Wife caught a little catfish, it managed to stab me in my finger as I released it.

I have always gotten away with handling them in the past but this one nailed me good.

Bled like a sumbitch.

Do you guys have any tricks for treating a catfish wound, other than scrub it and clean it?

I have always heard to rub the wound on their tail, which is supposed to calm the sting and seal it up. Never tried it though.

Pour turpentine on and in it. The sooner the better. We always carried a bottle right in the boat.

I like to soak it insideher, makes the pain go away! 😎

Told wifey that was what I was gonna try. She politely declined on the basis of not wanting catfish slime in there lol

Antibiotic ointment with zinc and a bandaid.

Saw a lady fishing on the old bridge down at Grand Isle, Louisiana hook into a large sized hard tail catfish.
As she hoisted it over the bridge railing with her rod it swung back into her and buried a barn into her stomach below her waist then it started flopping all around while attached to her.

A guy clipped the barb with a pair of pliers and left the barn in her and she was med-evac’d away. The guy cut the other barb off to take with her so the docs would have some idea of what they were dealing with.

I keep some string gloves handy in the boat.

The little ones sting we catfish a lot so it happens to me all the time. I really don't do anything except wash my hands.

Pee on it.

Saw a lady fishing on the old bridge down at Grand Isle, Louisiana hook into a large sized hard tail catfish.

Fished there a bunch as a kid back in the 60's

Yep it was a popular spot.

Never seen a hard-tail catfish, but have seen Hardheads and been jabbed by more than one.

Guess I was just lucky not to get zapped until now.

Bullheads are bad about it. Pards dad dropped one on his upper leg once.

Spent a day or 2 in the hospital just to get the swelling down enough in his leg that he could get his leg back in his bibs leg.

Swish yer hands off in the water and wipe 'em on yer overalls.

My Dad got stung by a saltwater catfish (poisonous spines) in the bunion of one foot. He jumped back, lost his balance, and stepped on it with the other bunion. He spent three days of the vacation in the motel room soaking his swollen feet.

Plan A.


After the fun, Neosporin (triple antibiotic) and a bandaid.

Don't laugh, but I work with rolled, treated paper and fiberglass cloth.
Frequent little cuts that can get sore as heck.
Treated as above, they dont

Maybe it's all a coincident but Ive been "stung" by many catfish and have always done this. Never had an issue or any soreness the next day from it.

Have heard them called both as well as Gafftops.

A handle changing sockpuppet troll talking about catfish.
Lol

Why not? A guy from LA should know a lot about them.

The little brave sucker still batting zero.

Comical.

Hummm. Hard heads are small. Gaftop can get several pounds.

I normally rub the wound in the slime on the catfish. Epsom salts/hot water soaks then AB ointment after the fishing is over.

He should know about the POS politicians he votes for too, but he, Gayghost, Sickermore, Lostinhell, D Dive, will not talk about open borders, child trafficking, child grooming, drug trafficking, illegal invasion, Subversion, child sexual mutilation or Pedophilia because the Leftists approve of it.

All of which has to do with catfish stings. Good Grief.

Got skewered by a saltwater hardhead cat not long ago. For 40 years or more, I just grab them carefully and unhook. This time the little sob gave a flip and put the barb right thru my ring finger on the palm side. So he was hanging from my hand still flopping. Could not pull it out! My son cut the barb off with my fishing pliers, and then I jerked it on thru. I felt nauseous and disoriented. Next day the hand looked like a snakebite; doc gave me 2 types of antibiotics and a tetanus shot. Now my fist won't close all the way, but at least the pain went away.
Wife got jabbed by one years ago and screamed like a mashed cat (no pun intended). I thought she was being overly dramatic, but now I know why! The venom on those barbs is serious.

Yeah, damn sure is. This morning after antibiotic ointment and cleaning it well last night and soaking in warm salt water, just about back to normal.

I only had to get whacked once. I have handled hundreds since and never got hit again. I am careful as heck. Dang that hurt.

You’re sick Jag.

Get help for yourself man.

One got me in the web of my left hand, top of hand between thumb and index finger, about 5/8th 3/4 inch in. I grabbed that f-cker and pulled out, the meat on my hand was pulled inside out by the barbs but snapped back in once it was released, that hurt a little. The hand looked like a big boxing glove for a week.

Hard head catfish and gaff top catfish (often times called sail cats because of the large dorsal fin and very long whips from all of the spines) are two totally different fish. I caught both last weekend.

Rubbing the slime on it does help.


Clyde

Bad painful is all I know. I reached in the live well once and a channel about a pound got me. I didn't see him, and he stuck that barb through both my first and second fingers on the right hand. I jerked my hand out and he was stuck to it. I slung him twice and broke the barb off. Had to take a razor blade to cut and pliers to pull it out. That SOB hurt. I had revenge in my heart when I cleaned him.

Must be a Carolina thing!!!!

Good God. Someone who claims to be from this area doesn't know the difference between a Gafftop and a hardhead.

I would NOT do that. All that will do is introduce potentially more vibrio into the wound. Let it bleed out pretty good, flush with antibacterial rinse and cover. Monitor for signs of reddening and don't hesitate to go to the doc if there's more that some very local redness.

I know of two people who have died from stepping on old dried-up hardheads left on the beach to die.

Did the infection kill them because they waited too long for medical attention or just because it was such a deadly strain of infection?

Allergic reaction to the toxin or infection, Rog.

Well, There is that, Paul.

BTW, rubbing the slime on the wound has helped my pain from fin cuts diminish several times.

Of course, you won't get slime into a deep puncture wound and tetanus is a consideration along with infection.

Infection, gang green.

Dang. Amputation time if ABs don't work.

Both were old guys. One lived on Baffin Bay by the marina we put in at. I remember my dad saying he waited for way too long to be saved, that was back in the early 70s.

Just tell her it all smells the same!!

Bleach is what I would use. I don't believe I've ever been impaled by a catfish of any make or model.

Bleach kills the good bacteria and cells the body uses to heal you. Wife ended up with a bad infection doing that once.

Had a guy hoist a big hardhead in the boat and stick it in my hamstring. The other guy in the boat was laughing too hard to help and the guilty party was too scared to help. I finally got it yanked out of the back of my leg and we kept fishing. Had a black spot the size of a great fruit and the antibiotics were 80 bucks to treat it. That was n the early 90’s. Expensive cure.

Two varieties of saltwater cats here in Floriduh, the Hardhead and Sail Cat. The latter grows quite large. A fella hasn’t known pain until he gets jabbed by a Sail Cat. Infection isn’t much of an issue, but the agony is epic.