Still trying to learn the basics here, so bear with me... If I ever catch a catfish, is it best to grab it by its lower lip or by the body? I have been looking at the pics on this site, and it looks like most people hold the body.

While I am on the basics, I bought some chicken liver from wal-mart as bait. It says to cover the hook completly, if I do this, do I need to let the cat hold the bait for a while so the hook can set? Sould I use a float with this, or just set it on the bottom?

Maybe next time I am out I can find someone that is actually catching something to kind of show me the basics.

Grab the body. If it is small enough I just grab it under the belly and put my fingers behind the fins. Bigger fish just grab the body behind the fins. The fins will hurt you so watch out.

and a 20, 30, 40, 50# plus fish will HURT when they bite down and you have your hand in your mouth. they dont have big teeth but they are extremely strong and they can pull your skin and meat off easily. and they can flip and twist and break your arm too

LKTTU,
Be very careful when throwing away the smaller fish, they will spin and stab you much faster then a large one....

Watch the fins like everybody says. We use those cheap blue and white gloves that are made of rubber.

Bigger ones 20# up are a handful all right.

And, if you let cats hold the bait they will often swallow it. When you get a pretty solid jerk, set the hook.

Try to keep your bait off the bottom so it does not get lost in the mud.

Here's a good tip for you. After you catch your fish and get the hook out, take pliers and clip the tips of the fins off before you throw them in the cooler/livewell. It makes them much easier to get out come cleaning time.


BigJohn

But only clip them if you are keeping them.

I took my 12 y/o son this morning to fish for cats. He caught a 14" channel cat that had an odd deformity so he was throwing it back. He has not handled alot of catfish and was a little worried about it. Just as I was about to correct the way he was holding it he squealed and started jumping. I called him a drama queen until I saw the blood running out of his finger. The fish was already in the water, so the method of slime, etc was not available. He was still saying it hurt when he went to bed.

I keep a pair of "gardening" leaver/nylong gloves on the boat, and 99% of the time I wear them when handling the fish.

5# and under I just grab either from the belly behind the fins or over the head in front of the top fin. 5-20 or so I just grab the lip. Over 20 and I am using the pincher fish handler that I bought at BPS...

When they byte down on the gloves it's not too big of a deal, but the bigger ones can byte with enough pressure to break bones.

I'm a computer programmer so my hands are rather important to make sure I have the money to fish with so I wear gloves...

Never put catfish slime into an open wound. The slime is saturated with bacteria. Instead, rinse the would with fresh water and use an antiseptic and dressing.