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[SpringMaster]

Do you guys get Claw hands after a long day of fishing?  I mean does your rod hand, not the reeling hand, get really sore and you can almost not close the hand completely or open it fully for few hours at the end of the day; especially the pinky finger looses flexibility! 
What do you do to eliminate it other than just taking breaks and shaking it off?
Or is it just me with wrong set up!?!    I usually use a levelwind reel with 10' rod.

Thx

[Tadpole]

I used to have those in a  first few years of fishing for salmonids. Now, I just have couple of calluses on my fingers from handling the rod from first to last light in season.

[dennisK]

Do you guys get Claw hands after a long day of fishing?  I mean does your rod hand, not the reeling hand, get really sore and you can almost not close the hand completely or open it fully for few hours at the end of the day; especially the pinky finger looses flexibility! 
What do you do to eliminate it other than just taking breaks and shaking it off?
Or is it just me with wrong set up!?!    I usually use a levelwind reel with 10' rod.

Thx

you are holding the rod too tightly. loosen your grip.

[TheChumWhisperer]

I have the same problem, just part of fishing.  When I switch to a lighter setup it seems to go away.  I am thinking aboiut switching everyting to a centerpin setup, maybe that would help..

[steelhead]

I'm 68 years old and fish at least one day a week year round and have never had a sensation like that . You might be starting Carpal tunnel system. Its an inflammation of the tendens passing thru your whrist. A wrist brace might be an only helper. Some fingers get so bad surgery is needed when fingers don't relax. I'd check with a doctor. So what I'm saying its NOT normal.

[Easywater]

I have a similar problem when I am charter fishing and fighting big fish all day.

My problem is cramping in my left hand though - the hand I hold the rod in pulling on the fish.
My 2 middle fingers tend to bend halfway over and stay there until I press my hand palm down to straighten the fingers.

It is usually caused by dehydration and goes away after a few minutes if I chug a bottle of water.

[marmot]

Go see a doc about it.  If it's carpal tunnel or something like that you need to be careful that you don't make it worse.  Repetitive activity like casting would be really bad if that were the case.

  

[cutthroat22]

This whole salmon season for me has been done with a 7 weight flyrod with no butt end and a spinning reel attached.  My left wedding ring finger hurts due to the way i hold the rod when fighting a fish, casting, reeling in.  Loosening the grip on the rod helps a lot.

[Sam Salmon]

Are you wearing gloves at all?

I had some probs holding onto aluminum railing on a boat I was piloting until I realised how cold the railing was-now I wear wool gloves with the top of the thumb/index finger exposed almost all the time and have no problems although when river fishing the rod holding hand is always colder.

Wool not Neoprene Wool will stay warm even when wet.

If it is a nerve condition you're developing as per up thread Acupuncture can definitely help.

[mr.p]

It could depend on a variety of factors.  I'd say its probably due to your grip, weight of equipment and just using muscles which haven't been used in a long time.
In early season, I'll have some soreness in my rod hand.  But after a few days of fishing it goes away.
Probably best to see a doctor if it continues.

[hue-nut]

only experienced that when bottom bouncing the fraser in the summer

[SpringMaster]

Lots of good points here...Thx.
One thing I'm happy about is that I'm not the only one with this issue, but never the less it's a problem in need of fixing.

What I gather so far is that: I think my equipment is too heavy; I use a low profile reel (Quantum Classic), but my rod is a 10'6" which is what I used for Fraser salmon fishing.  I need to lighten my rod.
I also need to relax my grip if I can.  I tried flees type gloves lately to keep my fingers warm, which I thought was helpful, but then the glove was kind of slippery on the reel and I was forced to hold it tighter which didn't help.  I think I need a glove with some sort of rubber outer face to create enough friction with the rod/reel.

Never thought of dehydration!  That's a good one.  I tend to drink much less water than a human supposed to 
Arthritis could be another one since my dad has it in most of his joints and I think it could be in the genes.

I was thinking of getting a left handed crank reel to just switch hands for a while and see what happens    Any thoughts on that?

Thx.

[FishOn36]

I get that, I wouldn't call it soreness though. My rod hand more or less seizes up in that same holding position and then it's hard to move that hand afterwords if I need put my rod down to tie up a new leader or whatnot.