Yes those whiskers can be quite painful. I keep a pair of gloves in my tackle box for such occasions.
As a young man I was stung by a catfish and that memory has stuck with me. I find that I always prefer not catching them but I always do and I manage to get them off the hook without actually handling them.
I catch enough of them that I would rather enjoy it than dread it, gotta get over this fear.
Now after you've had a good laugh I would appreciate any advice on handling them, without the sting lol.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Yes those whiskers can be quite painful. I keep a pair of gloves in my tackle box for such occasions.
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The whiskers aren't what sticks you-it's the fins. Small fish are the ones to watch out for-the bigger ones have duller fins.
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It does hurt when getting finned but I was taught years ago by my dad, if I ever got finned to be sure and rub some slime from the fish that finned me over the area that was finned and it won't get sore.
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I fish for cats with snelled hooks. Once in the boat I just un-clip the snell from the snap-swivel and toss the fish in the ice filled cooler. I get my hooks back on the cleaning table. That way I don't have to handle them much at all. And when I am cleaning them they don't flop around and gouge my hands like they do in the boat.
Clint
Far West Kentucky
Old enough to know better and way too old to care!funfishers LIKED above post
A towel will improve your grip on the smaller slimy ones that tend to roll around in your hands. For bigger blues that we keep, we've started using a small gaff in the lower jaw that gives us a lot better control on the larger fish. Properly inserted from inside the mouth through the lower jaw, the fish is no worse the wear for release if so desired and gives you much more control than shoving a gloved hand in their mouth or with the fish grips on larger fish. When targeting larger fish for catch and release we will throw the giant dip net in the boat but it takes up a top of space and can be cumbersome when you're fishing solo.
If you do get stuck and the throbbing pain is unbearable (especially common with saltwater hardhead cats), soak your hand in as hot of water as you can tolerate and the proteins in their slime coat will be neutralized just like a stingray barb laceration. Over the counter ibuprofen is your friend otherwise, so long as you're not allergic or have an intolerance to it.
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Squeeze em right behind their stickers from the top .their is a bone that's real easy to locate just behind that bone on each side squeeze with your thumb and index finger clamp down on em they can't move .it paralizes them They can't move
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I always grab them from the belly ... thumb under the left fin, and right fin between trigger finger and middle finger. When touched, they generally extend the dorsal and side fins (as protection from being eaten/swallowed) and that gives me something to hold to as I remove the hook(s).
The "belly rub" method of reducing the pain from a puncture wound by a catfish's pectoral fins may work (but may not be the healthiest of methods).
It's probably best to wash the wound & apply an antibacterial ointment, then dress the wound area with a band-aid or gauze. Puncture wounds can get infected easily, so covering the wound with an antibacterial substance & the band-aid or gauze will keep other infecting substances from entering the wound.
Puncture wounds bypass the skin's defense barrier, and may drag infecting substances & bacteria into the tissue underneath. There is, then, a risk of an infection that may need medical or physician treatment. Always watch for swelling, unrelieved pain at the site, or drainage from the wound ... and seek medical help if these things occur.
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