I hear they are trash fish and you wouldn't want to eat them. I've mostly caught Reds and Drum and have never caught saltwater catfish yet let alone target them but I have some questions. Do they give a good fight or is it like reeling in a wet sock? Are they the same as gafftops? Anything I should know about them?

Don’t get a fin stuck in you, they will put you in a world of hurt and can lead to a nasty infection and a trip to urgent care, this I know second hand.

They don’t get nearly as big as gafftop, so pretty worthless even as a game fish. I don’t know of anyone that eats hardheads. Some people eat gafftop.

Good news, hardheads mostly avoid lures. It’s not impossible to get them on artificial lures, gulp will definitely catch some, but for the most part they won’t hit a lure. I’ve gotten a very few hardheads on the fly.

As fish rate, I put them near the very bottom in every category, fight, fun, table fare, looks, danger, etc. If I never caught another hardhead, that would be too soon.

Hardheads are one of a lot of very good reasons to avoid using bait and go to lures.

Come down in the winter when the snowbirds flock in. They'll be lined up on the piers catching "catfish" You all just go on with your bad selves.

But then again, they might taste like prime rib, I'll never know.

😃

I can vouch personally, got finned in the big toe many years back while on the pier and nudging one back in the water when he flipped and into the big toe.
Cost me major swelling. Used ice, Epsom salts and the shot from clinic and a few anti-biotics saw restoration after about three days.
They are trash baggers on dead baits, not too much on live baits in movement.
Pretty good for shark bait and recommend severing fins when using them
I've tried frying them after marinating and they are edible.
Trying to grind them up and enhancing soils as fertilizer additive worked also.
They are heavily populated in the 65+ degree water. I have not noticed too many during colder temps.
Just again, be cautious of the fins, especially when dehooking.

The bacteria they carry in the slim on them fins causes most of the pain and swelling. #1 in the trash fish category.

EVIL JUST PURE EVIL!!! I HATE them with a passion

I still have knots in my fingers from hardhead stabbing when I was a kid. Was motivated at a young age that catching trout on lures was way better than putting up with all the vermin that’ll eat a shrimp.

OP you get the point. Honestly they don't fight bad for their size. A big hardhead is 16" or so and can strip drag with 20 lb test line. But that's the only positive I can say about them. They're a massive PITA!!!! I guess there's a reason good lord put them on this earth....Not sure I'll ever understand why.

Search YouTube and you'll find numerous videos of people eating hardheads because people will do almost anything for views.

Here’s a pretty large hardhead caught on a clouser fly. One good reason not to use a clouser fly!

Gafftopsail catfish for comparison.

Just passing along helpful hints when shark fishing as well as ray fishing. Hardheads devoid of fins can be a cheap and worthy bait.
There were many a shark and a few rays caught using hardhead while surf fishing both sides of San Luis. Galveston to Freeport.
Even a couple times on Sargent.

What will absolutely scarf down a hardhead, is a big Ling.
When I worked offshore, we kept a few hardheads in a bucket, when we'd see one lurking around, we'd free line one in front of it. I can't remember one ever getting turned down.

We had a cajun cook that loved ling, and made some spectacular meals out of them. Even the tool pusher would scream at my cousin and I to drop whatever we were doing and go catch that fish. Yep, that good.

8in hardhead with fins cut thrown out in the surf rewarded me a 6 1/2 ft hammerhead shark out on PINS.

Now that is worthy of a CONGRATS.

The ol' hard has a function after all.

The gafftops are also okay sans slime.
Maybe someday, an innovator can develop a use for that slime.