Weever

Can somebody post a pic of a weever?
I've never seen one close up.
You could be saving your old buddy a bit of pain

Much obliged sqw,be nice to know if I catch one.

I had the pleasure of being spiked by one last Friday. Luckily it was only a small one about 4 inches long, that had wedged itself against  my lead weight. I thought it was a Blenny right up to the point I felt the spike sink into my thumb. It did throbe for about half an hour or so, but wasn't too painful.

Five minutes after my thumb stopped throbbing I caught a bigger one, but after the experience of being spiked once I wasn't falling for it again and on went the gloves. I'll count it as a good lesson learned, it's definately an experience I don't want repeating.

I'm told  that if you do get spiked by one, hot water is the best antidote, as hot as you can stand it. Jumping up and down and swearing didn't seem to help at all.

Sounds like they are to be well avoided,and gloves are a good idea.
Despatching them could be a good idea.
I was in Portreath in Cornwall a few years ago,there is a natural swimming pool left by the tide,
It was full of what I thought were Weevers,but they were a different shape.They had oversized mouths
and dragon like fins.(A bit like the freshwater bullhead)
We were fishing the rock pools,my son got one clamped on the end of his finger,I didn't want to yank it off and maybe cause more damage.A couple came along and the guy said it was a Weever,he burned it with a cigarette to get it off.Luckily it hadn't broken the skin.It was about 4" long.

valvebounce wrote:

Despatching them could be a good idea.

I was in Portreath in Cornwall a few years ago,there is a natural swimming pool left by the tide,
It was full of what I thought were Weevers,but they were a different shape.They had oversized mouths
and dragon like fins.(A bit like the freshwater bullhead)
We were fishing the rock pools,my son got one clamped on the end of his finger,I didn't want to yank it off and maybe cause more damage.A couple came along and the guy said it was a Weever,he burned it with a cigarette to get it off.Luckily it hadn't broken the skin.It was about 4" long.

Why kill them? Just do your homework so you know when you catch them and treat them with a bit of respect so they dont sting you.

The fish in the pool sound like sea scorpions and the guy with the cigarette sounds like as big a numpty as you!

Well done for not mentioning your bad foot in this post!

Yeah killing them is just pointless and you won't achieve anything. I wouldn't advise the use of clothes and gloves as it is risky because the spines will go through them. A pair of pliers, forceps or a disgorger of some sort is your best way. If you do need to hold one to unhook it the best thing to do is hold the hook and carefully slide your finger and thumb down past its mouth onto the gills and pinch it there. Just make sure to leave space for the fin on the top and not to go too far back or go from the tail end as there is a spine on each gill pointing towards the tail. If you do get stung, as i have plenty of times, don't worry because the cure is simple. Squeeze out what you can as soon as you're stung and then put the affected area in water that is as hot as you can physically stand for about 5-10 minutes. If the water is too hot just dip in and out if possible until its cool enough to cope with. Don't risk burning yourself as well

Just to add, they will sting sting when they are dead.

The protein in the venom is the same as in egg white ( albumen ) and by putting the affected area into hot water the protein solidifies as if you were boiling an egg and therefore cant disperse through your body.

simon parry wrote:

Yeah killing them is just pointless and you won't achieve anything. I wouldn't advise the use of clothes and gloves as it is risky because the spines will go through them. A pair of pliers, forceps or a disgorger of some sort is your best way. If you do need to hold one to unhook it the best thing to do is hold the hook and carefully slide your finger and thumb down past its mouth onto the gills and pinch it there. Just make sure to leave space for the fin on the top and not to go too far back or go from the tail end as there is a spine on each gill pointing towards the tail. If you do get stung, as i have plenty of times, don't worry because the cure is simple. Squeeze out what you can as soon as you're stung and then put the affected area in water that is as hot as you can physically stand for about 5-10 minutes. If the water is too hot just dip in and out if possible until its cool enough to cope with. Don't risk burning yourself as well

Thanks Si,I'm not an advocate of Killing things,I prefer to throw them back.
I've got a couple of pairs of long,long nose pliers that should do the deed.
They sound tricky to handle,especially if they get you on occasion.

headwyn wrote:

valvebounce wrote:

Despatching them could be a good idea.

I was in Portreath in Cornwall a few years ago,there is a natural swimming pool left by the tide,
It was full of what I thought were Weevers,but they were a different shape.They had oversized mouths
and dragon like fins.(A bit like the freshwater bullhead)
We were fishing the rock pools,my son got one clamped on the end of his finger,I didn't want to yank it off and maybe cause more damage.A couple came along and the guy said it was a Weever,he burned it with a cigarette to get it off.Luckily it hadn't broken the skin.It was about 4" long.

Why kill them? Just do your homework so you know when you catch them and treat them with a bit of respect so they dont sting you.

The fish in the pool sound like sea scorpions and the guy with the cigarette sounds like as big a numpty as you!

Well done for not mentioning your bad foot in this post!

Sorry if I have upset you in some way,it wasn't intended.
At 72 after having an active life,it's hard to get used to being restricted by a non working foot
We all get past our selling date you know.

Thanks guys for the help and advice in coping with Weevers.

I agree killing for the sake of it isn't part of the deal. We can't blame any creature that defends itself when threatened

The Weever that spiked me went back in the water unharmed, and rightly so. As far as I was concerned it was my fault I got stung, I hadn't shown the fish the respect it deserved. Not a mistake I'll make again ......hopefully.

Quite prevalent on Rhyl beach especially in the Summer holidays, you wouldn't catch me paddling barefoot!

When they take your bait they burrow into the sand and you can think you are snagged up, gentle pressure pops them out like a cork and they come in feeling bigger than they are due to the millers thumb shape.

Leave them at your feet and you see them burrow down into the wet sand just leaving that poisonous dorsal poking up ready to spike someone in the foot

Notbad wrote:

Quite prevalent on Rhyl beach especially in the Summer holidays, you wouldn't catch me paddling barefoot!

When they take your bait they burrow into the sand and you can think you are snagged up, gentle pressure pops them out like a cork and they come in feeling bigger than  they are due to the  millers thumb shape.

Leave them at your feet and you see  them burrow down into the wet sand just leaving that poisonous dorsal poking up ready to spike someone in the foot

That's handy to know Paul,although I think last time i paddled on Rhyl beach was about 1955.