Date: December 14, 2001
To: PFIC Message Board
From: tokyo72
Subject: Most Painful Fishing Experience
What was the most painful fishing experience you have ever had? A friend handed me a pre-historic bamboo stick with an ancient Squidder that he had inherited from his grandfather and asked me how far I could throw it. It must have had a 6 oz. sinker. If surfcasting was an Olympic event, I would have made the team (although I was no taller than Bruce Lee, I was built like Bruce Lee thanks to years of martial arts training; now I am an overweight middle-aged man). But my friend was an ignorant G*d-D*amn-Son-Of-A-B*tch, because he (please excuse my language - but these exact words just tumbled out of my mouth at the time) had not doused the reel in water before he handed it to me. The friction from the dry spool burned LAYERS of skin off my thumbs. It took weeks to heal. I can laugh now, but I didn’t then.
Name: stinkyfingers
Can’t wait to see what kind of thread we end up with here. I once cut my finger real good(thought I cut if off!) when my lure caught on a rail behind me as I went to cast. I was using braided line, too - spinning reel. Ouch.
Name: PierHead
The day I joined the Rincon Rock Divers Club. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was perched on the rock retaining wall between Hwy.101 and the incoming high tide with great expectations. Large anchovies and a 9’ pole. Waiting for the big one. Suddenly my pole doubles over and the fight was on! Landing a fish from the wall is never easy but I made my way down hopping from boulder to boulder. The fish came thru the kelp easily and, as I was reaching down to land it, it made one last run pulling me off my feet. There I was - upside down, suspended between two rocks still holding onto my pole with one hand and my glasses with the other! Looking down I could see the surf surging below me. I remember thinking how embarrassing it would be to die like that. Somehow I found the strength to right myself and, to my great surprise, the fish was still on. Landed a 3.5# Cabezon, which is my biggest to date. Needless to say I don't fish the rock wall anymore. After having achieved the dubious status as an honorary member of the Rincon Rock Divers Club I retired. These days I confine my fishing to piers and sandy beaches.
Name: jason chin
Lingcod chomp! I was drifting the reef in between Natural Bridges and Lighthouse point out of Santa Cruz throwing Fish Traps for rockfish and lingcod. A beautiful keeper ling jumped on and I battled him up to the boat. It was around 2PM and the wind had picked up churning up some bumpy conditions. Lings were off limits at the time so it was strictly catch & release, instead of using the gaff or the net, I gently swoop the fish out by the gill plate, my Fish Trap lodged about 1/2 way in its mouth for an easy removal. As I proceed to remove the hook a wave a bit larger than the others hits the boat at the same time the fish wiggles a bit and CHOMP. Not only did the hand I had in the gill plate get torn up by the little teeth in there, but I had gotten bit and deep. Looked like someone stuck my fingers in a blender. Add a little salt water in the mix and enjoy the fun. The main cut caused by the front sharp tooth bled for hours. Probably could’ve used some stitches but you know how that goes. I wear gloves now. Jason "bayrunner"
Name: baitfish
Would not stop peeling. After the get together @ Malibu Pier last year I decided to stay out in the rain and wind and keep on fishing. After 5 hours in the rain, I decided to call it quits since I could not feel my hands anymore and I was completely soaked. Well for 6 months afterwards my right index finger kept peeling and peeling, sometimes drawing blood. Never figured out what it was, but it finally cleared up. We thought it was frost bite, but who knows. Adam, Will work for fish!
Name: baitfish
Forgot this is the PAINFUL one!!!!! I was surf fishing @ Dockweiler on the 4th of July this year. I had met up with Mola Joe around 7:00 a.m. I was in the water all day walking up and down the beach. It was a really good day and I did not want to leave, we were catching corbina and perch in the morning and then the shovelnose and big yellowfin croaker started to bite around 9:30. Around 10:00 Joe had to leave, but my friends and I were in for the long haul. Around 2:00 comes around and I think hey maybe I should put on some sun screen. I wish the sunburn was the only thing I had to worry about. But those who fish the beach in So Cal know how sand becomes sand paper. When we left at 6:00 p.m. the inside of my legs were completely raw and almost bleeding, my back and face were sunburned, and I had been in the surf all day with the pounding waves, so I was just a little fatigued. To top it off, we had to walk about 1/4 mile with ice chests and chairs, rods everything on the hot sand with burning achy legs with the sand rubbing with every agonizing step. So let's go home right? Nope we ended up going to a 4th of July party and had to walk to see some fireworks. Here comes this guy with his legs bowed like a cowboy who hasn't gotten off a horse in 20 years. Oh man it hurts just thinking about it! Adam, Will work for fish!
Name: bigdaddycat
Hmmm, tough one there... I’ve had so many, lol. The day I decided to fillet a sculpin on the rocks ranks up there pretty high. I had caught a keeper-sized sculpin and decided to use it for bait since we were almost out and the fish were biting. I know I shouldn't have used it for bait but I did. As I was filleting the fish I stuck my self with one of the bottom fins. I was thinking oh lord, I hope that isn't one of the poisonous ones... it was. My hand swelled up like a balloon and my arm turned red up to my elbow. But hey the fish were biting so I endured the pain. I hear it was pretty funny watching my reel with my “damaged” hand.
I have also fallen on the rocks many times, I’m usually too gear conscious to simply toss my gear and catch myself, so I usually end up landing on my elbows, that hurts.
You can also look at pain as pride. I was with my great aunt, who taught me how to fish, at about the age of 6 or so. It was early spring and we went down to the river lot to see how the flood was going and what it had done to the river lot. Of course I had to fish, lol. I ended up hooking into a big, big fish. After the fight I landed about a 15# carp, this was big, big compared to me at the time. I got it up on the shore, after my aunt wouldn’t help, no sooner I got it on the shore it flopped off my hook. Well, the little death-defying fishermen I was, I dove on my fish, LOL. So there I am with both my arms wrapped around a fish just as big as me, I think I have a pic somewhere. So upon my question “What do I do with it now,” the response was “let it go.” That really hurt my little heart, lol.
Last but not least one of the most painful experiences was the day after a night on the jetty. This past summer, myself and the dude, packed a cooler, bait, gear, lantern, we had it all. Mind you one cooler had many, many beers in it. Of course we had to empty the cooler prior to coming off the jetty, it was heavy on the way out. We ended up polishing off the cooler, no luck out near the end, so we moved further in the harbor, no luck there either, and ended up falling asleep, with our poles under us, on the rocks around 4:30. The next day was quite painful as far as hang-overs go. I know it was dangerous but that was one fun fishing trip. Nothing really caught, but it was nice being out and fishing all night. Male bonding, I guess you could consider it, lol.
Name: MrTuna
Bat ray boogie. Well, the hardest day fishing was the day I hooked a 120-lb. bat ray at Tomales Bay and got spooled but stopped it at the knot. I fought it for so long my arm was almost dead on 20-lb. gear. I finally got it in.
My ex-wife and I went fishing for bat rays once and she had never fished before. I cast out a squid and left the clicker on in free spool and gave her the rod so I could cast out the other. Well a big ray hit her rod and she, in a panicked state grabbed the line to stop the fish. Ouch! Big line cut!
Name: Salty Nick
Not a good day... I was crabbing early morning on the Pacifica Pier, even though the surf was very rough. I ended up losing a crab trap on the pilings as well as a home-made casting trap, and didn't get any crabs (or fish either). Okay. So I decided to change locations. I moved to South Rodeo beach, just north of the Golden Gate. The tide was low, though the waves were crashing high. There’s a rocky point that can only be accessed at low tide, so I scrambled there and was fishing for a while, with very little success. Then a larger set of waves took me by surprise, one broke right on top of me, leaving me totally soaked - but at least I didn't get swept off. So I decided it was time to find safer ground. As I was climbing a big rock to prevent being hit by another wave, I fell down on my back, luckily, on sand - just my pride was hurt. Later, when I reached safety, I noticed my cell phone was gone. Probably dropped out during the fall and then was washed out by the waves. No crabs, no fish, no cell phone. Just one of those days. Salty.
Name: The_Dude
I would have to say the time me and bdc went out in the canoe. As we came back in, it rolled and I ate my oar through my chest. No blood, but it hurt like the dickens... had a nice red mark too.
Name: BigEd2
A couple+stung by an urchin... I have had a few mishaps. Last summer, while diving at Anacapa, I came across a good scallop spot. While trying to pry off a scallop near a rock, in relatively shallow water, the surge send me flying. During my crash land, I noticed that I’m quickly approaching a colony of purple sea urchins... Instinctively, I try to break my fall with my hand (wearing a well worn out ‘holesome’ glove). I land right SMACK on two of them, with at least a dozen or so spines lodged/broken off in my hand... The spines are very tricky to pull out. They are VERY brittle, and any attempt to remove them (at least for me) caused the little tail that was sticking out, to completely break off. Spent many hours, in the next two weeks, doing ‘home surgery’ with an Exacto knife....
Another: On a gorgeous day, in the middle of a HOT bite of Calico bass, Mackerel, and Ocean Whitefish, in the ‘excitement’ of the moment, I decided to ‘cut up’ some fresh mackerel to use as bait... Put a REAL NICE slice through my own finger... Good shark chum (with all the blood from the Mackerel, and me).
Another: Although not particularly painful, it was somewhat funny... Fishing around Anacapa Island, it was a very gloomy morning, with thick fog, and nobody else around (except me, and two friends, fishing from my small boat). Anyway, we were cruising around real slow, trying to locate kelp paddies, and schools of fish. Whenever we came across a kelp paddy, I would put my ‘snorkling goggles’ on, hold on to the side of the boat, lean over, stick my head in the water and check out the action. We had seen some ‘shark fins’ sticking out near the surface of the water about 10 minutes before, and the two friends kept joking around, making comments about “who is man enough to jump in and swim with the sharks”...Well, we came across a good kelp paddy, and I stick my head in, and see LOTS of Sardines, and some NICE Calicos around the kelp. Mind you, the boat is still moving (slowly though). A wave comes, and rocks the boat... I felt my balance being lost... and SPLASH. Off I go in the ‘shark infested’ waters (not really, but the other two guys were very freaked out by the sharks we had seen earlier).
The only pain was from the ‘unexpected COLD encounter’ with the water. The sheer ‘panicked’ look on these guys faces was worth a million bucks, as they were struggling to get me back in the boat.
Name: pescare
Why Seacliff Pier scares me. I was around 8 years old and fishing with my dad about midway out on the ship as all of it was still open at the time. There are two men fishing to our left about 30 feet further out. All of a sudden, WHACK! I'm seeing stars and feeling EXTREME pain on the side of my head. One of the guys had been casting a big plug and somehow managed to cast 90 degrees to his right and imbed both sets of treble hooks in my scalp just above my left ear. I’m screaming from the pain and blood, my dad’s frantically trying to help me but I wasn't exactly keeping calm and still for him. The guy that did it never even came over to help or see if I was okay. The other one did, and explained that the one who did it was not quite “stable” and doesn’t really understand what he did. Fortunately, the barbs were not deep in my skin and they were able to free them without cutting or pushing them through. I was quite happy about that. That, and two other events at the pier that summer added up to enough trauma to make me argue to go to Capitola or Santa Cruz for years every time dad wanted to go to Seacliff.
Number two was the time we were playing in the water and I had to go to the bathroom. Dad takes me to the outhouse and waits outside while I’m in there. Don't ask me why, but for some reason I was wearing cut-off jeans and no underwear. Okay, I’m all done and start getting everything back together to go back to the water. I start to zip my shorts and the zipper jams about half-way up. YOW!! Guess what it jammed on! Again, I'm screaming and dad’s pounding on the door trying to get in because he has no idea what’s going on. I finally gather my senses enough to open the door and after about 5 minutes of dad yanking on both the zipper and my ummm.., errr, you know, he frees me. Oh man, I was hobbled for days.
Number three occurred while we were playing in the water also. I’m about knee deep in the surf playing with my sisters when I feel what I thought was a towel or shirt or something like that wrap around my foot and ankle. I kicked it off but couldn’t see it due to all the sand stirred by the waves. I don’t think anything of it until about 30 seconds later my skin starts to feel warm where it hit me. Thirty seconds more and the warmth turns to tingling, then to fire. I run out of the water to my parents and we all see that my foot and ankle have about a million red dots on them. Jellyfish! Turned red, swelled up and hurt like hell for part of the day, but I was okay after a while.
Whew, my various body parts are starting to hurt just from digging up these memories. Okay, think happy thoughts... Think happy thoughts... Ed
Name: Salty Nick
Ed (oops, I mean Pescare), funny stories. Have you seen “There's Something About Mary”? That came to mind when I read your zipper story. Sounds like you have some kind of allergic reaction to Seacliff. I spent many times fishing off the pier when I was younger. But once I was playing on the beach and kneeled down in the sand. I felt a sudden sharp stinging sensation on one of my knees. Standing up I saw a yellow jacket on my knee, which soon swelled up and turned pinkish. Therein began my hatred (and fear) of yellow jackets, but luckily, it's the only negative memory I have of Seacliff. Salty.
Name: acevesf
Something about Mary! Sounds a little too much like the movie. The lure in his head and the guy who’s not all there. The zipper over the frank and beans. Come on! Cut it out!
Name: lucy
There's Something About Seacliff.... Ha! Great stories, especially the zipper one. Bet you just loved that movie, “There's Something About Mary,” eh? Must have brought back memories!
Name: ben
I was on a scheduled trip to fish Dumbarton the next day with my best friend. Well, I was setting up gear the night before being so excited I couldn’t sleep a wink (back then having time to go fishing was a gift). Well, we get there and we set up the rods. Well, I had replaced my old crab trap with screen to catch the pile shrimp over there... Well, I was getting the bait ready for the shrimp (canned cat food) so I being so excited had forgotten the can opener. So I used my knife, a long slim one, like a kitchen knife. Well, due to lack of sleep and my anxiousness to catch bait I just started stabbing away... stabbing the can with the right hand and holding with the left... Well guess what happened... I stabbed through the webbing between the thumb and index finger deep enough to go all the way through and actually get the point of the knife stuck into the can. I was in shock and yanked the knife. I looked through the hole and told my best friend I can see muscle moving. He wanted to take me to the hospital... I said forget it, I’m fishing. I covered the hole with a paper towel then tied it with fishing line. Luckily I had some alcohol and doused it first. Hurt like hell but nothing could stop me from fishing that day. Sorry for the long story. ben
Name: nufo
I’d have to say either the time I was a kid fishing up in some farm ponds out in Livermore and caught my arm on the barbed wire fence as I tried to climb over it. I dangled with wire piercing through my arm until my cousin could get my dad to come get me off. It didn’t really hurt but was a scary situation for a 12 year old. Or the time I was fishing up in Strawberry and fell off into the river and my slacks caught a tree on the way in. It was real embarrassing walking through camp with my pants ripped almost off. Nufo
Name: stinkyfingers
My pain = broke ribs I was out on a boat at Del Valle with a guy and his girl. We were fishing for largemouth. We pulled up to where this tree was overhanging the water, and despite the fact I had all my clothes on, I reached up and grabbed a branch and as the boat kept going towards the shore, I lifted away from it. So, there I am, hanging from the branch as the boat continues (kinda like a rope swing scene). So, then the branch starts coming back toward the boat, only now it's bending down. I’ve got both arms above my head, holding the branch that is slowly bending. I'm going pretty fast now, too - remember, it’s just like being on a rope swing. I swung away from the boat, and now I'm on my way back towards the boat. With both arms above me, the branch dipped me in the water, throwing my legs behind me, instead of having in front of me to absorb the impact. So what gets the impact? My chest, my ribs are broken by the blow that was caused from me hitting the CORNER of the METAL boat. Not lucky enough to get a side edge, nope! I got the corner and it busted my ribs. I couldn’t breathe and a lot of pain. Barely got into the boat and could not breathe. They took me home and the pain got worse, couldn’t cough, couldn’t laugh, couldn’t move. Went to the hospital, took Xrays - sure enough, busted ribs. Got 100 Vicodin and went home with a six-pack. The ribs took over 2 months to heal. The end.
And they say that breaking your ribs is about the second worst thing to break. Simply because they can’t cast it. I had to hug a pillow just to cough. And then whenever I got a surprise sneeze! Oh man... talk about seeing a grown man roll around on the ground close to tears in the eyes. PAIN. Yes. I couldn't sleep at night, one roll and you’re wide awake, in absolute agonizing pain. A pain within. And then, to take a deep breath or to yawn, I had to hug the pillow and lean to the broken side... because if you stretched it - oh man, it hurts to think of it, I can’t even type it up.
That is the most pain I’ve ever felt. I’ve had a knife in me before (my brother tried to kill me in my sleep, ended up sticking himself - ha!), I’ve had a hook in me before, I’ve had my head split open by a COFFEE CAN, I’ve broken my leg at the fibula, I’ve been knocked out, stomped, beaten, dragged through the mud and pavement, I’ve crashed on skateboards and popped elbows, I’ve wrecked on bikes and actually had gravel go INTO a hole in my elbow-and had to pick it out with a scalpel, I’ve even had half my thumbnail peeled off when a mailbox baseball incident went wrong, I’ve been beaten with a belt and had the belt hit me in the genitals before, I’ve been thrown into trees like a ragdoll by high school guys when I was in grade school, I’ve been jumped, blindsided, shot at (no pain there, though), ran over by a car to the point where I'm hanging onto the front bumper to keep from going under, one time I busted my thumb on someone and it never healed right, then another time I got punched with my braces on (blood everywhere), oh and most recently I got into it with a bouncer four times my size (that was fun, kinda like a ride at a park) - OUCH!....but nothing comes close to the broken ribs. I don’t know how I did it - a lot of booze and a little patience got me through it.
Name: Corbinaman1
Nothing really bad but this past summer I was surf fishing at dusk... it was getting dark, I caught/released a perch, and then somehow, the hook went halfway through my finger. Luckily, it went through towards the tip... I tried to pull it all the way through. Couldn’t, so I pulled it back the other way... barb and all. It came out ok, and a few days later, surprisingly, there was only a small mark where the hook was!
Name: gyozadude
My most painful (at least heartfelt pain) was on a trip to Sardis Lake in Mississippi. 1988. My cousin was piloting the boat. Our trolling motor battery was getting weak and we couldn’t hold our position against the current. It was a mildly blustering day and as we drifted close to shore, we tried to get the main outboard started, but it got vapor locked and stalled, and we ended up sideways heading into the shore. The boat capsized and into the water we went, and I lost my favorite bass spinning rod. Younger sister’s calf got cut up a bit by monofilament that got wrapped around her leg and she ripped through it in the struggle to stay afloat.
I learned that day that novices shouldn’t handle or own boats and I’ve never ridden in a boat with the same cousin. That’s the same guy who took me out in a thunderstorm with meso-cyclones overhead. We had hail filling our boat and lightly coming down on the lake hundreds of yards away and the hairs sticking up on the back of my next due to electricity in the air. Tornadoes were sighted in the neighbourhood that day too. – Gyozadude, “Yes - I can roll my own potsticker skins”
Name: dolphinrider
Cut my finger almost all the way to the bone with a very sharp filet knife. Thanks to ‘Slinger’ for wrapping it up for me! I really did think I almost cut it off. This was at least 3 - 4 months ago. It still has not healed correctly. ~d
Name: stinkyfingers
Oh my poor baby! She really did get herself good. That was the same day Slinger’s Halibut spit a hook and it nailed me in the finger - OUCH! That was painful too.
Name: baitfish
That's cute though, matching scars on the same day. Who needs wedding rings, now it’s sealed in blood! Adam, Will work for fish!
Name: jared
I can’t really think of many off the top of my head but I do remember that the last halibut I caught in the Huntington Beach harbor gave me a nice cut on my fingers. I wasn’t thinking and reached in tho grab the grub I was using and he just straight out bit me. It might have only been about 14 inches but it still had some sharp teeth.
Name: Shark Assassin
I was fishing on a party boat for White Sea Bass, Calico’s, Rockfish etc., out of Port Hueneme; we were fishing Anacapa Island Anyhow, we had just got to the island, and there were big Barracuda all over, there was quite a current (and was causing the boat to rock a bit). Anyway, I was up in the bow, and had just finished re-setting up my rig, I had my legs partially parted to avoid from being knocked over, and with my ignorance, I turned it the wrong direction as I turned around to pick something up. The boat instantly rocks as a huge swell hits it, and my leg pops sideways and the calf twists a 180 degree angle, whilst I’m standing there holding a rod in the middle of a huge Barracuda bite! Luckily, the leg popped back in and after about 45 minutes of sitting down. I got back up. My leg was swelled up for about two months and it STILL hurts. At least I caught a big Barracuda, weighed in at 10-lbs. **Shark Assassin**
Name: flatfish hunter
My most painful experience was when I was cleaning a striper and my hand slipped and the spine went right into my finger. Some of it broke off too. That was a pretty painful experience. I was also hit in the face with a 10-oz. ball weight when some dumb... decides not to look back before he casts. I was pretty damn angry. He didn't even apologize. FlatFish Hunter A.K.A ali
Name: joromaca
I was fishing the jetty at 72nd in Long Beach many years ago with Rapalas and on one retrieve I had a gunk of slimy snot looking stuff on my lure. Couldn’t shake it off so I proceeded to rip it off with my hand. Big mistake... my hand felt like I stuck it in the middle of a bee hive for hours afterwards. Must have been a jellyfish tentacle even though I didn’t see any floating around that day.
Name: neptune1234
When I go out and shrimp and clam I often run across these sand worms. They are some kind of bristle worm with a thick row of hair along they’re 6” bodies. I found out what the hairs do one day when I decided to try them for bait. I was perch fishing and I had about 10 of these things for bait. Out on the rocks there it is easier to just pinch off a little piece to put on your hook. I spent all day fishing with them pinching off little one inch sections. Towards the end of the day I notice my hands are itchy. On closer inspection I realize that there are thousands of little hairs sticking into my skin. I tried washing and rubbing my hands to make the itching stop but it got worse. The hairs broke off and pushed deeper. Then it started stinging. So I begin quickly making my way back to the car. As soon as I got some blood pumping in my hands is when it got bad. I mean bad. Itching burning stinging pain. I grabbed some sand and had to keep rubbing my hands together all the way to the car. I got home and rubbed Vaseline intensive care on my hands for the rest of the night. Next day my hands were a new shade of red and very itchy. Crappy. Needless to say I feed those worms to the seagulls everytime. Always with a clump of sand under them.
Name: neptune1234
My dog got it rough one time. Malamute German shepherd mix. Good-sized medium dog. Right? We used to take her night fishing for sharks all the time. One starry night out at Bolinas my buddy was walking up ahead of me with his pole on his shoulder, moving spots. Baited up with a whole squid. Hooks hanging down behind him. My dog comes running up the beach and decides she’s in the mood for calamari. YARP! Hook went all the way into her lip. Not through, but deep into. It took four guys holding her down and me working the barb through her lip so I could cut it off. Took two hours of excruciating pain and yelps that still make me feel bad. Probably the worst thing I have ever done. Her and squid were forever incompatible. She still used to chew up fish and crabs. That’s another story. Did you know that raw fish are good for a dog’s coat? As long as they have all of their shots. My doggie used to love them.....AWWWWWWW......Puke.......FISH ON!
To: PFIC Message Board
From: tokyo72
Subject: Most Painful Fishing Experience
What was the most painful fishing experience you have ever had? A friend handed me a pre-historic bamboo stick with an ancient Squidder that he had inherited from his grandfather and asked me how far I could throw it. It must have had a 6 oz. sinker. If surfcasting was an Olympic event, I would have made the team (although I was no taller than Bruce Lee, I was built like Bruce Lee thanks to years of martial arts training; now I am an overweight middle-aged man). But my friend was an ignorant G*d-D*amn-Son-Of-A-B*tch, because he (please excuse my language - but these exact words just tumbled out of my mouth at the time) had not doused the reel in water before he handed it to me. The friction from the dry spool burned LAYERS of skin off my thumbs. It took weeks to heal. I can laugh now, but I didn’t then.
Name: stinkyfingers
Can’t wait to see what kind of thread we end up with here. I once cut my finger real good(thought I cut if off!) when my lure caught on a rail behind me as I went to cast. I was using braided line, too - spinning reel. Ouch.
Name: PierHead
The day I joined the Rincon Rock Divers Club. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was perched on the rock retaining wall between Hwy.101 and the incoming high tide with great expectations. Large anchovies and a 9’ pole. Waiting for the big one. Suddenly my pole doubles over and the fight was on! Landing a fish from the wall is never easy but I made my way down hopping from boulder to boulder. The fish came thru the kelp easily and, as I was reaching down to land it, it made one last run pulling me off my feet. There I was - upside down, suspended between two rocks still holding onto my pole with one hand and my glasses with the other! Looking down I could see the surf surging below me. I remember thinking how embarrassing it would be to die like that. Somehow I found the strength to right myself and, to my great surprise, the fish was still on. Landed a 3.5# Cabezon, which is my biggest to date. Needless to say I don't fish the rock wall anymore. After having achieved the dubious status as an honorary member of the Rincon Rock Divers Club I retired. These days I confine my fishing to piers and sandy beaches.
Name: jason chin
Lingcod chomp! I was drifting the reef in between Natural Bridges and Lighthouse point out of Santa Cruz throwing Fish Traps for rockfish and lingcod. A beautiful keeper ling jumped on and I battled him up to the boat. It was around 2PM and the wind had picked up churning up some bumpy conditions. Lings were off limits at the time so it was strictly catch & release, instead of using the gaff or the net, I gently swoop the fish out by the gill plate, my Fish Trap lodged about 1/2 way in its mouth for an easy removal. As I proceed to remove the hook a wave a bit larger than the others hits the boat at the same time the fish wiggles a bit and CHOMP. Not only did the hand I had in the gill plate get torn up by the little teeth in there, but I had gotten bit and deep. Looked like someone stuck my fingers in a blender. Add a little salt water in the mix and enjoy the fun. The main cut caused by the front sharp tooth bled for hours. Probably could’ve used some stitches but you know how that goes. I wear gloves now. Jason "bayrunner"
Name: baitfish
Would not stop peeling. After the get together @ Malibu Pier last year I decided to stay out in the rain and wind and keep on fishing. After 5 hours in the rain, I decided to call it quits since I could not feel my hands anymore and I was completely soaked. Well for 6 months afterwards my right index finger kept peeling and peeling, sometimes drawing blood. Never figured out what it was, but it finally cleared up. We thought it was frost bite, but who knows. Adam, Will work for fish!
Name: baitfish
Forgot this is the PAINFUL one!!!!! I was surf fishing @ Dockweiler on the 4th of July this year. I had met up with Mola Joe around 7:00 a.m. I was in the water all day walking up and down the beach. It was a really good day and I did not want to leave, we were catching corbina and perch in the morning and then the shovelnose and big yellowfin croaker started to bite around 9:30. Around 10:00 Joe had to leave, but my friends and I were in for the long haul. Around 2:00 comes around and I think hey maybe I should put on some sun screen. I wish the sunburn was the only thing I had to worry about. But those who fish the beach in So Cal know how sand becomes sand paper. When we left at 6:00 p.m. the inside of my legs were completely raw and almost bleeding, my back and face were sunburned, and I had been in the surf all day with the pounding waves, so I was just a little fatigued. To top it off, we had to walk about 1/4 mile with ice chests and chairs, rods everything on the hot sand with burning achy legs with the sand rubbing with every agonizing step. So let's go home right? Nope we ended up going to a 4th of July party and had to walk to see some fireworks. Here comes this guy with his legs bowed like a cowboy who hasn't gotten off a horse in 20 years. Oh man it hurts just thinking about it! Adam, Will work for fish!
Name: bigdaddycat
Hmmm, tough one there... I’ve had so many, lol. The day I decided to fillet a sculpin on the rocks ranks up there pretty high. I had caught a keeper-sized sculpin and decided to use it for bait since we were almost out and the fish were biting. I know I shouldn't have used it for bait but I did. As I was filleting the fish I stuck my self with one of the bottom fins. I was thinking oh lord, I hope that isn't one of the poisonous ones... it was. My hand swelled up like a balloon and my arm turned red up to my elbow. But hey the fish were biting so I endured the pain. I hear it was pretty funny watching my reel with my “damaged” hand.
I have also fallen on the rocks many times, I’m usually too gear conscious to simply toss my gear and catch myself, so I usually end up landing on my elbows, that hurts.
You can also look at pain as pride. I was with my great aunt, who taught me how to fish, at about the age of 6 or so. It was early spring and we went down to the river lot to see how the flood was going and what it had done to the river lot. Of course I had to fish, lol. I ended up hooking into a big, big fish. After the fight I landed about a 15# carp, this was big, big compared to me at the time. I got it up on the shore, after my aunt wouldn’t help, no sooner I got it on the shore it flopped off my hook. Well, the little death-defying fishermen I was, I dove on my fish, LOL. So there I am with both my arms wrapped around a fish just as big as me, I think I have a pic somewhere. So upon my question “What do I do with it now,” the response was “let it go.” That really hurt my little heart, lol.
Last but not least one of the most painful experiences was the day after a night on the jetty. This past summer, myself and the dude, packed a cooler, bait, gear, lantern, we had it all. Mind you one cooler had many, many beers in it. Of course we had to empty the cooler prior to coming off the jetty, it was heavy on the way out. We ended up polishing off the cooler, no luck out near the end, so we moved further in the harbor, no luck there either, and ended up falling asleep, with our poles under us, on the rocks around 4:30. The next day was quite painful as far as hang-overs go. I know it was dangerous but that was one fun fishing trip. Nothing really caught, but it was nice being out and fishing all night. Male bonding, I guess you could consider it, lol.
Name: MrTuna
Bat ray boogie. Well, the hardest day fishing was the day I hooked a 120-lb. bat ray at Tomales Bay and got spooled but stopped it at the knot. I fought it for so long my arm was almost dead on 20-lb. gear. I finally got it in.
My ex-wife and I went fishing for bat rays once and she had never fished before. I cast out a squid and left the clicker on in free spool and gave her the rod so I could cast out the other. Well a big ray hit her rod and she, in a panicked state grabbed the line to stop the fish. Ouch! Big line cut!
Name: Salty Nick
Not a good day... I was crabbing early morning on the Pacifica Pier, even though the surf was very rough. I ended up losing a crab trap on the pilings as well as a home-made casting trap, and didn't get any crabs (or fish either). Okay. So I decided to change locations. I moved to South Rodeo beach, just north of the Golden Gate. The tide was low, though the waves were crashing high. There’s a rocky point that can only be accessed at low tide, so I scrambled there and was fishing for a while, with very little success. Then a larger set of waves took me by surprise, one broke right on top of me, leaving me totally soaked - but at least I didn't get swept off. So I decided it was time to find safer ground. As I was climbing a big rock to prevent being hit by another wave, I fell down on my back, luckily, on sand - just my pride was hurt. Later, when I reached safety, I noticed my cell phone was gone. Probably dropped out during the fall and then was washed out by the waves. No crabs, no fish, no cell phone. Just one of those days. Salty.
Name: The_Dude
I would have to say the time me and bdc went out in the canoe. As we came back in, it rolled and I ate my oar through my chest. No blood, but it hurt like the dickens... had a nice red mark too.
Name: BigEd2
A couple+stung by an urchin... I have had a few mishaps. Last summer, while diving at Anacapa, I came across a good scallop spot. While trying to pry off a scallop near a rock, in relatively shallow water, the surge send me flying. During my crash land, I noticed that I’m quickly approaching a colony of purple sea urchins... Instinctively, I try to break my fall with my hand (wearing a well worn out ‘holesome’ glove). I land right SMACK on two of them, with at least a dozen or so spines lodged/broken off in my hand... The spines are very tricky to pull out. They are VERY brittle, and any attempt to remove them (at least for me) caused the little tail that was sticking out, to completely break off. Spent many hours, in the next two weeks, doing ‘home surgery’ with an Exacto knife....
Another: On a gorgeous day, in the middle of a HOT bite of Calico bass, Mackerel, and Ocean Whitefish, in the ‘excitement’ of the moment, I decided to ‘cut up’ some fresh mackerel to use as bait... Put a REAL NICE slice through my own finger... Good shark chum (with all the blood from the Mackerel, and me).
Another: Although not particularly painful, it was somewhat funny... Fishing around Anacapa Island, it was a very gloomy morning, with thick fog, and nobody else around (except me, and two friends, fishing from my small boat). Anyway, we were cruising around real slow, trying to locate kelp paddies, and schools of fish. Whenever we came across a kelp paddy, I would put my ‘snorkling goggles’ on, hold on to the side of the boat, lean over, stick my head in the water and check out the action. We had seen some ‘shark fins’ sticking out near the surface of the water about 10 minutes before, and the two friends kept joking around, making comments about “who is man enough to jump in and swim with the sharks”...Well, we came across a good kelp paddy, and I stick my head in, and see LOTS of Sardines, and some NICE Calicos around the kelp. Mind you, the boat is still moving (slowly though). A wave comes, and rocks the boat... I felt my balance being lost... and SPLASH. Off I go in the ‘shark infested’ waters (not really, but the other two guys were very freaked out by the sharks we had seen earlier).
The only pain was from the ‘unexpected COLD encounter’ with the water. The sheer ‘panicked’ look on these guys faces was worth a million bucks, as they were struggling to get me back in the boat.
Name: pescare
Why Seacliff Pier scares me. I was around 8 years old and fishing with my dad about midway out on the ship as all of it was still open at the time. There are two men fishing to our left about 30 feet further out. All of a sudden, WHACK! I'm seeing stars and feeling EXTREME pain on the side of my head. One of the guys had been casting a big plug and somehow managed to cast 90 degrees to his right and imbed both sets of treble hooks in my scalp just above my left ear. I’m screaming from the pain and blood, my dad’s frantically trying to help me but I wasn't exactly keeping calm and still for him. The guy that did it never even came over to help or see if I was okay. The other one did, and explained that the one who did it was not quite “stable” and doesn’t really understand what he did. Fortunately, the barbs were not deep in my skin and they were able to free them without cutting or pushing them through. I was quite happy about that. That, and two other events at the pier that summer added up to enough trauma to make me argue to go to Capitola or Santa Cruz for years every time dad wanted to go to Seacliff.
Number two was the time we were playing in the water and I had to go to the bathroom. Dad takes me to the outhouse and waits outside while I’m in there. Don't ask me why, but for some reason I was wearing cut-off jeans and no underwear. Okay, I’m all done and start getting everything back together to go back to the water. I start to zip my shorts and the zipper jams about half-way up. YOW!! Guess what it jammed on! Again, I'm screaming and dad’s pounding on the door trying to get in because he has no idea what’s going on. I finally gather my senses enough to open the door and after about 5 minutes of dad yanking on both the zipper and my ummm.., errr, you know, he frees me. Oh man, I was hobbled for days.
Number three occurred while we were playing in the water also. I’m about knee deep in the surf playing with my sisters when I feel what I thought was a towel or shirt or something like that wrap around my foot and ankle. I kicked it off but couldn’t see it due to all the sand stirred by the waves. I don’t think anything of it until about 30 seconds later my skin starts to feel warm where it hit me. Thirty seconds more and the warmth turns to tingling, then to fire. I run out of the water to my parents and we all see that my foot and ankle have about a million red dots on them. Jellyfish! Turned red, swelled up and hurt like hell for part of the day, but I was okay after a while.
Whew, my various body parts are starting to hurt just from digging up these memories. Okay, think happy thoughts... Think happy thoughts... Ed
Name: Salty Nick
Ed (oops, I mean Pescare), funny stories. Have you seen “There's Something About Mary”? That came to mind when I read your zipper story. Sounds like you have some kind of allergic reaction to Seacliff. I spent many times fishing off the pier when I was younger. But once I was playing on the beach and kneeled down in the sand. I felt a sudden sharp stinging sensation on one of my knees. Standing up I saw a yellow jacket on my knee, which soon swelled up and turned pinkish. Therein began my hatred (and fear) of yellow jackets, but luckily, it's the only negative memory I have of Seacliff. Salty.
Name: acevesf
Something about Mary! Sounds a little too much like the movie. The lure in his head and the guy who’s not all there. The zipper over the frank and beans. Come on! Cut it out!
Name: lucy
There's Something About Seacliff.... Ha! Great stories, especially the zipper one. Bet you just loved that movie, “There's Something About Mary,” eh? Must have brought back memories!
Name: ben
I was on a scheduled trip to fish Dumbarton the next day with my best friend. Well, I was setting up gear the night before being so excited I couldn’t sleep a wink (back then having time to go fishing was a gift). Well, we get there and we set up the rods. Well, I had replaced my old crab trap with screen to catch the pile shrimp over there... Well, I was getting the bait ready for the shrimp (canned cat food) so I being so excited had forgotten the can opener. So I used my knife, a long slim one, like a kitchen knife. Well, due to lack of sleep and my anxiousness to catch bait I just started stabbing away... stabbing the can with the right hand and holding with the left... Well guess what happened... I stabbed through the webbing between the thumb and index finger deep enough to go all the way through and actually get the point of the knife stuck into the can. I was in shock and yanked the knife. I looked through the hole and told my best friend I can see muscle moving. He wanted to take me to the hospital... I said forget it, I’m fishing. I covered the hole with a paper towel then tied it with fishing line. Luckily I had some alcohol and doused it first. Hurt like hell but nothing could stop me from fishing that day. Sorry for the long story. ben
Name: nufo
I’d have to say either the time I was a kid fishing up in some farm ponds out in Livermore and caught my arm on the barbed wire fence as I tried to climb over it. I dangled with wire piercing through my arm until my cousin could get my dad to come get me off. It didn’t really hurt but was a scary situation for a 12 year old. Or the time I was fishing up in Strawberry and fell off into the river and my slacks caught a tree on the way in. It was real embarrassing walking through camp with my pants ripped almost off. Nufo
Name: stinkyfingers
My pain = broke ribs I was out on a boat at Del Valle with a guy and his girl. We were fishing for largemouth. We pulled up to where this tree was overhanging the water, and despite the fact I had all my clothes on, I reached up and grabbed a branch and as the boat kept going towards the shore, I lifted away from it. So, there I am, hanging from the branch as the boat continues (kinda like a rope swing scene). So, then the branch starts coming back toward the boat, only now it's bending down. I’ve got both arms above my head, holding the branch that is slowly bending. I'm going pretty fast now, too - remember, it’s just like being on a rope swing. I swung away from the boat, and now I'm on my way back towards the boat. With both arms above me, the branch dipped me in the water, throwing my legs behind me, instead of having in front of me to absorb the impact. So what gets the impact? My chest, my ribs are broken by the blow that was caused from me hitting the CORNER of the METAL boat. Not lucky enough to get a side edge, nope! I got the corner and it busted my ribs. I couldn’t breathe and a lot of pain. Barely got into the boat and could not breathe. They took me home and the pain got worse, couldn’t cough, couldn’t laugh, couldn’t move. Went to the hospital, took Xrays - sure enough, busted ribs. Got 100 Vicodin and went home with a six-pack. The ribs took over 2 months to heal. The end.
And they say that breaking your ribs is about the second worst thing to break. Simply because they can’t cast it. I had to hug a pillow just to cough. And then whenever I got a surprise sneeze! Oh man... talk about seeing a grown man roll around on the ground close to tears in the eyes. PAIN. Yes. I couldn't sleep at night, one roll and you’re wide awake, in absolute agonizing pain. A pain within. And then, to take a deep breath or to yawn, I had to hug the pillow and lean to the broken side... because if you stretched it - oh man, it hurts to think of it, I can’t even type it up.
That is the most pain I’ve ever felt. I’ve had a knife in me before (my brother tried to kill me in my sleep, ended up sticking himself - ha!), I’ve had a hook in me before, I’ve had my head split open by a COFFEE CAN, I’ve broken my leg at the fibula, I’ve been knocked out, stomped, beaten, dragged through the mud and pavement, I’ve crashed on skateboards and popped elbows, I’ve wrecked on bikes and actually had gravel go INTO a hole in my elbow-and had to pick it out with a scalpel, I’ve even had half my thumbnail peeled off when a mailbox baseball incident went wrong, I’ve been beaten with a belt and had the belt hit me in the genitals before, I’ve been thrown into trees like a ragdoll by high school guys when I was in grade school, I’ve been jumped, blindsided, shot at (no pain there, though), ran over by a car to the point where I'm hanging onto the front bumper to keep from going under, one time I busted my thumb on someone and it never healed right, then another time I got punched with my braces on (blood everywhere), oh and most recently I got into it with a bouncer four times my size (that was fun, kinda like a ride at a park) - OUCH!....but nothing comes close to the broken ribs. I don’t know how I did it - a lot of booze and a little patience got me through it.
Name: Corbinaman1
Nothing really bad but this past summer I was surf fishing at dusk... it was getting dark, I caught/released a perch, and then somehow, the hook went halfway through my finger. Luckily, it went through towards the tip... I tried to pull it all the way through. Couldn’t, so I pulled it back the other way... barb and all. It came out ok, and a few days later, surprisingly, there was only a small mark where the hook was!
Name: gyozadude
My most painful (at least heartfelt pain) was on a trip to Sardis Lake in Mississippi. 1988. My cousin was piloting the boat. Our trolling motor battery was getting weak and we couldn’t hold our position against the current. It was a mildly blustering day and as we drifted close to shore, we tried to get the main outboard started, but it got vapor locked and stalled, and we ended up sideways heading into the shore. The boat capsized and into the water we went, and I lost my favorite bass spinning rod. Younger sister’s calf got cut up a bit by monofilament that got wrapped around her leg and she ripped through it in the struggle to stay afloat.
I learned that day that novices shouldn’t handle or own boats and I’ve never ridden in a boat with the same cousin. That’s the same guy who took me out in a thunderstorm with meso-cyclones overhead. We had hail filling our boat and lightly coming down on the lake hundreds of yards away and the hairs sticking up on the back of my next due to electricity in the air. Tornadoes were sighted in the neighbourhood that day too. – Gyozadude, “Yes - I can roll my own potsticker skins”
Name: dolphinrider
Cut my finger almost all the way to the bone with a very sharp filet knife. Thanks to ‘Slinger’ for wrapping it up for me! I really did think I almost cut it off. This was at least 3 - 4 months ago. It still has not healed correctly. ~d
Name: stinkyfingers
Oh my poor baby! She really did get herself good. That was the same day Slinger’s Halibut spit a hook and it nailed me in the finger - OUCH! That was painful too.
Name: baitfish
That's cute though, matching scars on the same day. Who needs wedding rings, now it’s sealed in blood! Adam, Will work for fish!
Name: jared
I can’t really think of many off the top of my head but I do remember that the last halibut I caught in the Huntington Beach harbor gave me a nice cut on my fingers. I wasn’t thinking and reached in tho grab the grub I was using and he just straight out bit me. It might have only been about 14 inches but it still had some sharp teeth.
Name: Shark Assassin
I was fishing on a party boat for White Sea Bass, Calico’s, Rockfish etc., out of Port Hueneme; we were fishing Anacapa Island Anyhow, we had just got to the island, and there were big Barracuda all over, there was quite a current (and was causing the boat to rock a bit). Anyway, I was up in the bow, and had just finished re-setting up my rig, I had my legs partially parted to avoid from being knocked over, and with my ignorance, I turned it the wrong direction as I turned around to pick something up. The boat instantly rocks as a huge swell hits it, and my leg pops sideways and the calf twists a 180 degree angle, whilst I’m standing there holding a rod in the middle of a huge Barracuda bite! Luckily, the leg popped back in and after about 45 minutes of sitting down. I got back up. My leg was swelled up for about two months and it STILL hurts. At least I caught a big Barracuda, weighed in at 10-lbs. **Shark Assassin**
Name: flatfish hunter
My most painful experience was when I was cleaning a striper and my hand slipped and the spine went right into my finger. Some of it broke off too. That was a pretty painful experience. I was also hit in the face with a 10-oz. ball weight when some dumb... decides not to look back before he casts. I was pretty damn angry. He didn't even apologize. FlatFish Hunter A.K.A ali
Name: joromaca
I was fishing the jetty at 72nd in Long Beach many years ago with Rapalas and on one retrieve I had a gunk of slimy snot looking stuff on my lure. Couldn’t shake it off so I proceeded to rip it off with my hand. Big mistake... my hand felt like I stuck it in the middle of a bee hive for hours afterwards. Must have been a jellyfish tentacle even though I didn’t see any floating around that day.
Name: neptune1234
When I go out and shrimp and clam I often run across these sand worms. They are some kind of bristle worm with a thick row of hair along they’re 6” bodies. I found out what the hairs do one day when I decided to try them for bait. I was perch fishing and I had about 10 of these things for bait. Out on the rocks there it is easier to just pinch off a little piece to put on your hook. I spent all day fishing with them pinching off little one inch sections. Towards the end of the day I notice my hands are itchy. On closer inspection I realize that there are thousands of little hairs sticking into my skin. I tried washing and rubbing my hands to make the itching stop but it got worse. The hairs broke off and pushed deeper. Then it started stinging. So I begin quickly making my way back to the car. As soon as I got some blood pumping in my hands is when it got bad. I mean bad. Itching burning stinging pain. I grabbed some sand and had to keep rubbing my hands together all the way to the car. I got home and rubbed Vaseline intensive care on my hands for the rest of the night. Next day my hands were a new shade of red and very itchy. Crappy. Needless to say I feed those worms to the seagulls everytime. Always with a clump of sand under them.
Name: neptune1234
My dog got it rough one time. Malamute German shepherd mix. Good-sized medium dog. Right? We used to take her night fishing for sharks all the time. One starry night out at Bolinas my buddy was walking up ahead of me with his pole on his shoulder, moving spots. Baited up with a whole squid. Hooks hanging down behind him. My dog comes running up the beach and decides she’s in the mood for calamari. YARP! Hook went all the way into her lip. Not through, but deep into. It took four guys holding her down and me working the barb through her lip so I could cut it off. Took two hours of excruciating pain and yelps that still make me feel bad. Probably the worst thing I have ever done. Her and squid were forever incompatible. She still used to chew up fish and crabs. That’s another story. Did you know that raw fish are good for a dog’s coat? As long as they have all of their shots. My doggie used to love them.....AWWWWWWW......Puke.......FISH ON!
