# Proper way to hold a catfish???/



## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

Whenever I fish the rivers for smallmouth I almost always hook into a few cats. The way I hold them is in the picture below. But can you lip them?? Not sure or is there an eaiser way to hold them. Thanks.


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## Chuck P. (Apr 8, 2004)

If the cat is of smaller size like in your pic, I don't see a problem with that.

If you hook a larger cat, you'd want to support the belly. 

Flathead cats you can grab the lower jaw and support the belly easily.


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

you got it there.or,on those size fish you can put the V between your thumb and first finger behind the dorsal.basically the same otherwise.you don't really want to lip channels with the powerful jaws.they can rough up your fingers pretty good.


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## gonefishing8807 (Dec 5, 2005)

for the smaller channals like the one you have in the pic i try to grab them from the belly side, only because there is one less spine to worry about.


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## woodysoutdoors (May 18, 2007)

We agree with gone fishin grab from belly side.


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## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

They sure are slippery to grab right out of the water but, I'll try holding from the belly side on my next catch. Thanks a lot guys


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## 01mercLS (Oct 28, 2006)

Yep deff hold down by the belly.


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## Catbird (Jan 27, 2006)

Another tip for you when handling smaller channels to get them settled down while you unhook them is give their tail a twist back and forth....9 out of 10 times they will settle down for you.


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## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

FYI:  My fiance caught that catfish on ultra-light tackle through some fast current and that was the biggest catfish she ever caught, plus one of the best fights she's had. She doesn't think it is small catfish like some have mentioned.


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## ledslinger (Aug 24, 2006)

i usually grab them from the back so all the spines go between my fingers and are sticking straight out----i caught one sunday and grabbed him by the belly and when i released him ---he twisted and cut me anyway with a side fin


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## bigdogsteve-o (Aug 26, 2005)

holding it by the back is the best way to hold a small cat,if you try and lip a small one you will be in some pain,they bite pretty hard. when holding shovelheads I always grab the lower jaw. I tend to not hod blues at all, If I catch a big blue I lay it on the ground and get my picture while I am behind it.


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## bengalsfan09 (Jun 9, 2007)

ive caught mostly channels and usually hold by the belly as you all mentioned. i have a question though. is it okay to hold flatheads or blues by the mouth or do they have a crazy hard bite as well?


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## bigdogsteve-o (Aug 26, 2005)

flatheads I will hold my the mouth,the bit from them isn't that bad once you get a grip on the bottom jaw. Blues on the other hand are powerful fish with powerfull jaws,they will put a hurtin on your hard,but I recommend not holding blues by the mouth at all.


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## 01mercLS (Oct 28, 2006)

deff if it is a big fish always support its body. 1 hand in it's mouth the other hand holding up it's body.


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