Tip for the Day: Treating those bullhead stings!!

[SteveD]

I thought some of you might find this tip helpful. Most of us that fish bullheads for flatheads have been stung a few times by bullheads. Bullhead fins are very sharp and it is easy to get stuck by one. Their fins can cause a painful sting and sometimes swelling and infection.

I was reading through a catfish forum on another site and came across a post by a guy that was recommending a product called: Sting Kill for Bees and Wasps. He claimed that Sting Kill immediately relieves the sting from bullheads. He swore by the product.

I thought I would post this so the next time you are in the drugstore or pharmacy you could look for some. The HSOforum says that WalMart carries their product. I plan on getting some and keeping it handy in my boat and tacklebox.

[DARK30]

I always treat the stabbers with a pair of needle nose pliers beforehand...no need for medical attention after trying to grab one of those little %^#%^$%$%

One of the most painful memories I have as a youngster was stepping on a dead bullhead with a bare foot

[hanson]

Steve-

I learned this trick from Mr. Klawitter, hold the bullhead in the dip net while you put the hook into them. Its a lot easier to hold onto them when you grab them with the net.

Haven't been pricked yet! But then again, I'm still a rookie.

[rushing]

lol It dosen't hurt unless its super deep....just rub the belly of the bully on your sting and remember you are gonna be sticking him much worse than he stuck you!

[Guest]

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Haven't been pricked yet! But then again, I'm still a rookie.

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Your time is coming buddy, its coming!

One afternoon of catching bait before we chase cats(that day).. We'll get a load of some of them good old Ghetto Bullies.. I forgot you never helped catch them last year!

I get days I cant even feel my hands by the time I get to fishing from bullheads. Those ghetto bullies are the most active bullies I have ever seen and they work great.. but they dont come without some punishment.

Most of the *crew* complains about getting them out of the minnow bucket.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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Those ghetto bullies are the most active bullies I have ever seen and they work great.. but they dont come without some punishment.

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Those bullies have to be tough in order to keep those darn walleyes away!

[I Da Man]

I don't seem to have a problem hooking them...it's just when sorting through 150 bh's to make sure there's none over 7 inches when I get into trouble.

Fisher Sherri baits my hook, that might be why hooking them doesn't hurt....

[buzbunni]

Call me a girlyman, but I now use the Lindy "protect" gloves to grab and hook my bullies. I haven't acutally been stung since I was a wee lad, but I found the gloves helped grip the fish, and allowed me to dive right in to grab the bait and put it on the hook. I've plunged my hand into a net full of 10 or so bullheads with nary a care; not a poke.

Try them, I think you will like them

Signed,

girlyman

[DARK30]

Never heard of that glove but I do always use leather gloves for better handling of bullheads. When I'm not fishing, I can always smell my gloves to remind me of the river bank

[rushing]

Gloves? They're not rattle snakes!

[BlackwaterStout]

I've used live bullheads for bait in the past and I had a real problem becuase they were so active. When I was tightlining my pole was bouncing constantly and when I was stip rigging it was always making my cliker go off. It was annoying becuase you couldn't turn your head without hearing that clicker go off. Not to mention that have a tendency to run into thick cover and snag up. Whats the deal?

[rushing]

Let your pole bounce and tighten your clicker just tight enough so the bully can't pull out much line.

The whole reason why bullheads make such good bait is how livley they are.

[SteveD]

I prefer to have bullheads that are so lively that the rod is bouncing and the clicker is going off - that way you know they haven't hunkered down under some log, rock or stick. If they are not moving around I will give a little tug on the line to get them going again. If your line goes quiet for 5 minutes or so, it is time to check them because the little buggers will try to hide out down there.

On a couple of forums there has been discussion about using circle hooks for flatheads and forgetting about using a bait clicker. Several guys have gone to bigger circle hooks and a tight line for flatheads. I am going to try that some this summer, on the St Croix you can fish two rods so I am going to circle hook one and bait clicker the other and see what the results are like.

[DTro]

I mostly used circles for flats last year with good results. I still like to use the clicker however as a bite indicator in the dark.