I thought I would paas this along as "strange but true". I was fishing for some catfish this past Saturday with my daughter. I have been stuck with barbs more times than I care to remember over my lifetime but this was a first for me. My daughter caught about a 3 lb. cat that I was taking off the hook. When it popped off, it slipped out of my hand somehow hit me just above the ankle at just the right angle to stick the dorsal barb in my leg and into an artery. Blood started squirting out 2 to 3 feet across the boat. I clamped down on the puncture and finally got the bleeding to stop, but not before I soaked a pretty good area of my boat and scaring my daughter. I still can't believe this happened, what are the odds.

I'd say the odds were pretty good for that happening. I had one hand in my calf one time. Had to rip it out, scrapped the belly of the fish with a knife to get a good supply of slime and poked it in the hole. Finished the day fishing. Never got very sore. Applied first aid stuff when I got home and never saw sign of infections. My legs have stayed alert for the last 15 years not trusting my hands.

Me and a buddy were running a line one evening and it had just got dark and we were both on the front, I was running the line and taking fish off and handing them to him. He looked at one I gave him and said I know he ain't legal and just tossed him. His barb landed in my arm that was holding the line. Rubed it good with another fish and in 5 minutes I was back fishing.

O.K. this goes on my top 1- "Stupidest Things I've Ever Done"

I was fishing in Matagorda about 10 years ago and cathing a bunch of hardheads off a friend's pier. I caught one that was a real flopper and would not be still enough to remove the hook. I decided that the best way to immobilize him would be to step on his back (I had some reebok hi-top tennis shoes on). Needless to say, the barb went through the tennis shoe and into my foot about 1".

The removal broke the spine off in my foot. It hurt like hell and turned black but after rubbing some slime and adolph's tenderizer on it, it was O.K.

HERE'S YOUR SIGN!