Jelly fish bloom in Puget Sound

Some information for the newbies fishing in Puget Sound.

July hosts a jellyfish bloom in Puget Sound.  If you are salmon fishing you will inevitably get your gear fouled.  There are two large jellyfish in the Sound, the Egg Yolk, and the Lion's Mane. 

The Egg Yolk is white with a yellow center and is relatively benign.  Clearing their snot off my gear has never resulted in stings. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phacellophora_camtschatica

The Lion's Mane is red, and it is a nasty bugger.  Cleaning their snot off your gear will get you stung.  It feels like pin pricks and for me lasts about 12 hours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion%27s_mane_jellyfish

You may want to carry some sort of glove, or you can simply grin and bear it. 

I did some bottom fishing many many years ago as a teen on a charter near the Narrows Bridge.
The captains daughter my age was the "Master Baiter" of the boat and she was stung by one of those Lions mane jelly fish near the end of the trip. 

The captain made a paste like mixture of baking soda and seawater (not fresh water) and after removing the stingers, he applied this to her hand.  It seemed to help reduce the action of the sting. 

Thinking back, I wonder what she is up to now?  Anyone up there know of or ever go out on the boat called the "Mariah"?  That was the boat's name, and I think it was named after the captains daughter.

Warm water is the only proven way to alleviate a jellyfish sting (that I'm aware of anyhow). I'm flying by memory here, but the google machine can fill in the rest. Has something to do with accelerating the breakdown of the modified proteins of the venom that cause the burn. That's why the old wives tale of peeing on a jelly sting holds some truths. I've heard meat tenderizer can have a similar effect, but I don't remember seeing that in official black and white.

Warm water is the only proven way to alleviate a jellyfish sting (that I'm aware of anyhow). I'm flying by memory here, but the google machine can fill in the rest. Has something to do with accelerating the breakdown of the modified proteins of the venom that cause the burn. That's why the old wives tale of peeing on a jelly sting holds some truths. I've heard meat tenderizer can have a similar effect, but I don't remember seeing that in official black and white.

Peeing on it may work for some Jelly fish stings (especially if your name is Monica), but the Lions mane or even the Australian Box Jelly fish should be hit with saltwater.    Warm water is good for exact reasons above, but you want to use salt water.  Fresh water can cause the stingers to refire.