Fly tying is a dangerous sport

[Trouttramp 0]

Ok, so this is a little long, apologies, but hopefully a worthwhile read.

The scene:

Good coffee, check. Fly tying music, ( Bob Seeger today ) check. Dog and cat outside for no interruptions, check. Wife off to shop at, well…. Who the hell knows, check.

The house is all mine (and the bank’s) now. Off to the man room to tie some of those troublesome to tie, #16 quill Gordens.

As  I slide into my tying chair, I settle in only to realize the blue tooth speaker needs an adjustment for the maximum listening experience. So, I push my tying chair back, it’s on rollers, to reach the speaker for the fine adjustment. Then a sharp stabbing pain hits me right between my thumb toe and his next-door neighbor. Yup a size 8 Fulling mills jig style BARBED hook SUNK in a ways past the barb. SHIT that hurts, right in that soft area between the master toe and his little brother. Needless to say, I frequently tie flys barefoot. Sometimes I tie just just in my bathrobe, TMI, ? Well what can I say, I like to get comfortable when I tie.

My first reaction, pull my foot back, BIG MISTAKE. The hook is buried down deep in the very dense Berber carpet that coats the floor in our hallways and bedrooms, and my man (fly tying) room. So…..there I am, hook solidly buried in that very sensitive area twixt my toes and the hook solidly entangled in the berber carpet. It seems I’m trapped the more try to free my foot, the deeper the barb gets…… wow that hurts.

What to do, I can’t get to the hook, it’s in my foot which is well under my fly tying bench and I just can’t get to it to get it to cut it free. I’m stuck, kind of like one of those Mexican finger puzzle things, the harder you pull, the tighter it gets. I need help. So……I make the call. “Hi hun, seems I’ve got an emergency here”, she freaks, thinking the worse, another heart attack or stroke, CALL 911 she says , I’ll meet you at the hospital I’m an hour away”, no no no I say, it’s nothing like that, I just need a little help here, you’ll see when you get here. “Ok, I’ll be home soon, let me pay for these pillows and I’ll head home, need anything.” She says, “ Sure, grab me a big gulp” I reply..

Well now, I have an hour or more to kill before help will arrive. Might as well get going on those Quill Gordon’s as the pain is subsiding and there doesn’t seem much blood. 

Fast forward an hour and a half, 8 or nine Gordons tied and a small red spot growing a little under my foot, my foot that’s now starting to throb. And in walks the wife unit. Glaringly looking an me seemingly leisurely tying flys, and belts out “So WTH is the emergency?”  I point to my foot and explain the situation, upon which time I get the recurring lecture about my fly tying hooks all over the place, what a mess my tying room is… and what about the animals and grand kids if they should get a hook in them. I tell you, I get no sympathy around here.

So we devise a plan to get me unstuck that involves my wifey crawling under my tying bench to cut the carpet to free my foot. She is NOT happy, She chooses my good fly tying scissors for the job, I gasp in horror, “you can’t use my good good scissors,” I quickly grabbed and handed her my “wire cutting” scissors.

After some bad words, a lot of pain, a little  more blood, and I’m finally free. 
 

The hook extraction didn’t go well, the wife person is a little queasy at the sight of blood. Can’t pull it out short of a lot of pain, and the way the hook is pointing can’t cut the shank and push/pull it though.

Off to the “E” room. 3 hours more and a lot more pain later and the hook is extracted, with the help of some very sharp instruments. thank god for local anesthetic. Tetanus shot to follow.

What did I learn from this? 
1, get one of those mats that fit under the fly tying chair and desk.

2, do not call wife is this type of emergency, call a trusted fishing buddy

3, don’t tie flys barefooted 

4, Berber carpet is a bad choice for a fly room, especially the mottled grey, tight knit, multi colored speckled kind

5, Buy the next batch of size 16 ,or smaller, QG’s. 

I hope you all who read this, will learn from my experience and save yourselves a little pain.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sandan 0]

I think the root of the problem was the Bob Seeger. The hook incident particularly where it went deeper from getting caught in the rug sent chills up my spine. Stitches? And let's see the Gordon's you tied. 

[Trouttramp 0]

1 hour ago, Sandan said:

I think the root of the problem was the Bob Seeger. The hook incident particularly where it went deeper from getting caught in the rug sent chills up my spine. Stitches? And let's see the Gordon's you tied. 

Bob Seegers songs are NEVER  a problem   

No stitches, said they won’t stitch that kind of puncture.  Used a real sticky kind of band aid thing. 
Seemed like they have done this kind of thing before.  
 

I’ll get a pic up of the best one in a little bit. 

[flytire 0]

I was at my tying table, getting a hook from the package when i dropped one on the rug. Or so i thought.

I got out of my chair and on my knees, waving my hand on the rug for that hook I dropped. Nada, nil, nothing!

I was fully clothed and wearing shoes, so the feet were safe.

Around 7 o'clock, i decided to remove my shoes to get comfortable to watch YouTube tying videos.

I had crossed my feet when I felt something on the side of my foot. It was the damn hook I thought I dropped on the rug.

somehow that hook fell between my foot and the side of my shoe. I never felt it go in there. I had walked around all day long, doing my errands and walking around our local casino and never felt.

I tied a pretty damn good looking fly the next morning with that lost hook

[flytire 0]

Ive also been to the ER to have a hook removed from my cheek.

I wasn't a great caster back then 👎😢

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Been to the ER twice over the years to have hooks removed... the first was a small fly  I was casting on a #1 hook that I wore in the back of my upper arm for six or seven hours before going to see the docs... If you're going to get stuck it helps to stick yourself in places without a lot of nerve endings.  When it got in the way of my casting, a band-aid to secure it against my skin was helpful... My second go 'round was again - my own fault.  We were using spinning gear tossing big tube lures at big barracudas that were just outside my wife's range... so... I said "whip  it"  -and she did  - right in the back of my head (after penetrating the ball cap I was wearing..). I got nailed good and proper - with a big 7/0 hook on the end of my own tube lure...It slid in under my scalp all the way to the bend after hitting the skull.. Took a bit of doing but I was able, by touch, to see what the situation was, cut the hook free of the wire on the lure - then carefully thread my cap off of the hook.  Once again - not in an area with a lot of nerve endings so very little pain.  I was able to put my cap back on to protect that hook and resumed fishing... My wife, of course, thought she'd done me some real harm... .

Later that day at the ER I was reminded of the usual circumstances... You're not exactly an emergency so you'll be there a while - and you'll be paying, of course...  Bring your own pliers in case their hemostats aren't tough enough (all the docs will do is numb the area then push the hook through to get to the barb then clip it off so that the hook can be removed..).  The worst part is that the docs and nurses think you're the funniest thing they've seen - and call each other up and down the hall to come look at the fool....  No, I don't have any photos of either event -but I did learn a bit... 

As a result, over many years, I've learned to flatten the barbs on any hooks that my anglers will use as well as my own... Been stuck quite a few times as a guide - but never anything I couldn't remove myself on the spot -and that includes treble hooks on lures...  I do always wear glasses on the water and once or twice a hook has damaged them (better my glasses than my eyes...).  I still also get stuck from time to time while tying flies - either with hooks or pieces of leader wire - an occupational hazard I guess... I have always followed an old commercial fisherman's advice about puncture wounds though - either on  the water or at the tying bench to squeeze the wound while it's fresh to make it bleed and your blood cleans the wound- and have never had the slightest infection from any of my mis-adventures... 

 

 

[flyflinger 0]

As they say: “There but for the grace of God go I .”  

I too have surrendered many hooks to the carpet beneath my tying desk - and for the record they literally never can be retrieved by the magnets sold for that job!🙄   Owing to the plethora of hooks buried there, I try to remember to wear something more than socks on my feet when at the tying bench.     

I have been perforated a few times by my own hand, and those of fly fishing clients, but mercifully never required professional medical intervention - I've been de-barbing hooks for a long time.  And ditto on wearing glasses when casting! . . . 

Regards, 

     

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Real important... wearing glasses when guiding (understatement).

[Heff2 0]

Thx for the cautionary tail Tim, hopefully your foot is good as new in day or two. I got a similar lecture from my Mrs after I got a cut on my elbow from a razor blade I left on my desk.  It made a mess of my shirt and pants but not deep enough to warrant stitches. 

[Sandan 0]

On 6/9/2024 at 6:25 AM, Capt Bob LeMay said:

Real important... wearing glasses when guiding (understatement).

I'll add that it's real important whenever you're out fishing.

[Sandan 0]

On 6/8/2024 at 2:37 PM, Trouttramp said:

Bob Seegers songs are NEVER  a problem   

...

I’ll get a pic up of the best one in a little bit. 

I was being facetious of course.  Pics?

[niveker 0]

Gave me the heebie-jeebies reading that.  I've had a few close calls both stream-side and vise-side, but never serious enough for an e-room visit. 

A few years ago I planted a decent size hook past the poorly crushed barb in my right eyebrow, fishing alone.  I could feel it in there pretty good, but couldn't see it of course.  Had to stumble back to the car with blood streaming down into my eyes to get to the vanity mirror to see how bad it actually was.   A bit of tippet around the bend and a quick tug, and I was back fishing in a few minutes.  

[DFoster 0]

Guys- magnets are your friend, so are barbless hooks. 

 My tying desk is located in a corner of my wife's home office with the agreement that I keep it neat, clean and that every single hook is accounted for.  She spends 8-10 hours most days in the office with our pups for company so losing a hook can't happen ever.   To that end I have a extension handle mechanics magnet which is very powerful and I have never not recovered a dropped hook.  Directly under the jaws of my vise I have a magnetic mechanics small parts tray.  If I plan on tying 4 flies, then 4 hooks and only 4 hooks are placed in the tray.  It also has a very strong magnet and does a great job of catching hooks or flies that get away from me when placing or removing them from the vise.   

Still this Saturday I had a #14 caddis emerger buried in my middle finger right up to the bend- Yipe!  I was fishing a 2 fly rig, with a #18 nymph on the point and the emerger 18" above on the dropper.  I caught a decent sized fall fish on the dropper, unhooked it and dropped it back into the river.  On it's way down it hit the nymph and the weight of the fish pulled the emerger straight down and right into my finger.  Fortunately these days I strictly fish barbless.  15 years ago I probably would have ended up in the ER as this one went in really deep, well past the barb.  There some wincing involved but I was able to pull it out and continue fishing.  

 

[Trouttramp 0]

 

Notice the super magnet now down by my feet.

That Berber carpet is almost impossible to find a hook in.

The Gordon’s didn’t turn out all that well, never do. They will fish though.

 

2 hours ago, Sandan said:

I was being facetious of course.  Pics?

[flytire 0]

 

i'm gonna let squatch drive this under my tying table