left just a small mark but man did it hurt like hell until they blocked it which was an hour or two maybe three before they did that. had to bring in an ortho surgeon to be on the safe side.

I have fished for catfish ever since I can remember and have never been stung. But, when I was about 15, my father and I were fishing off of a pier down at the coast and he caught a huge Gafftop. The first grab he got was a good one, but the fish jerked and he let go. When he tried to grab it again one of the side stingers went right through his hand between where the thumb and index finger meet. My father just looked at me and said "Give me the pliers". He then cut the stinger from the fish and pulled it through the other side. He went back to fishing after a few choice words, but about 15 minutes later his hand was swollen so big, it didn't look like a hand anymore. He was sick for a few days, but recovered. I am always very careful with cats, hardheads or Gafftops and I learned to run my hand up the belly from the rear of the fish, to get my thumb and middle finger behind the stingers.

It works for me too! I do the same thing on all the little pokes and scraps. But man I had a bad deal about two months ago! I had a little 12" blue flop wrong and it hit me right between the thumb and first finger. It went in and out and I looked down and I was spraying blood all over the boat every time my heart would beat! It got into a vein or an artery and man it was bad! It hurt very bad, I though I was going to pass out! I'm 40 and have catfished all my life and had never been done like this. My hand was swollen very bad the next day and sore for a week but is fine now. The catfish slime did not work!! LOL

Lol....I have only been stuck once..I was about 12 and My uncle told me to rub it on the belly...it worked like magic