Well, I did battle with a catfish today, and he won. I caught a couple eaters this morning, and a few smaller ones that I threw back. The last one I caught was about a 12 incher, and in the process of unhooking him, I got a fin in my hand between the thumb and forefinger. No biggie, jerk it loose, stings a little, hurts for a little bit and that's it. Done it many times before. Except this time the fish slips or squirms and the next thing I know the fin is stuck in all the way and it hurts like HELL. Of course, I'm by myself for only about the second time this year. I pinned the fish between my hand and leg and dug out my needlenose pliers with my good hand, squeezed them between my hand and the fish, and broke off the fin. I tried pulling the fin out, but I could feel all those barbs catching, and decided no way was I gonna get it out myself. Pulled my other line in, pulled up the anchors and headed for the dock. Luckily I was on a lake 4 miles from home, and only about a hundred acres, so I called my son and he came and helped me load the boat and took it home. By this time it wasn't hurting quite as bad, so I headed for the ER( where my wife works as a nurse) After getting some guff from everyone, they x-rayed it to see what it looked like, deadened it, and jerked it out. They cleaned it out, got me on some antibiotic, and x-rayed it again to make sure it all came out, then sent me on my way. Swelled up quite a bit, but by now the pain is almost gone, and hopefully it won't get infected. Not one of  my better days!

Your a better man than I am. I about passed out trying to pull it out, and that was it for me. Talk about sweating bullets!

looks like were not the only guys who do that jim....lol....glad to have you guys..........