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Talk about a bonehead move . . . yesterday I'm re-arranging a bunch of tackle. Had picked up a bunch of old halibut jigs out of a box and was dropping them into another container . . . one of them got me. RH index finger.

The jig head was a 16oz lead and was really complicating things so I put it in a vise and cut the hook shank with a small air driven cut-off wheel. My hacksaw wouldn't touch it.

I drove myself to the clinic, bloody rag wrapped around hand. They couldn't deal with it, had to go to the hospital. 2 hours later I'm numbed up and a surgeon is working on me.

She said I was so lucky as the hook missed the bone, the big tendon, an artery and the nerve. Shank was rusty, after removing she spent about half an hour flushing crap out of the wound. Hook went in near the knuckle and came out near the finger tip.

crappy photo of the x-ray:

OUCH!!!!!!! that hurts me to look at. Carolmizer (the emergency room nurse) says she sees that all the time. I say look at the size of the hook and barb and the distance traveled....... she says she has seen worse. I say OUUUUCHH that cannot be, we rarely use hooks that size. She says nope tendons, arteries, eyeballs and unmentionables. I slink away.....

Hope you feel better and that no infections occur. I cannot believe you tried a hacksaw...... ouch, set up a air driven cutoff wheel, cut it and then drove yourself to the clinic and then a hospital.

20 manly man points to ya

Again I hope you feel better and heal quickly.........tying knots and flies just got alot harder.

Mark

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

* Giant azz hook thru finger.........Manly!

* Dealing with lots of Pain and discomfort......truely Manly!

* Taking picture of X-Ray and posting it on a Forum......PRICELESS!

Holy crap Chaps. You're my hero.

I can just imagine how the Halibut feels.

Did ya get a new tetnes shot in the butt too?......Picture of you bent over the exam table....really would have been Priceless!

Hope it all heals good and is just a distant memory soon.

Holy Cow Chaps! :shock:

Thanks for sharing - I think? :)

Wayne

Jeeeeeeeeeeeezus!!!!!! My vasectomny feels much better now!!!!! :D :D

That might leave a mark! I have always been leary of those heavy lead heads. Although I use them all the time. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Wow, :shock:
Love the x-ray. My world and welcome to it. Yes, I have seen worse, but would never suggest that you feel any better for it. Had a guy come in a year or so ago, around 2am after trying hours on his own to get out a hook like that one that went through 2 fingers, hooking them together. Quite a challenge to get that one out. Working at a hospital within a couple of miles from the ocean gets us some crazy stuff. We even have some of the few HBO units (HyperBeric Oxygenation) other than Catalinas huge one. We have 6 small units(Michael Jackson style).
Take care of your finger, keep it clean and watch for infection, even fever with no sign of redness to the finger...

G'Day Chaps,
They must breed 'em tough in the NW. You are a LEGEND....................in your own lunchtime. :shock: :shock: :shock:
I too have been there, but with a MUCH smaller hook that was able to be pushed through & cut. That was painful but that big sucker must have been agony.
Take care with that finger until it heals.

Ouch - nasty

That will slow your typing speed down!

I heard of a guy that had a 3 barb jig break free from the fish when he bought it to the surface, the 3 barb hook lodged its self all 3 hooks into the gristle of his nose. The jig smacked him in the forehead and and was bleeding from that hit also.

His fishing buddies didnt want to go back as they had just got to the grounds and wanted to stay and fish. So they cut the jig off the 3 barb hook and left him to it for the day. he was apparently looking pretty grim later in the day and they decided to take him back in.

Good luck with the wound!

Thanks for all the well wishes and advice. Its amazing it didn't hurt more than it did. Seemed most everybody working the day shift at the hospital wandered in to see it before it was removed. Heard lots of "oooh . . . thats definitely the biggest and rustiest one yet".

Wait one second here.....

How come you didn't just finish pushing the hook through the finger and cutting the barb off and then backing it out???

Oh dang! I know why, because they would call you the DROPPER, because you would have dropped to the floor trying to do that!

I cut a 9/0 Siwash out of a guys finger back in the 70's in the Cape on the back beach. One buddy passed out when he saw the one of the other gys using a razor blade to make a big enough slice to back the hook out with the barb crushed down, His knick name was the DROPPER from that day on.

But, you hook looks even bigger! How the heack did you get that much force behind that hook to rn it that far into yourself??? OUCH!

Hope you feel better! Marty

Chaps, That's going to hurt later.

Wishing you a full recovery and back to normal.


Bevan,
Your story had me laughing :lol: :lol: :lol:

Scott

Big time pain there Chaps! I hope it heals fast.
It is actually really suprising that doesn't happen more often to all of us.

Ironwoodtuna wrote:
How the heack did you get that much force behind that hook to run it that far into yourself??? OUCH!

It was one of these but with a forged hook . . . the weight of it falling drove it in



Somewhere in fish heaven a bunch of 'butts and ling cod were giving each other high fives . . .

Chaps,
I notice that the number "16" is stamped on that jighead. Does that mean 16 ounces? Although Australia is metric, I am old enough to work both sides & a pound is a pound. :shock: :shock: :shock:

What really amazes me is trying to first hacksaw the hook. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Chaps 10 more manly man points.

Mark

peterbo3 wrote:Chaps,
I notice that the number "16" is stamped on that jighead. Does that mean 16 ounces? Although Australia is metric, I am old enough to work both sides & a pound is a pound. :shock: :shock: :shock:

You got it. We use 24 ouncers up here in AK, too. In Cook Inlet the tide really rips and using 5 plus pounds is very common just to hold bottom. The tupper ware boat guys damage a lot of gel coats with those babies.

Again...OUCH!!!!!

The closest thing I got to that was a 2/0 treble hook with an 8lb striper attached to it and drove the hook from the back side of my nail next to the first knuckle, then out through the center of the nail with the striper shaking vigorusly on the other end until the plug broke in half and it was 20-degrees out fishing the hot water outflow at the power plant in late january.

It was my first cast, so I crimped the barb and gorillaed the hook back out so I could fish the rest of the night. It still keeps me gritting my teeth thinking about it.

Feeling better yet???

Ironwoodtuna wrote:Again...OUCH!!!!!

The closest thing I got to that was a 2/0 treble hook with an 8lb striper attached to it and drove the hook from the back side of my nail next to the first knuckle, then out through the center of the nail with the striper shaking vigorusly on the other end until the plug broke in half and it was 20-degrees out fishing the hot water outflow at the power plant in late january.

It was my first cast, so I crimped the barb and gorillaed the hook back out so I could fish the rest of the night. It still keeps me gritting my teeth thinking about it.

Feeling better yet???

Hey, sounds like you deserve some manly points too. Imbedded hook along with a thrashing fish makes me cringe.

I can sort of type now but still can't pull the trigger on my .357 without it hurtin'

A side note, the surgeon told me they are getting fewer hook removal cases up here since our salmon rules now require the use of barbless hooks.

Aw Chaps, how come ya didn't just cut ya finger off and go fishin'- lead head jig laced with a human digit would have been a dynamite combination and could have produced a biggun for you! :twisted:

Best wishes on a speedy recovery mate! :)

Chaps,

I am also impressed and agree with the 10 manly points that were awarded. You might have to learn to shoot left handed for the duration of the healing process!