Rubbing belly slime on injury only works on freshwater catfish, Only thing I know works on Hardheads is WD40, rub that into cut and it eases the sting and deadens pain.

The slime from the fish really works. Same as when you get stuck by a mudcat. I have used the slime several times and it just works. All these stories reminds me of when I was in Boy Scouts.
Our scoutmaster took us to camp at Sea Rim National Park near Sabine Pass. We camped for an entire week and spent the whole week fishing. One day when it was slow a friend named Matt caught a hard head and instead of waiting for another bite started slinging the hardhead around in a circle over his head to cast it back out to reel it in again. When he released the button on his Zebco 33 the hard head hit another friend named Billy right in the side. The barb went to the hilt!!! any higher prob would have punctured a lung. Well anyway my brother and I both knew to use the slime. So we helped him doctor hisself up with the slime, then Billy went and laid around camp for the rest of the afternoon till the evening bite came on. I dont remember him ever complaining about the pain after the slime was applied to the wound. Hurts me just remembering it. By the way Billy never shed a tear.

Ouch!

the slime works! had to use it myself several time's. the worst was when i was going to use my toe to flib the hardhead back in and it flipped around about the time i flipped it ouch right thru my shoe!

Thats why I try and stay away from live or dead bait fishing and chunk artificials. I hate to even look at a hardhead. However, if you fish enough you will get them on lures too. Ive caught them on a catch2000 before and even on a topwater once.

really the only thing cool about a little hardhead sticking someone, is that little kid that runs up and down san luis pass pier pulling up peoples stringers to look at the fish, yelling and screaming he wants a soda, trowing trash in the water, and then his dad catches a hardhead and swings it into the pier, till its dead, and after he unhooks it, leaves it on the pier for some one to step on , and guess who steps on it, his little kid. then the screams and yelling are real, i look at my partner and i detect a small grin i think im not sure, but one thing i am sure of is the little kid is going to watch were he runs, theres the little hardhead teaching another hard learned LESSON

I like catching hardheads...I like catching all fish. It's all fun. Cane pole and handlining for BIG hardheads at the back of bait shacks is a thrill, and good sport when here's nothing biting.
If you pick them up with their bellies in your palm, your fingers will squish down the spines, and you can pull the hook out like any other fish, and virtually no risk of getting prodded.
I hate to see them getting bashed off piers, and thrown up banks to suffocate. Really un-necessary suffering, but alas, there's plenty of retards who can afford fishing poles..... If you want to kill it for 'stealing' your 25c of bait, then bash it hard on the head, or cut it's spine. Don't torture the damn thing. It's programmed to search around the seabed looking for scraps, and oppertinistic meals - it has no idea that that tasty morsel is bait that's meant for a redfish!
You seriously think they deliberately go around looking to steal bait and get hooked, just to piss off moronic anglers?

it depends..........

1) exactly what kind of symptoms is the hardhead showing?

<and>

b) why do you even care about treating ailing hardhead??!

Glad the swelling went down.

It's not posion; it's bacteria that is under the barb. I had a friend get hit with one and he ended up in the ER. Said the pain was to great. The gave him antibiotics and sent him on his way.

i got hit once and the dam thing got hung in my hand. Made me sick as a dog! we were in cameron La, and the guy that owned the cottages we were in made ma a salve of bc powder and vasoline, 10 minutes later, i was good as new, and ready to fish again!

I dont like to make fun of people but WOW. I didnt think I knew anybody that liked catching hardheads untill I read Cruz's comment.

However, I feel you on the whole thing about people killing them. It is kinda unnecessary.

I stomped a hardhead when I was a little boy(around 1960 and it is a long story) on the north jetty at Port A. The dorsal fin went threw my shoe and buried itself to the hub into my foot. My dad jerked my shoe off and the fin was sticking about an inch past the sole of the shoe into my mid arch into my foot. It looked like I had stepped on a nail. I remember squalling like a wild man. A man down the jetty came running up to me and my Dad and he told us that he had something that would help with the pain and that he knew what had just happened and that the wound would be back to normal by the next day. It was a small bottle of camphofenique(sp) mixed half and half with something else. My Dad let him do what he wanted and he opened the lid and put the open end of the bottle on the skin over the puncture and turned the bottle upside down holding the bottle against my foot letting the solution fill the puncture would while I was laying there on my belly. He held it there for about 10 seconds. It was a little sore that evening and when I got up the next day it was not sore at all and I did not even walk with a limp. It was a miracle I thought. I thank the guy whoever it was for helping me. I can't remember what the second ingredient was however. Do any of you coastal veterans know? If not, ask one of your old friends or father or grandfathers. It was..... truely a miracle medicine.
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Notch

I don't think anyone can or has been sucessful at kicking a hardhead back into the water. They will fin you everytime. The slime does work.

I will give them all really something to laugh at.

First though, I am a firm believer in the slime from the fish, both hardheads and bullheads. Between the two I have probably been finned well over a hundred times, during the 40+ years that I have been fishing.

With that said, for most folks, they are better off going to see a Dr.. To many folks these days have lost a lot of the built in immunities and such and can get really sick really quick over something that might not even cause more than a red spot on another person.

As for hardheads, I don't fish for them on purpose, but any that Lora and I catch that are the size of a legal channel cat, 12 inches long or longer, we clean them and eat them. I really can't tell that much difference in the taste of them and gaff tops.

I never said I was trying to kick the Hardhead back into the water. Grownups were stomping the head/neck of hammerhead sharks and throwing them back in the water. They would swim around on top of the water and couldn't go under. I tried it to, problem was that I was so young and the action was so fierce, that I did not know the difference in a hardhead and a hammerhead shark. Like I said I was just a little boy at the time. However, after that episode. I learned the difference real quick!!!!!!!!!!!
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Notch