fish hands???!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryan Berger]

Every summer its the same darn thing when fishing everyday. Hands get pruned up then get really dry and flakey and hurt alot. Is there something I can do to prevent this? Any one else out there got fish hands?

[traveler]

Good quality hand lotion, I like Keri, used before your hands get really bad.

[jbell1981]

I seem to get that too everytime I go out on the lake, weather I catch them or not. I to would like to know what people do to prevent "fish hands".

~Josh

[Poutwhacker]

My Dad had skin problems too. Depending on the severity of his condition, 3 things that worked for him were:

1). Bag Balm (used to treat cow udders)

2). Cornhuskers Lotion

3). Nutragena (spell)

Hope this helps

[iffwalleyes]

Mine do the samething when I am in full swing durning the winter. The best thing for me has been the above mention. Bag Balm (udder balm, udderly smooth these are two brands). Corn huskers has also worked but not as well for me.

[slick814]

Neutrogena makes a great hand cream, and the unscented version won't leave the extra scent on your hands, either. I use it all year long, especially in the winter.

[korn_fish]

udder balm here too.

[Northland Sportsman]

My brother gets really dray,cracked hands and just got this stuff called Warm Skin. It says it is what Ann Bancroft uses on her expeditions. He says it works better then anything he has tried. They also make a lotion called crack cream, and it is actually for cracked hands believe it or not.

[Dan Thiem]

We use stuff called Udderly Smooth. It's in a Holstein looking bottle. Works great.

[DougSpringBay]

Without doubt, the udder cream, bag balm etc. is the answer.

Doug

[Ole #1]

Get tough and be a man about it , just kidding.

My hands get beat up bad too. Soak them in hot soapy water after you're done fishing and then put lgood lotion on. I also wear a lindy glove too, that helps prevent the soarness from all the fins sticking your hands.

[Cooter]

You just gotta learn to catch more fish - keep your hands all slimed up and ya won't have any problems!

[Scoot]

I tried the crack cream mentioned above and it really seemed to help get things moving when I wasn't regular!

It's nearly unanimous- udderbalm is the ticket (whatever brand you buy doesn't matter).

[BarryG]

My hands are always cracking because I work with drywall alot! The best thing I have found is Moisture Therapy by Avon, I put the stuff on when I go to bed and put it on real thick and it works better than anything else I've used. It comes in a tube and is a creme instead of lotion.

[Wayne Ek]

Because of guiding and tournament fishing my hands really take a beating. I've found vasoline intensive care works the best for me. Also, those cracks we all get on the joint lines of the index finger, be it from wrapping braid around our hand to pull a snag loose (which we all know is a no-no...) and do any way or from dry skin and water. The best way I've found to heal them quickly is to coat them with fishing glue, so they do not keep cracking and re-opening up to the elements.

[Rost]

My hands get chapped a lot. Even worse, the get all cut up from handling fish. This may sound like a wussy, but I am considering buying a Lindy Glove. I have a buddy that swears by his. No more pokes, cuts, etc.. just reach down and grab um.

[Northlander]

A good heavy hand cream and put your hands in rubber gloves threw the night. Or the utter cream or bag balm is great stuff. I use the Cornhuskers because my hands get dry but dont crack. I have friends like Poutslayer and Green/Gold who have to play doctor after every full day of catching fish. They do the vasoline and bandaids trick every night.

[river-rat4]

Eucerin-

I don't have dry cracking problems, but Doc friend says it is one of the best(in his opinion).

[river-rat4]

Eucerin-

I don't have dry cracking problems, but Doc frind says it is one of the best(in his opinion).

[The Grebe]

No problem...I have the answer, easy and practical...first you get 2 of those big jars of Vasoline...the stuff from the dollar store works just as good...get two of your old socks and put about a pound of vasoline in each one and before you go to bed, stuff your hands into the socks and have the significant other duct tape them to your arms...not to tight though or you won't have to worry about sore hands by the time you wake up in the morning!

Duct tape a large piece of construction plastic to the mattress as a precaution against unforeseen, major leakage. You will slip off the bed and onto the floor once in awhile, but thats no biggie.

The socks get a little ungainly at night and if you happen to roll over and swing your hands, it will be like hitting your other with a wet mop! But, I'm sure they will understand and make the sacrifice.

Most of the time it will ooze through the sock once it gets warm enough and it does stain up your sleeping arrangement somewhat, but hey, what are we talking about here, sleeping quarters, or sore hands?

A quick, morning sponge bath in white gas from your Coleman Lantern, will leech up any of the grease that may have traveled during the night.

Do this for the whole summer and you will be guarenteed baby soft hands...your legs, your head, he11, you'll be as pliable as a soft boiled egg! Sure glad I could help! It is cost efficent also...total for the year...about $1400.00.

[Skitterpop]

I too use the Udderly Smooth udder cream in the kemp's cows container. I love that stuff because my hands get dry and crack and blead, especially if I am catching panfish and using a lot of minnows or crawlers. I also do the bandaid trick at night with vitamin E oil. It seems to speed up the healing process. Be careful of those using vaseline on there hands Sorry, I couldn't resist, forgive me of my sick humour!

[76k20]

I can about imagine what the guys at the local store would think about someone buying 2 jars of vasoline daily. you would have to glue hair to you palms and squint like your vision is really bad when you run in to pick it up

[The Grebe]

[HoleHopper]

Keep a couple of extra tubes in your truck and in the boat. Just so it is there when you need it! Stinks when you dont have it!

[Tripleplay]

Although I'm not a "real" pharmacist anymore in a retail pharmacy we used to get a very similar question all the time, but focused on a baby's back-end. I pretty much had two standard recommendations:

1. Corona cream (not the Mexican beer although used by a legal-age fisherman Corona beer does tend to make one forget about their "fish-hands") This is another udder type of product in a large red tube usually, but is a little less available than my second option.

2. Bag Balm. I know it's been said earlier but this product is very good.

[Boz715]

I don't suffer from "fish hands" but have found that my lips get awfully dried and chapped after a few days of fishing. My Doctor (actually my buddy who is a Vet) suggested that they get all dried and cracked from my licking my lips every time we come to a good looking piece of water for fishing, which is about every 200 yards we travel in the boat. He suggested that I just grab a big old horse apple and put it in my pocket. Then, before launching the boat, smear a generous amount of that horseapple all over my mouth. He sure is smart. It really has cut down on my licking my lips.

[upnorth]

Gold Bond medicated cream works better than all the other stuff I have tried, crack cream, nutregena, corn huskers and a few others I don't remember.

[Fishook]

I meant to respond to this sooner but it took me 10 minutes to stop laughing at the Grebe's post. What a classic. On the serious side - I use Neutrogena which is made for Norwegian fishermen (says that on the label). Any cuts or cracks from catching and releasing a ton of walleyes per day are cured overnight. It will even cure "Labatts thumb" (what you get when you open too many twist tops).