To hold a catfish safely, keep your hand away from three places: the single spine at the front of the dorsal fin on its back, and the spine at the front of each pectoral fin, the pair of fins just behind the head on either side. Those three are the whole danger. The whiskers, which frighten more beginners than the spines do, are soft feelers and cannot hurt you. A channel catfish under 2 lb (0.9 kg) has spines as sharp as a needle and is the fish that sends anglers home with a swollen hand; a 30 lb blue has thick, blunt spines and is handled by the jaw like a bass. Below: where the spines are on each species, the grip for small, medium and big fish, how to unhook one, and what to do if you are stuck.
Whiskers cannot hurt you. Three spines can: one on the back, one behind each side of the head. Everything about holding a catfish is keeping your hand off those three.
Where the spines are, and which fish to fear
Each spine is a hard, serrated ray at the leading edge of the fin. The pectoral spines lock out when the fish is stressed and stay locked; on a bullhead the rear edge carries sawlike teeth, on a brown bullhead five to eight large ones, which is why a bullhead sting tears as well as punctures. The spines are coated with the fish’s slime, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife profile of the hardhead catfish calls that slime “mildly toxic,” causing “severe pain and swelling”; the barbed spine is also painful to withdraw. Freshwater catfish carry a milder version of the same thing: pain, swelling and increased blood flow around the wound.
Size is the rule. Catfish Edge, the guide Chad Ferguson’s reference on handling, puts the line at about 16–18 in (40–45 cm) or 2–3 lb: below that the spines are needle-sharp and the fish is small enough to squirm out of a grip; above it the spines thicken and dull, and a big fish is held differently anyway.
| Species | Spines | Extra hazard |
|---|---|---|
| Channel catfish | Dorsal and two pectorals, very sharp under 2 lb | The most-caught catfish and the one that stings most anglers |
| Blue catfish | Same three, dulling with size | Big fish are heavy; support the belly or you damage the fish |
| Flathead catfish | Same three; a wide, flat head with a strong jaw | A flathead’s lower jaw projects and its mouth is full of sandpaper; the lip grip is safe but rasps skin |
| Bullheads | Same three, with sawlike teeth on the rear of the pectoral spines | Small, hard to grip, and the sting tears |
| Hardhead and gafftopsail (saltwater) | Same three, with toxic slime and a barbed spine | The most painful sting of the family; handle with a tool |
The grip by size
| Fish | Hold | Hand position | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small, under about 2 lb (0.9 kg), under 16 in | Hand over the top or up from the belly | Fingers behind one pectoral spine, thumb behind the other, dorsal spine against the web of the thumb; the spines are locked behind your hand, not under it | The fish twists; grip firmly and keep the wrist stiff |
| Medium, 2–8 lb (0.9–3.6 kg) | Same grip, or the lip grip | Hand from below with the pectorals behind your fingers; or thumb inside the lower jaw, fingers under the chin | A medium fish can thrash a loose grip onto a spine |
| Big, over 8 lb (3.6 kg) | Lip grip plus belly support | Thumb in the lower jaw, four fingers under the chin, other hand flat under the belly; or a lip-gripping tool and a net | Hanging a big catfish by the jaw alone strains its spine; support the weight |
The small-fish grip, step by step.
- Let the fish stop flapping; a catfish held in the net or on wet grass for a few seconds settles.
- Come at it from the belly side or straight over the top, behind the head, never from the front.
- Slide your palm up the belly so the two pectoral spines end up behind your first finger and your thumb, one on each side.
- Close your hand so the fish’s head sits in your palm and the dorsal spine lies back against the web between thumb and finger, pointing away from you.
- Hold it firmly. A loose grip is the one that gets stung, because the fish twists and drives a spine into the hand that let go.
The lip grip. For fish from a few pounds up, do what you do with a bass: thumb inside the lower jaw, fingers under the chin. Catfish have no teeth, only a rough pad, so the grip is safe; on a big flathead the pad rasps like sandpaper, and a glove or a lip-gripping tool spares the skin. Put the other hand under the belly on anything over 8 lb.
Unhooking and releasing
A pair of long-nosed pliers or a hook remover keeps your hand out of the mouth entirely. Hold the fish by the grip above, turn the hook out with the pliers, and if it is deep, cut the line as close as you can rather than digging; a hook rusts out. For a big fish that will be released, keep it in the net in the water while you unhook it, lift it for the photo with both hands, and put it back nose-first. The catch and release page has the handling rules for every species; the catfish rigs page explains why circle hooks, which set in the corner of the mouth, make unhooking a catfish easy.
If you get stuck
It hurts more than a hook, and it swells. Rinse the wound, remove any piece of spine, and put the hand in water as hot as you can stand for twenty to thirty minutes; the pain from fish spines responds to heat, and anglers who have tried both report hot water working where ice did not. Wash it with soap, watch it for a day, and see a doctor if it reddens, streaks or throbs after that, because a puncture from a spine that has been in a muddy river can infect. A sting from a saltwater hardhead or gafftopsail is worse and warrants a doctor if the pain does not ease within an hour.
Related
The channel catfish, blue catfish and flathead catfish pages show each fish’s fins, and the bullhead page the sawtoothed pectoral spine. The catfish hub covers the family.