I went to lake champlain this past week and I got alot of cuts and was stabbed by alot of these big fishes spines since the culling system clips came off several of them in the livewell.

So now its 4 days later and I am getting small bumps lining the fingers that were cut and stabbed. Has this happen to other people? Is it an allergic reaction. Fyi, the day I came home I took scolding hot water to all the areas and used a antibacteria hand wash.

Just wondering what people thought.....

scaring?

pics would help.

Bacteria on the fish and in the water may be your problem causing the infection.

Go see a doctor and to have the injury treated.

In the meantime, you may want to put some Neosporin on the affected area.

Neosporin is your fishing friend!!!!

Many times, the very tips of a smallmouths spine will stay in the fingers or hands.

Can be very irritable and even get infected.

Common sense= DOCTOR. Just saying.

Like the post above. The spines can break off and stay in your finger. A guy in our club had that happen...and it became a nasty infection. It was so deep that they had to x-ray to see the spine in his hand.

See a doc and have them check it out.

We get them on Champlain Smallies all the time. Little pick/sting, that hurt like heck and get red and swollen for a few days. Unless it's oozing something or you have red lines/patches ratiating from the wounds (go to Dr.) then you have to just wait them out. In our club tournaments nobody wants to be the weigh-master because they are all sick of getting stabbed by the smallies.

i got stuck pretty good by a striper last year and it did that exact same thing, puffed up where i got stabbed. just relax and do nothing....it goes away. unless of course you think it broke off in your hand

I would imagine that it's based on our personal allergens, because different folks have different reactions to different species.

I'll give you an example close to home. After a productive day of bass fishing, my wife's hand will itch for several hours.

It's just a mild reaction that oddly enough is not accompanied by any visible reaction such as swelling or redness.

Very different from Lois, I can hand-land bass all day long without any itching. On the other hand,

my nemisis is northern pike. I confess that "gator" pike are my favorite freshwater quarry (they are rarer than muskies).

In order to avoid the teeth of pike, the back of my hand will often make contact with their gillrakers.

That same evening, the back of my landing hand will invariably be mildly swollen with a visible rash.

Big Deal! Does this in any way inhibit my pike fishing? Not on your life!

Roger