EricM, Chick, Flathead cat, 10/03/16

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EricM

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
8,593
Location
Harrison, TN
Well, that kinda hurts. I haven't posted a fishing report for months and nobody noticed (maybe they just didn't care).

I have finished most of the crap that was involved with building a new house "near" the river in Harrison and getting the garage and yard going and even fixing up the boat that has been so badly neglected for about a year. Now I'm BACK to torture you with my fishing/disaster reports.

I loaded up and drove the NOW seven-tenths (0.7) of a mile to the Skull Island ramp. Used to be 25 miles from home. What a change! Now fishing for an hour or two is no problem! I went down to the nuke area and used skipjack to try for cat fish. It was very slow there this morning. I caught my third small fish, a 10 inch baby blue cat. I went to pick it up to release it when it flopped just right - or just wrong. HOLY CRAP!!!!!

It drove its side fin into the bottom joint of my left index finger where it meets the palm - about a foot deep. I screamed like a girl and danced the bunny hop, the hokey-pokey, the twist, and a Zulu war dance all at the same time. It actually stuck in the joint/tendon/nerve and I had to shake the #$!& thing off, which flung it over the side of the boat. I have never felt such intense, acute pain in my life. I got light-headed and even retched a few times (shock). The whole time I was squealing like a pig, bleeding all over the boat, and thinking BAD words. Well, if I wasn't just thinking them, at least no one was around to hear them. Kind of a shame to waste that much colorful language on fish that just don't care.......

6 hours later, the outside half of the left index finger is still numb from the tip to the second joint. No feeling whatsoever. Must have damaged the nerve pretty badly. The tendon where the spine hung up is pretty touchy, but it's the nerve damage that scares me. Poop.

Of course, I just had to make another couple of drifts. The pain was going to be there anyway, sooooooo......

Big fish on! Not big enough to make me forget the pain, but better than an aspirin!! I was, of course, using my 6 pound test and got a really nice fight from the fish. I was a bit surprised to see that it was a 27 pound flathead cat! Nice way to end another fishing trip.

Here is the poor, miserable, wounded warrior with his latest:
 

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Its always the little ones that somehow manage to cause the most damage. Had a little 2lb blue cat stick that spine under my thumb nail last year. I didn't just think the bad words..I let them flow like the nile lol. thanks for the report
 
Great report. You needed to use the fish slime on wound it's worked great over the years
 
Yes EricM, I have noticed the absence of your reports of hilarity and irony. Entertaining stuff. Happy to hear your back on the water now and that your new house is almost completed. There are quite a few people, that I read frequently that seem to have gone MIA...
 
About time you posted something. I can't believe you let a little thing like building a house get in the way of your fishing. emoPoke Seems the older you get the softer you become. emoEvil Jmax
 
Good one Eric. I shared your ability to story tell (write a fishing report with my wife). Sorry about the wound you received. Hope it recovers quickly.
 
Pretty fish Eric! Sorry to hear about the hand. Great to know that you live close now. Maybe we can get out there sometime and reproduce our 2009 big haul of cats! :)
 
Its been 9 ears since I stuck myself in the palm with a blue cat and my thumb has still never recovered 100%. I know your pain all too well.
 
Good to see you back fishing and always enjoy your reports.
I know about the home building and moving. Been at that for
a couple years now!
Better keep plenty peroxide poured into that wound. You know
how they can get infected!
 

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