Fishing Reminder
Customised Fishing TimesStung by a spiny dogfish | Category: Fishing Talk
Yesterday I caught a spiny dogfish for the first time while surfcasting.
At first I though it might be a small spotted dogfish but I knew it was a spiny dogfish when I saw the spines on it's back.
What I didn't realise was that it's really easy to get jabbed by it's dorsal spine if you're not careful.
I also didn't realise that a jab can be rather painful and those spines are also slightly poisonous.
The jab caused a rather deep cut that was bleeding and burning quite a bit.
As soon as I got home I made sure everything got disinfected. There is a bit of risk of an infection.
A day later it looks okay but is still a bit swollen and oozing.
So better be careful next time when handling a spiny dog.
Spiny dogfish are quite plentiful and often an unwanted by-catch.
Then can appear in plaque proportions at times and are considered the most abundant shark species in the oceans.
They got two nasty venomous spines on their back and try to take a jab at you if given half a chance.
They are also known as piked dogfish, rock salmon and spiky dog.
In New Zealand they are an unwanted by-catch but I've read that in Europe they are processed for food.
I guess by calling them rock salmon, they'd also taste much better 
When I saw shark attack I was expecting lots of blood and guts !! 
I don't think you put in much of an effort...do it again and this time we want to see blood !!
Seriously, you might want to see a doctor because those spines do have toxins that can cause pretty bad infections.
haha - yeah unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of all the blood and gore when I got home
I'm watching the wound - if it shows any sign of infection I'll check in with a doctor.
So far it's looking alright - I disinfected it like crazy.
Antiseptic wont do anything...Because it is ANTI septic not PREVENT septic. Which means you first need septic to be there or you get no ANTI.
Most marine toxins are alkaline so I would assume this little sharks spines also have alkaline toxins. For this reason vinegar is the choice of treatment for most marine stings. Vinegar being an acid will neutralise the alkaline. That is why vinegar is very affective for box jellyfish and most other marine stings.
It will hurt..but Mark can take it 
Flush the wound with vinegar. It will hurt !!
Just keep an eye on other symptoms like nausea, cold sweats etc. Some of the toxin will be in his system by now but his body should brake it down with no real issues.
yep, same if you get stung by a sting ray.
Hot water neutralises the poison most efficiently for some reason.
Although getting stung by a string ray is much, much worse.
The poison of a spiny dogfish is really mild.
It was really just a bit of a burning sensation - similar to a bee sting.
I wasn't worried much about the toxin.
Probably got so much toxin in my body already, a bit of added spiny dog toxin wont make a difference
Was more concerned that after handling all the bait and stuff, that the wound might become infected by some weird bacteria, hence the antiseptic - to kill off all bacteria around the wound and soak some of that antiseptic cream into the wound.
Seemed to have done the trick as it's looking okay now.
So lesson learnt:
Best not to leave for a fishing trip without a bottle of rum for disinfection and a hot water bottle for anti-poison. And if you don't get stung by anything you could still make yourself a grog with the rum, hot water and a tea bag. ?
Ahhh...You are just trying to make excuses...don't give me this tea bag bit - we want blood and guts and chunky bits 
I don't think that shark attacked you at all...you are just making it up. I think the video is flake
You should just man-up and go with the vinegar !! See how many tea ladies - oops - tea bags will drink rum with you then !!
(I wonder how people will notice my incredibly clever and witty use of the word flake)