Desire to Poke the Fish

I have this continuing desire to poke the fish with a needle while he is near the top of the water. I know it'll just get him to run away, make him temporarily hyper. I'd like to be able to get a good solid poke in before he does that. Don't think that will be possible unless I take the betta out of the bowl to poke him, where he has less defenses. I guess I will just settle for poking him while he's at the very top for now, then see what he does.