

One of our fearless leaders (PolePole) taught us a neat trick years ago by applying triple antibiotic (neosporin) to our hands after fishing.....especially after handling bait fish. While on a long range trip He would dole out the "cream" (hahaha...if you know Him well) and that would reduce swelling and discomfort. I keep a small tube of it in my tackle box to this day.

Fingers caught in gill rakers, accidental knife pokes, gill plate pricks. The thumbs are looking frankensteinish after rockfish runs. Gotta remember to glove up as well when handling them armored cuties

Saturday, I got a tiny little poke from a rockfish, but in a bad spot (just under the side/edge of thumbnail) and it still hurts!

I always wear thin nitrile gloves, and I'm thinking that I need something more substantial...

yea.  I am not alone!!

that spike on the gill plate is a dagger!! 

I’ve been using cheap garden shears to cut the spines at home cleaning. Also important to de-spine carcasses as crab bait. But they aren’t good with saltwater so I wouldn’t bring them on the water.

With rockfish spines, apply heat to the wound. ~105° F or hotter. That is usually enough to denature the venom and mitigate the pain/swelling.

This really works. I just ran tap water (120 degrees, according to my tankless water heater) for as long as I could stand it, and it is much improved.

With rockfish spines, apply heat to the wound. ~105° F or hotter. That is usually enough to denature the venom and mitigate the pain/swelling.

This really works. I just ran tap water (120 degrees, according to my tankless water heater) for as long as I could stand it, and it is much improved.

It probably kills the bacteria that lives in the fish slime, and maybe other bacterias that enter through the wound later.

As a recovering Catholic I figure getting poked (bad phrasing, I know!) is just some sort of penance to pay for good catches.

Back in November, I either took the tip of a hook or a fish spine in the back of my finger right between the base of the nail and the first knuckle. Whatever it was, it was minor and so insignificant at the time that I dont even remember the exact cause or circumstances. It didnt even make a mental mark. A few hours later, I looked down and the entire area around the poke was reddish purple. By the end of the evening, the last third of that finger was cloaked in an alarmingly vivid purple bruise. After a message to my doctor, he said that hand injuries(pokes specifically) always seem worse because there isn't as much "meat" in that area to help distribute inflammation and bruising. Thankfully, it looked way better the following day.