I recently had a bit of an incident whilst out kayak fishing on the Yorkshire coast. After a day trying to locate Bass and Pollock on the plugs (and not doing a good job of it!) myself and Matty decided to do a few drifts for Cod, managed a few Codling before the wind picked up to a very uncomfortable level so had to make a long, hard paddle back to the nearest beach. We eventually arrived at the nearest landing spot for a rest and wait for the wind to subside.
It took a good 45mins before the wind dropped so I headed out to do some Mackerel fishing whilst Matty stayed on the beach for a bit of a snooze. I managed a few of the usual suspects (Mackerel, Gurnard, etc) then hooked a few very small 5″ fish, I wasn’t sure what they were as I hadn’t seen them before but did wonder if they were Weaver fish. Quickly unhooked with care just in case they were Weavers and back they went, a few minutes later I hooked another. This time I figured it would be best to use the forceps to avoid touching the fish, well, just when I did that the fish curled over and stung me. Yep, definitely a Weaver fish then!
I got onto the VHF radio to Matty to tell him I had been stung, he told me I was a daft sod (as expected) so I carried on fishing. Within minutes though my thumb felt like is was going to explode the pain was that bad, I got onto the VHF radio again and told Matty I don’t feel to grand and was going to try and paddle to shore. I probably only got about 50 yards and couldn’t go any further, my whole left arm was in agony and couldn’t lift anything let alone paddle anywhere. So again on to the radio telling Matty of the situation, I put out my drogue and waited for Matty to arrive. By the time Matty arrived (5mins later) my body was going into shock, I couldn’t stop shaking and struggled to speak.
Matty made the correct decision and called the Humber Coastguard straight away, they inturn called the Runswick lifeboat. It wasn’t long before they arrived alongside, dragged me aboard and quickly took me to shore where an ambulance was ready and waiting for me at the slipway. At that point as wasn’t 100% with it, the paramedics did their checks and took me straight to Whitby hospital. My hand was placed in red hot water and left to swell up for the next hour or so. Within a few hours the pain has subsided and I could move ok and just about talk properly.
Not a very nice experience but I’m sure the holiday makers on the beach enjoyed the show put on by the rescue, so a word of warning, avoid Weaver fish at all costs!!!
Don't touch that black dorsal fin whatever you do!!
Even made it onto the local rag's front page!
For the next 5 hours or so we chucked a range of lures and fished various areas but just couldn’t find the Bass, nothing was showing anywhere so we were left scratching our heads wondering what to do.
