With small bullheads and catfish, instead of trying to avoid the spines, I intentionally grab them

right on top of spines so that the dorsal spine and one pectoral spine are trapped between my fingers.

With big cats...well, I just cut the line.

Roger

Do different kinds of cat fish have different jaw power ? I ask because the cat fish that I have caught in central florida have finger crushing power and I dont see how you could pick them up by the mouth.

Here is a link to the catfish that I have caught but it is a little different. The ones I catch are black and white not black and brown.

ahh lord i'm 17 and i catfish about everyday oh no a catfish! that cracks me up i've caught 2 20lb+ this week i've grabbed them by the mouth every time harder u squeze the less there going to naw on ur hand, i've never been stuck heard it hurts hrm lucky me , now just wait i'll get one tommarow night for saying this and below is a pic of one of the many in the nice size cat category.

Just buy a landing net. Its the best thing for landing any fish without haveing to worry about getting spiked, bit, or loseing the fish.

There are a lot of serious catfisherman in my part of the country. The ones that seem to realy know what they are doing cary a big towel or rag. I holds down the fins and makes them not so slippery to hang on to.

PS I hate the sob's they are always getting in the way of my bass fishing

Bigger ones like this:

Smaller ones like this:

I love fishin' for some cats.  8-)

Well, i took a boy fishing and he caught a little salt water catfish no longer than 10 inches....the boy started poking its stomach!the fish flopped out of his hands and into my upper arm about an inch and a half deep...it peirced my muscle i couldnt even move my fingers i can now... boy it hurt!

I've oly caught a few catfish and they were all small so I just picked them up with my thumb and pointer finger behind the spines so I don't get it and also so the fish don't slip but if I ever catch a bigger one I would probably "lip"it backwards I would put my fingers and hand in the mouth and keep pressure down and keep my thumb outside to keep a hold. I have never been bit or spined but it can only hurt for a little while so I ain't too worried about it.