Stranger Help
esoxaddict
Posted 3/18/2019 9:15 PM (#933422)
Subject: Stranger Help





Posts: 8782


Several years back...

On my way back from Canada, stopped in Presque Isle for my annual week wind-down post Canada. Driving down CH B by the headwaters of the Presque Isle River near sunset, past an area on Little Horsehead where we like to putter around for pannies and pike. 9 hours on the road...

"Hey, it's not quite dark. I've got time to throw a couple casts here before I check in and get dinner!"

Grab my gear, run (literally) down to the pier, clip on a spook, throw a cast....

In my haste, I neglected to even flip the bail because i was in that much of a hurry to fish.

*cast* WHACK!! "OW!! Aw, #*#*!"

Now I've got a lure attached to the back of my arm, where I can barely even see it.
After much yanking and pulling I can see it's buried well past the barb. Crap, that was a new shirt!

Okay, what now. Skyview! I'll go to the bar. Maybe someone I know will be sitting there. So I cut off what I can reach and walk into the bar...

*THANK GOD*

The bartender is someone I know.

Judy: "Hey Jeff! What can I get 'ya?""
Me: "Well, I could really use a whiskey. And anyone with a strong stomach and a good set of eyes."

With that this poor guy at the bar stands up and says "That's me! What can I do for you?"

So I turn around, roll up my sleeve and say: "Well, you could help me get THIS outta my arm..."

Poor guy turns white....

"Uhhh..... Well... What do you want me to do?!"

ME: "Come with me."

So I take the guy out to my truck, and start handing him tools and stuff...

"Okay, cut that treble hook. No, not there. Cut it at the base. Yep. Right there.
Okay good. Now take these pliers. You're gonna have to push that hook point through the skin and pull it out."

This poor guy is shaking like a leaf.

I have to give him credit for trying, especially with me handing him tool after tool after tool.

"Yeah, that's it. Just like that."

Poor guys hands are shaking, and he's being a total mouse about the whole thing...

"Ya gotta do better than that!!"

Finally out of panic he gets the courage to actually exert enough force to get the point back out through the skin.

"yeah, that's it. You got it! Okay, take these forceps (more tools) and grab that point. Wait, before you do that, put some of this #*#* on it." (neosporin, which I always carry)

Finally this guy gets the hook point and pulls it out of my arm...

Not knocking the guy by any means. I'm sure it was his first surgery. I left him a a $20 on the bar for drinks or whatever which he tried to refuse. I said: "Hey, you just saved me a trip down to the hospital in Minocqua. Thank you. Have a drink or three on me!"

Sure saved my day, if not several days, and an awful lot of money.

Part of why I try to help anybody in any way I can...

Anybody else have any similar stories???
Pointerpride102
Posted 3/18/2019 10:30 PM (#933424 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Posts: 16632


Location: The desert
Yeah, I got nothing.....
sworrall
Posted 3/18/2019 11:04 PM (#933428 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Posts: 32886


Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Similar story? Me? No. Not even close.
Pepper
Posted 3/19/2019 6:24 AM (#933431 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 1516


I was fishing up on Lac Suel, trolling with an Odessy Pig and hook a mid sized pike. My buddy nets him and brings the net into the boat. While holding the pike still in the net and with it in not on the deck reaches in to grab the pike he must have startled it because the pike gave a violent shake driving a treble into one of his digits past the barb I got the trusty knips out and separated fish from his hand. Once that was done I released the pike. Then did the same as the esoxaddict I cut that part of the treble off and pushed the barb out thru the finger and then pulled it out.
Thus ending fishing for the reminder of the day. My buddy almost passed out during this ordeal The sight of that pike flopping around midair while attached to his hand was not something I want to witness again.

Edited by Pepper 3/19/2019 6:27 AM
ToddM
Posted 3/19/2019 6:55 AM (#933434 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Posts: 20219


Location: oswego, il
Jeff are we to believe you were that calm while that guy was not doing this in quick fashion?

Had a hook surgically removed from my finger once, while waiting I watched this woman work the bag of her morphine drip to get every drop.
horsehunter
Posted 3/19/2019 7:32 AM (#933438 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Location: Eastern Ontario
Back in the early 60's I stopped in High Park in Toronto just goofin off between some sales calls . As I walked up to the pond i encounter a kid about 7 years old with a hook in his eyebrow. He was freaking out and pawing at it. I had nothing at the time nor because of the location wanting to deal with the hook. I cut the line to free it from the rod and used my tie to tie his hands so he couldn't paw at it. I then put him in my car and drove to a nearby hospital. I called his dad who came thanked me and took over. Can you imagine today if someone saw you tie up a kid and put him in a car. Since then I have removed many hooks from people out on the water and a couple of years back from a TV personality filming a show.

Edited by horsehunter 3/19/2019 7:35 AM
vegas492
Posted 3/19/2019 8:07 AM (#933440 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 1036


Dad and I were fishing the lake we lived on up north. For muskies. We hear "Dah-Dah-Dah....Dah-Dah-(faster)Dah-Dah....-Dah-Dah-Dah.....Dah-Dah". Smoke on the Water. We turn around there is a guy in his mid 40's casting for muskies out of his white Alumacraft boat. With him are his two fishing partners, Eskimos dogs. Pure white and gorgeous.
Now the lake is quiet except for this guy who is playing the music loudly...and it is on a loop. Yup. Non-stop Smoke on the Water.
He's about 150 yards from us when we hear some excitement in his boat. He has a fish on. Little guy around 33 inches or so. Instead of netting it, he picks it up by grabbing his DepthRaider at the bill. Fish shakes and lands a treble hook into his right hand. We see it happen, and we see panic set in. The only way he can release the pressure on his hand is to grab the fish and hold it up. And when he does that, he looses the ability to take the fish off.
We motor over there, pretty fast. My dad is telling him to just hang on. He sees us coming and this dude is white in the face, like the color of his dogs. We pull up, he is so in shock he can't even say anything. I cut the treble out and tell him to stay still while I work the barb back out (just like above). Instead of doing that he rips his shirt off at the sleeve, ties it around his wound and leaves. I'm left to revive the fish. So, I do that and away he goes to the launch, guessing he was making a beeline to the Eagle River Hospital.
Flash forward a week. I've got two buddies up at the place and we are musky fishing. I tell them this exact story. Smoke on the water. White Alumacraft, two white dogs, fish attached to a hand...etc. My best friend calls "bullsh....!" 5 minutes later we hear Smoke on the Water. Turn around and there he is coming out of the launch, white Alumacraft, two white dogs and.... a huge amount of gauze on his right hand.
We had a good chuckle over that. Dude was so in shock he never even said "Thank you.".
mikie
Posted 3/19/2019 8:20 AM (#933444 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Location: Athens, Ohio
While fishing on Arrowhead Reef, I had a very close encounter with a monster muskie. My next backcast caught a Tony Grant. m
tenthousandand1
Posted 3/19/2019 5:17 PM (#933496 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 63


Definitely not proud of this stpry, but since ya'll are sharing, ...
Madison chain, 2017, late summer, 5 AM. I'm teaching my wife how to cast a Top Raider on a beautiful morning. She's doing really well. Besides one other boat, we have the whole bay to ourselves. My Top Raider snags some coontail, 15 yards from the boat. I give it a yank, the Top Raider exits the coontail at 200 mph, flies past the boat and wraps itself with 3 hooks into my wife's calf. Screaming begins, then jumping and the line is now taught and hooks are digging in. I give it slack, cut the line and make my way to her. She can't stand cuz she shaking so badly. I pull out a hook cutters but they're useless on these hooks.
The other boat hears our distress and motors over and they hand me a pair of Knipex which I use to cut the shanks on the hooks. The Top Raider is free now.
I thank the guys and head in, have to carry her into the truck, load the boat and take her to the hospital since the hooks are now pretty deep in muscle. (and no way I'm pushing those through at this point!). 8 stitches later - we're out in the sunshine but she's had it with Muskie fishing.
Those guys are the Knipex sales-guys of the century. I have 3 pairs now.
... and THAT is how you get you "alone time" during Musky Season.
(The Top Raider is ok and has hooked more skis than people).
esoxaddict
Posted 3/19/2019 7:40 PM (#933503 - in reply to #933434)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Posts: 8782


ToddM - 3/19/2019 6:55 AM

Jeff are we to believe you were that calm while that guy was not doing this in quick fashion?

Had a hook surgically removed from my finger once, while waiting I watched this woman work the bag of her morphine drip to get every drop.


Calm? Not really. I downed the whiskey before we went outside. I'm pretty sure that helped some.

I didn't care what this guy did as long as I didn't have to drive down to Minocqua and sit in a hospital for the evening. Surprisingly enough, none of it really hurt all that much.

I'll admit was sweating like a whore in church when I realized that hook wasn't coming out without help. I even picked up my fillet knife and thought about just cutting it out, but soon realized that after that I'd be going to the hospital for sure.

I never saw the guy again, but I've always wondered how many times he's told the story of the guy who walked into the bar with a treble hook in his arm.

As I usually do, (obligated to do) I called my wife that evening to tell her I was back in the states in one piece. Told her "Yeah, I put a spook in my arm down by the pier on Little Horsehead. Had to have some poor bastard at the bar at Skyview pull it out."

She freaks out, telling me I need to go to the hospital... Same woman who watched me set the hook and miss a fish, embedding a double 10 in my forearm, looked at me with this lure stuck in me and said "Ahh. You're fine. I'll look at it later." and proceeded to keep casting...

Edited by esoxaddict 3/19/2019 8:57 PM
Pointerpride102
Posted 3/19/2019 7:59 PM (#933504 - in reply to #933503)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Posts: 16632


Location: The desert
esoxaddict - 3/19/2019 7:40 PM

ToddM - 3/19/2019 6:55 AM

Jeff are we to believe you were that calm while that guy was not doing this in quick fashion?

Had a hook surgically removed from my finger once, while waiting I watched this woman work the bag of her morphine drip to get every drop.


Calm? Not really. I downed the whiskey before we went outside. I'm pretty sure that helped some.

I didn't care what this guy did as long as I didn't have to drive down to Minocqua and sit in a hospital for the evening. Surprisingly enough, none of it really hurt all that much.

I'll admit was sweating like a whore in church when I realized that hook wasn't coming out without help. I even picked up my fillet knife and thought about just cutting it out, but soon realized that after that I'd be going to the hospital either way.

I never saw the guy again, but I've always wondered how many times he's told the story of the guy who walked into the bar with a treble hook in his arm


Skin is very strong, if there is a next time and you can’t budge the barb through the skin, cut a small slit with a sharp knife. This helps alleviate some of that tension keeping that barb in the skin. Once you provide a little tear it should tear easier allowing the book to slide through.
Ryan21
Posted 3/19/2019 8:52 PM (#933508 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: RE: Stranger Help





Posts: 34


Location: New Carlisle, IN
I also fish solo often. I added a Jig Ripper handle to my net and it helped a ton with net control.
Ciscokid82
Posted 3/19/2019 9:24 PM (#933510 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help





Posts: 333


Location: SE Wisc
I buried a treble hook to the shank right in that meaty part between your thumb and index finger while unhooking a small pike. My father was with and once I cut hooks, I had him push it through and then yank it out. The best part of the story is that my father was suffering from flu like symptoms and instantly after that hook came out he started swearing and motored us to a nearby island, just a few yard away. The island was void of cover other than a small bush. I was laying on my back still nauseous when I heard a boat approaching down the channel. I looked up and over the side of the boat just in time to see my dad waving with one hand and holding his roll of toilet paper in the other! RIP DAD! We did get a 45# on that trip too, but I’ll never forget that moment!
ToddC
Posted 3/20/2019 8:55 PM (#933554 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 320


Family was in the pawn shop in Rhinelander a couple years ago. I was looking at some musky baits and when I went to hang one back it slipped and embedded a hook in the back of my hand. Went over to the tool section and found some side cutters and had my son in law cut the hook off. Then went to the counter and asked the kid if he could help me pop the hook out since my son in law couldn’t deal with the blood. The kid behind the counter saw the hook and blood and nearly dropped. He told me I should go to the hospital.

The barb was just under the skin and not deep there was no way I was going to the ED to have it removed. I had another kid cut off some heavy line off a reel and told my daughter she had to pop it out. I pushed down on the shank of the hook and told her to pull the line and the hook popped right out! The kids behind the counter were amazed and gave me the lure for free. They were all worried I was gonna sue them or something. We all still laugh about that day!
OH Musky
Posted 3/23/2019 3:31 PM (#933730 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 386


Location: SW Ohio
https://lifehacker.com/remove-a-fish-hook-from-your-finger-in-three-...

Have had to use both these methods on others. We kept a bottle of freeze spray used for inserting IV's on soft skin (former wife worked at a hospital) that helped a lot when pushing the hook through the skin.
3lksmusky
Posted 3/25/2019 10:06 AM (#933760 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 43


At the end of day 1 of a 2 day tournament on the 3 lakes chain we tied up to my friends dock to retie, and reload for the next day. My partner reaches into his small livewell, now a makeshift tackle box and proceeds to bury a 5/O treble thru a knuckle joint of is finger. I removed the hook from the bait, and we went into the cabin where we both tried to "yank" the treble out. after 30 minutes of this, a trip to the E.R. was in order. On another trip, a friend was up from Tomahawk and we had fished hard for a few hours with no results. I asked him to move up front and run the trolling motor while I retie and rethink what we were doing. As I finished in the back of the boat I hear a loud smack on side of the boat. I approached him and he is holding his ear, and asking me if its bleeding. When I saw his ear, he looked like Spock, his ear was split about an inch and a half. He should of panicked when he saw me remove my shirt so he could hold it over his wound. Back at the cabin he looked at it and asked me to tape it in place. I brought hi to the E.R. for 11 stitches. Be careful out there
Fishysam
Posted 3/26/2019 7:20 AM (#933816 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: RE: Stranger Help




Posts: 1209


I was holding about a 6 pound pike at the end of a 8.5' musky rod going to grab the leader when the fish shook and fell off, all the energy in the rod and my arm holding it with that long lever raised up and set the hook in my hand.

As this happened i told my dad i need help, he said that little poke in your arm? I said no i need help and didnt even know it was in my arm, after removing the lure from the hook i drove the boat to the ramp and put it on the trailer like normal. My dad drove to DL ER and dropped me off as I calmly walked in the receptionist / nurse told me "this is an ER!", i showed her my hand and she immediately apologized and started moving real fast ??. After a bunch of local anesthetic shots in my hand the doctor tried cutting the hook with a 6-8" diagnal cutter, while a nurse blocked my view i knew the look on my dads face was the same one as when you are hurting a fish that wont come unhooked and my shoulder that i could feel was shaking. They finally got it cut near the shank and the doctor sliced a slot in my handwhere the small purple dot is as that is where it came out. After it was bandaged up i asked the doctor if i could go fishing for the evening bite? He thought i was joking but said just dont get it wet. Forgot to take the prescription when we left the ER so they called my mom (a RN) at home who my dad and I had not yet told we went to the ER. Oops

Well we went fishing, and I ended up holding my at the time personal best musky at 45". My dad did send the doctor the photo but I don't know if he ever responded.

7/0 hook through my hand and ring finger, never hurt, never bled.



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Junkman
Posted 3/26/2019 10:12 AM (#933822 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: RE: Stranger Help




Posts: 1220


First time I ever really appreciated You Tube was when I was alone in the boat, got a hook buried, and found a totally useful video which brought me great success. Another time, fishing Mille Lacs in a tournament, I slipped and fell on a big treble burying it deep below the knee. Another video gave my somewhat shy to assist partner the confidence to proceed in a mighty fine jerk to remove it and return to Garrison Bay where we saw the winners catch a 54 only three boat lengths away. Oh well!
miket55
Posted 3/26/2019 5:54 PM (#933842 - in reply to #933440)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 1267


Location: E. Tenn
vegas492 - 3/19/2019 9:07 AM

Dad and I were fishing the lake we lived on up north. For muskies. We hear "Dah-Dah-Dah....Dah-Dah-(faster)Dah-Dah....-Dah-Dah-Dah.....Dah-Dah". Smoke on the Water. We turn around there is a guy in his mid 40's casting for muskies out of his white Alumacraft boat. With him are his two fishing partners, Eskimos dogs. Pure white and gorgeous.
Now the lake is quiet except for this guy who is playing the music loudly...and it is on a loop. Yup. Non-stop Smoke on the Water.
He's about 150 yards from us when we hear some excitement in his boat. He has a fish on. Little guy around 33 inches or so. Instead of netting it, he picks it up by grabbing his DepthRaider at the bill. Fish shakes and lands a treble hook into his right hand. We see it happen, and we see panic set in. The only way he can release the pressure on his hand is to grab the fish and hold it up. And when he does that, he looses the ability to take the fish off.
We motor over there, pretty fast. My dad is telling him to just hang on. He sees us coming and this dude is white in the face, like the color of his dogs. We pull up, he is so in shock he can't even say anything. I cut the treble out and tell him to stay still while I work the barb back out (just like above). Instead of doing that he rips his shirt off at the sleeve, ties it around his wound and leaves. I'm left to revive the fish. So, I do that and away he goes to the launch, guessing he was making a beeline to the Eagle River Hospital.
Flash forward a week. I've got two buddies up at the place and we are musky fishing. I tell them this exact story. Smoke on the water. White Alumacraft, two white dogs, fish attached to a hand...etc. My best friend calls "bullsh....!" 5 minutes later we hear Smoke on the Water. Turn around and there he is coming out of the launch, white Alumacraft, two white dogs and.... a huge amount of gauze on his right hand.
We had a good chuckle over that. Dude was so in shock he never even said "Thank you.".


I wonder if it made it into their shadow box...


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Fish4muskie
Posted 4/4/2019 10:52 AM (#934617 - in reply to #933422)
Subject: Re: Stranger Help




Posts: 112


Location: Illinois
Only have done it a couple times with bass lures. Haven’t had to deal with it while using big baits. Hope to never have to.