So what's the deal? Do Bullheads sting?

[DTro]

Well there ya go, good enough for me.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Not sure if it's a myth or not, but I have heard if you get stung you can rub the wound on the fish's belly and it will relieve the pain?

Worth a shot I guess.

No worse than peeing on a Jelly fish sting.... I thought that was a myth until I ended up with a bunch stings swimming under a pier in Puerto Rico, snorkeling back in my Navy days.

Nothing funnier than seeing a guy standing in the mud, squirting in his hands and rubbing it on himself... and groaning. The relief was instant.

[Scott M]

Well there ya go, good enough for me.

Who knows, clear as mud. That was a 1989 printing, newer research may have found something. If y'all throw in $10K, I'll study what's in the bait tank between swigs of beer and flathead bites.

[PierBridge]

Heck, I bet Obama has grant for something like that da_chise!......

[DTro]

Stingulation

[blakeb]

ive been stung, now i were a glove, call me a chicken but i didnt like the feeling, now i go fishing micheal jackson style, one glove!

[Gordie]

Originally Posted By: MinnesnowtaWild

Not sure if it's a myth or not, but I have heard if you get stung you can rub the wound on the fish's belly and it will relieve the pain?

Worth a shot I guess.

No worse than peeing on a Jelly fish sting.... I thought that was a myth until I ended up with a bunch stings swimming under a pier in Puerto Rico, snorkeling back in my Navy days.

Nothing funnier than seeing a guy standing in the mud, squirting in his hands and rubbing it on himself... and groaning. The relief was instant.

psychosomatic thats what I heard LFC

[Fazerfish]

Originally Posted By: MinnesnowtaWild

Not sure if it's a myth or not, but I have heard if you get stung you can rub the wound on the fish's belly and it will relieve the pain?

Worth a shot I guess.

No worse than peeing on a Jelly fish sting.... I thought that was a myth until I ended up with a bunch stings swimming under a pier in Puerto Rico, snorkeling back in my Navy days.

Nothing funnier than seeing a guy standing in the mud, squirting in his hands and rubbing it on himself... and groaning. The relief was instant.

Come on Larry, post the video

[rushing]

Maybe they do and maybe they don't...Either way getting poked every now and again is kinda just karma paying you back for stabbing those lil buggers in the back with a big giant steel hook. lol

I was told long ago that if you get "stung" to rub the belly of the bully on the owwie and its suppose to make it all better. There is something to the healing properties of cat slime though, supposedly a sort of nature's Neosporin.Catfish Slime's Healing Properties

Whatever the case I don't feel the need to go Michael Jackson and wear one glove when dealin with em.

[MDNRMetroRivers]

So it looks like all catfishes in the Ictaluridae family have venom glands. I thought it was restricted to madtoms, but apparently not. They don't have a way to inject the venom, it is free flowing and simply travels down the spine. The madtoms are known for a more potent sting. Part of the reason that people assume it is just madtoms and not the bigger cats is the bigger ones dull over time and you are less likely to break the skin. Those little guys are sharp as razors. Might be an evolutionary thing too...smaller fish needing a more potent venom for survival.

Might be pure chance if you get the venom in a wound. Since they have no way of injecting it and it is free flowing, you could get stuck and just by chance not have any venom introduced to the wound. Or you could be like TJ in the office here and have your finger swell up.

[DTro]

Well there ya go, good enough for me.

[magicstix]

i have to believe there is a sting of some kind or the mind is playing tricks.

About 20 yrs ago I got stung one nite and it just made my hand and forearm numb, I don't remember if it went away that nite but for sure it was better in the morning. My buddy got poked that summer too but hes sensation went up to his shoulder and I know his lasted all night. Both were caught in Lake Zumbro, maybe its the watershed. I wonder where AA got stung, he fishes the zum.

Maybe some people have diffent anti-bodies that don't react to a sting?

2 yrs ago a little bully got my finger but it was numb for a very short time so I blew it off. Interresting topic.

[crazyice]

Sorry for the late reply here, yeah two years ago I had a yellow give me the business in the webbing btwn my thumg and index finger. Instant blood spurting like a miniature gyser, throbing pain like I've never had with a fish before. Took probably 30 minutes for it to quit bleeding, and by that time, it was swollen something fierce. Couldn't move any of my fingers in my hand, and it was numb. Ended up going to the ER, the doc there said he did some looking into it, and he said that the venom they have is the same type as a brown recluse spider, scorpion and sting ray. Can cause necrosis at high enough levels and if not taken care of. Believe what you want, but for me I firmly believe that they have venom, and I can't even force myself to handle one without a glove anymore. My hand stayed swollen and black and blue for over a week.

[DTro]

Holy Cow

That will make a guy think.....

[Scott K]

My experience wasnt quite that bad, but I did have one, one time that made the thick part below my thumb swell so bad, I couldnt squeeze my hand together, and it lasted about a week. But that was one time, and I get stung at least 25 times a year, the others hurt like crazy, but I have only experienced the swelling like that once.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

Wonder if that why I was feeling so sh!tty the night I went out with a couple of buddy scein netting like 300 bullies. By the next day I'm sure I had 50 or so little bleeding wounds that ya took for ever to stop bleeding. Or it could've been the philly steak buffalo chicken sandwich for breakfast and If I remember right Homemade fat kid tacos with everything a fat kid like on it for dinner. Oh and the wendys Jr bcn and cheese burgers for lunch. It was a brutal night to say the least. I'm sure it was the bullies tho.

On a serious note I really did have like 50 puncture and hand was aching like a son of a biscuit. So I wouldn't doubt that there is something coating those spines that isn't meant for our blood stream. Oh and yes that really was my intake of food for the day. I remember that haunting night like it was lastnite.

[Gordie]

I dont care what the real answer is I like it

Kinda like "You might be a catfisherman if you" Like being stung by bullies

[Surreal Deal]

I don't have an answer to the original question, but reading the responses here I suspect that maybe we're not differentiating between the two distinct experiences - An actual "Sting" vs. a really nasty infection-prone puncture wound.

Puncture wounds are the hardest to heal from, especially when they happen in places that you move & bend a lot, like your hands. It don't matter the species, if you get punctured by fin spines and some slime gets into the wound, it's gonna hurt.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

Totally agree with ya

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I got poked really, really bad last night out with HKK. The pain was unbearable and it wouldn't stop bleeding for 10 minutes or more. Now today the skin on my pointer finger is cracked and slightly swollen but the worst part is my finger is turning black.

If it doesn't go away soon I'm going to get it checked out.

[nsnutter]

I've gotten spiked by 'heads before and it can hurt something fierce! I have also been bitten by an unidentified snake deep in the woods. That was great on the nerves I'll tell ya. Course I have also been stung by numerous jellyfish while in the tropics, what a grand feeling. Then there was the time I laid on a hornet's nest and was stung 29 times (from the stings I could find ... probably more) ... that was a fun one. Or the time that I ...

Lesson learned ... don't assume that just because you're bigger than something, it's not gonna hurt you!