Warning to small boat anglers in Cork Harbour......

[petekd]

Lads, I know the vast majority of you will have no trouble recognising and dealing with Weeverfish but there may be one or two who dont and this is for their benefit. Past couple of nights fishing around the bank and the stretch between Buoy 6 and Buoy 4 have turned up quite a lot of Weavers. We had at least 6 or 7 last night alone. They are easily recognised, small, silvery snub nosed fish with a yellow mark at the tail and a spiky black dorsal fin. Take extreme care when unhooking these as a sting from that Dorsal has proved fatal at worst and extremely painful at best.

For the record, if stung, heat neutralises the venom. See posts below for more info.

Last edited by petekd on Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Security man]

Last edited by Security man on Sun Aug 24, 2008 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi

The pictures shown are of the greater weaver, rarely encountered off the shore and therefore mostly of interest to boat anglers. Lesser weaverfish are very common on the west (unpolluted) coast and are smaller silver with gold sheen and a bit like a snub nosed whiting and a dark dorsal fin.

The venom is only likely to prove fatal if you suffer an allergic reaction and suffer anaphylactic shock. A strong rubber glove is usually all you need to ensure pain free unhooking of these little buggers, which have the annoying habit of swallowing baits as big as they are... they settle under the sand in calm waters especially on a coming tide at dusk so care should be taken when wading... use a shuffling motion to warn them of your advance or better still use waders. Do not let the kids play with them in a pool of water after you have unhooked five of them - I will not mention names but you know who you are (and how lucky your kids are!)

FWIW

Here's a pic of a lesser weaver that I caught and handled without knowing what it was....

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im concerned the advice in this post may be dangerous. Nobody
has ever died from a weever sting, its just like a bee sting really,
maybe a little more painful. Someone reading this could
do serious damage to themselves with a lighter, where did
that advice come from?

Accidents happen on rolling boats that would never occur in your
sitting room, it does look like a whiting to a cursory glance and could
easily be picked up, so watch out.

check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weever can't vouch for it's veracity, but it does mention fatalities, but I think in very rare cases

Here's a pic of a lesser weaver that I caught and handled without knowing what it was....

your a jammy git , changed my mind about fishin with you :lol: :lol: :lol:

Nobody has ever died from a weever sting, its just like a bee sting really,
maybe a little more painful.

[url=http://breaking.tcm.ie/archives/?c=IRELAND&jp=kfkfauaucwau&d=2003-08-17]The ultimate consequences of stepping on a weever – fatality – are unlikely. The last recorded death was more than 75 years ago. But severe shock can be the result in some circumstances.

[/url]
to be honest, i know of a fatality of a bee sting..

some people have little or no reaction to weaver or bee's, but there is always a chance that you could go into shock from a sting.. is it worth the risk??

Someone reading this could
do serious damage to themselves with a lighter, where did
that advice come from?

POISON FISH STINGS:
Pain is immediate, severe and can cause fainting, shortness of breath, nausea and rapid heartbeat. The poison is sensitive to heat and so application of Local heat relieves pain. Medical attention is advisable.

[url=http://www.dermatologyinfo.net/english/chapters/chapter13.htm]Treatment

1.

Hot water:

This is very effective in treating the stings of weaver fish, as well as those of the stingrays, lionfish and other scorpion fishes . The injured part should be submerged in water as hot as the victim can bear for approximately 30 minuets.
2.

Antihistamines
3.

Corticosteroids

Severe cases may need topical and systemic corticosteroids [/url]

just a note on the use of heat for relieving the symptoms of the sting. the heat does not have to be as hot as tollerable. this is a missconception. theres a study in on of the science direct journals which found that the venom denatured at just over 40 degrees celcius so this temperature should be sufficient to bring about relief.

also a good article here on them
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/weever2.htm

hi steve,

interesting points. Im no medical expert, but from what ive read i think
the advice on the sticky might be better reworded. From reading this you
might think there is a big risk you might go into shock and die, although
this does not happen from weever stings. The problem i
see with the lighter is that believing this you could burn yourself severely,
whereas by gently warming the affected limb pain might be reduced
but im not sure you can do this with a lighter

true enough john,

but if its the only heat source available what else can you do?

however, i'm sure most(or at least some) that go out on a boat (like shore anglers) carry a flask of tea/coffee, which cold be poured over the affected area, but having said that try not to scold the area either.

Interesting stuff lads and I'll amend the above post. I was always of the opinion they were much more dangerous than that with numerous fatalities. I stand corrected. It still of course goes without saying they are an extremely unpleasant little creature if stung by one so do take care.

i have been reading these posts and feel i have to comment on this topic. a weaver sting is indeed like a bad bee sting, for a few years ago i was STUPID enough to be gathering sandeels with no glove on, and got a sting from one of them little gitt's. it is very painfull and the pain seems to build up, it got so bad i had to go to the car. and i did take a reaction. with in a short time my whole arm started to go numb and was spreading across my cheast, got that bad that i could hardly move, head was spinning and was sick. they had to drive like madmen to get me to hospital, when we told them what had stung me they gave me a jag and keep an eye on me for a good few hours until i started to feel better. and i still felt the effects for a couple of days. i have experienced their sting, and never want to go threw that again, so lads be care full with them things....

I have taken your mans advice on the lighter & just bought a blow lamp in case I catch one, It will be quicker than the lighter

Like fishermannum I had the joy of being stung by one of these little fella's in Morriscastle Strand, Wexford about 10 years ago. The pain was unbearable!!!! I had to soak my foot in near boiling water to neutralise the poison. Limped for a couple of days after wards. They tend to swarm around the coast in August/September so it's boots for me getting out to sand banks.

definately i'd go blow torch before boiling water, the flesh
would be cooked and have to be amputated