Sharp Teeth

Watching Matt Hayes (Total Fishing) last night I noticed that sometimes he used an instrument to take the hook from fish eg. Pike.

As a newbie beach angler are there any species I will encounter that should be "handled with care" ?

As a newbie beach angler are there any species I will encounter that should be "handled with care" ?

the female species :lol: :lol: :lol:

dogfish are perhaps one of the most common fish you'll encounter over the summer, and they have skin like sand paper, and will give you some nasty scraps on your hands and arms. the best way to handle them is grip them frimly with two hands first, one hand just behind their head and the other at their tail now bend the tail around to meet the side of their head and you should be able to grasp the fish in a loop in one hand(if you're right habded it should be in your left hans, so that your good hand is free to remove the hook. they don't have big teeth like pike, but lots of little rasping teeth(thornback ray and other fish are the same) so use a pliers to safetly remove the hooks, it's easier on the fish too coz your not poking at them for ages with your fingers, so in general i would recommend to use pliers. bass have a number of spikes on them, such as behind their gills and their dorsel fins so care is needed here too. wait til the fish calms down before you try and grab them.
another word of advice is beware of weezer fish, they look kinfa like small whiting(esp at night!) and they can inject a very painful venom into you, luckily it's never happened to me, but the best thing to do is just snip the line over the water and drop them back without ever touching them....i think there are some photos of them in the fish species link on the SAI homepage, just check em out and have an idea what to look out for, you'll generally only come into contact with them on clean sandy beaches....best of luck!

Patrick

Sharks, whales, stingray - all these are nothing compared to the Lesser Weaver :) . Seriously, find a good picture of them, commit it to memory and never, never even think of touching one. In my stupidity and ignorance, I tried one as live bait. All was well until I tried to remove him from the hook. Two stings later I realized what this little ****** was doing to me. :evil: The swelling had almost disappeared after 3 weeks and the intense pain didn't last much more than a week/10 days :oops:

Be assured this is no tame fish, but death is uncommon, or so the doctor told me.

If it does happen to get you, dip the sting in the hottest water you can bear and this helps kill the poison. I didn't know and packed mine in ice
:oops: :oops:
Good luck

Tim

I gleaned this from a uk site but I suppose it's just as pertinent to us;

Weaver are the poisnous ones in British waters, if you are unlucky enough to get hit by one heat up the area of the sting. The venom is a protein like egg white heat the are and you cause the venom to cook and solidify and stop it entering the blood stream. The pain will be drastically reduced. They can kill if you are allergic to the venom, I am so I carry Adrenaline in a self injector on the boat.

Bass have two scales on their gills like razor blades, put your fingers in the gills and they can cut to the bone.

Spur hounds and sting rays have a spine, back on the hound and tail on the ray. Avoid it like the plague, it has no venom but the mucus it is covered in causes septicemia.

Bream have extreemly sharp dorsal spines and anal spines

Gurnard have gill and dorsal spines.

Conger have teeth that grind and tend not to let go one they bite down, They have taken fingers and toes off, as John Lush, skipper of the charter boat Magic. ( Lost his toe to a conger)

A lot of fish have an anal spine, Mackerel and flatties to name 2.

Thornback ray are covered in ......thorns, if you have to hold one there is an area behind the eyes that is thorn free on the dorsal and ventral side.

Dogfish and huss tend to wrap round your arm if you hold them by the head, they will take your skin off with their skin, Hold head and tail whilst unhooking or use a 'T'Bar.

Tope have the same skin and a good set of teeth as have all the shark.

Triggers have a dorsal spine and a beak capable of munching coral

Mini Speces, Scorpion fish are full of spines, bullheads bite if you get near their mouths

Not to mention crabs ( back legs getcha if you hold them wrongly ) and the big nippers on even medium rag .
Anyone for tennis ?

ok not a shore fish but the only fish to ever have a serious bite out of me was a ling- i bled like a pig for ages probably not a bad thing as it keeps the wound clean....fishing boats are never clean!!!

Oh yes , and watch out for associated hazards like wildlife . Was fishing off a jetty in Florida where they have a flock of rare ( brown ?) pellicans. Was holding a smelly old rag down by my side when one of these birds took the whole thing into its beak , including my arm right up to the elbow . They have a sharp hook on the end of the beak . Not life-threatening but enough to wake you up . Not surprised they're rare - nearly strangled the bloody thing . Sailfin catfish were good tho' .
Later.
nick

Hey that weever fish sting sounds nasty . Reiterate the warning to anyone who doesn't know what they are . I've come across one or two . You'd never guess they're that wicked .

Here is what a weever looks like!
I have caught them accidently at Doughmore, Co. Clare and from the Brandon Beaches, Kerry and at Waterville. This fecker was caught at Greystones. I have also come across them while collecting sandeel at Ross Bay, near Killala. They are dangerous! If caught just cut the line and bury the little fecker. Those of you who wade into the surf bare footed in Summer might think again as they hide in the sand in the shallows with the black dorsal sticking up!
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/ryangwpr/weever001.jpg[/img]

Ross

Nice picture, Ross.
That little black dorsal fin is showing up really well. The gill covers are also poisonous.
Anyone new to sea fishing reading this thread would never risk going :)
But, Swordfish, it's not really that bad at all. If you always use a piece of damp rag to wrap your catch in, whatever it is, it will help hold the fish whilst you deal with the hook (and push down any gill covers etc as you wrap it) and you will be very unlucky if you come to any harm at all.
Tight lines and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.

Tim

Right on , Tim .

Good info & pic , Ross . Maybe you could say how big ( small) the fish is ? Slightly difficult to get sense of scale from the pic . I'm guessing only 2 - 3 inches . That's why they look so innocent .

By the way , do you get the greater weever in these waters ? Not so bad because at least the sharp bits are obvious . Supposed to be v good in soup so long as you cut the spines off first .
cheers
nick

Weever in pic. was about 5 inches long and is the Lesser Weever.
They grow to about 6 inches long. Notice the first Dorsal is all black.
The Greater Weever grows to about 16 inches and does not have an all Black first Dorsal. The first Dorsal is black and partly sandy coloured. Found in deeper water away from the shore. Has been caught occasionally by anglers. Also inflicts painfull wound.

I'm not trying to scare anyone off! Just trying to help with identification.
In 50 years of angling I've been bitten, stung, hooked,spiked and sandpapered and I'm lovin' it!



:lol:
Ross
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Forewarned is forearmed!