Be careful with your sabikis

I learned the hard way Monday to make sure to put the sabiki away as soon as I’m done with it. Don’t try to drop the jig down for rockfish and then put it away. What started out as a seemingly minor hook in the thumb has now turned into an infection and a trip to a orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. After may attempts to rip it out with my pliers I just decided to keep fishing until I realized that it was constantly getting caught on everything and was becoming more and more painful. I ended up actually having to go to kaiser to have it removed where I thought the doctor would be able to pull it out in a couple seconds. It actually took her several minutes and a lot of pushing, pulling, twisting, and turning. I was thankful to be numb at this point. After eventually pushing it out the front of my thumb she insisted on an X-ray. I thought this was complete waste of time as I wanted to just go home since was now nearly 4pm and I arrived at HMB at 5:30am. Low and behold there is some kind of foreign object in my thumb that she thinks is part of the hook that broke off from it being so difficult to remove. I don’t think it is from the hook as it looks like it’s in the joint but either way they insisted I see a orthopedic surgeon. Between the infection from who knows what(brand new hook) and the possible minor thumb surgery to remove something it has become quite the ordeal. So the lesson I learned is to make sure everything is neatly put away right away.

Thanks for that and sorry for this simple yet complex mess...be well...

that sucks!!! Deffently invest in a sabiki rod! It will prevent it from happening again and it makes bait fishing a little easier! Hope u recover quickly and get back out there

Thats happened to me. The hook got stuck in my thumb while OTW.  I pulled it out with my pliers and kept fishing.  Actually happened several times to me already.  The last one was a single barb from a small Rapala lure with a treble hook.  Hope you heal fast soon.

Sabikis are evil. I’ve gotten stuck by them a couple of times and, luckily, was able to pull them out with a pliers.

They're the worst. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Yes, those things are a nightmare to deal with on the kayak. After a few tangles I stopped using them until I picked up a sabiki rod. It's long and clunky but does a great job of keeping those little devils stowed away safely.

Sabiki rods are far cheaper than emergency visits.

That sucks.

Sabiki rods are far cheaper than emergency visits.

Very and less painful! I paid $65 for the one I have and put an old reel that i had laying around on it!

   Yikes! It's a wonder that doesn't happen more often in the small working area of a kayak. A couple of suggestions:
   Thin nitrile-coated work gloves (the smooth-finish kind) a size smaller than you'd use on land, if you can.  Hooks get snagged in them, not in your skin (usually!); I can tie knots with them on, they protect from sun, and ropes are easier on the hands.
    I sawed off a lot of the butt end of my sabiki rod because it was so long and clunky and only use 3 of the hooks (2 sabikis per package!). 

Sorry to hear that. It happened to me once years ago fishing for jacksmelt.

I have a bunch of spare rods laying around. I will start using one of those as a dedicated sabiki rod. What happened was I was mackerel fishing and decided I wanted to try for some rockfish. So I cut off the sabiki and put it down on the center console/hatch of my moken 14. I then tied on a jig and dropped it down to the bottom. As I did that I stretched my leg out straight and apparently the end of my sabiki was on or wrapped around my shoe and the other end had hook on my thumb or close enough to hook me when I stretched my leg. First thought that came into my mind was that was a stupid thing to do. Luckily I don’t have to pay anything for the doctors visit but it was embarrassing to go in for this tiny little fish hook that just refused to come out. I didn’t feel as bad when it took the doctor awhile to get it out though.

A spare rod won't really provide the kind of protection you can get from a Sabiki Rod where the entire rig gets stowed inside the rod when cranked in. 

You guys are tempting me to make a diy rod out of pvc and some hose clamps...

Here you go DIY sabiki rod could possible double as a flag post or light post too.

Someone commented about skipping the hose clamps and putting a cheap reel seat on it instead.