Can the whiskers on catfish sting you if you touch them? I don't know if they can or not, maybe it's just a myth?

no. its their dorsal and pectorial fins that have barbs on them.  

Since the whiskers can't hurt you, can you lip a catfish like a bass?

sure can

You can, but I wouldn't recomend it (of course, though, my experiece lies mainly though erranty catching lots of hardheads and gaftops while saltwater fishing, especially when surf fishing and there are less options as to what you can do with he fish).  What I do is grab them by the body, letting one barb run between my index and middle finger and the other barb propped up by my thumb, this way, even if the fish tries to flop around there is no where for the barb to go (of course, I guess this wouldn't work to well for a 20lb cat).

Not by my experiance. I think they ony have "stickers" on their dorsal and pectoral fins. Run your hand from rear to front, get your middle finger and thumb behind the pectoral fins; and use you index finger to hold the head in place. Then remove the hook. Never been stuck. Knock on wood.

If you ever catch a bullhead, the most commen catfish just about every where in the U.S.A., just go ahead and try lipping it.................don't say I didn't warn you. It's not the wiskers that you have to worry about, in additon to them having barbs like other catfish, they will also clamp down on your thumb and not let go till you beat it off.

The blue catfish has probably the worst teeth.  The flathead has barbs on its gills so don't stick your finger in them.  J-Bass gave the best advice for hanlding small catfish.  You can also pinch them right behind the head, and they will not move.  

Yeah i accidently caught a catfish on a green lizard (go figure) and it bit my thumb when i lipped it and wouldnt let go.

If the thought of gettin stuck still makes u afraid to grab them, u can use a hand towel or soft glove to grab them until you get used to doing it. MAKE SURE ITS WET WHEN U DO IT THOUGH

i usualy only catch small bullheads, so when i lipped a large channel, and it clamped down apon my thumb with crushing power, i almost droped it in!

(of course, with it still biting me, i couldn't drop it if i wanted too)

i had a white thumb for a while.

the whole thing about catfish whiskers being like jellyfish tentacles is BS.  but i wouldnt lip a catfish because of their rough mouths.  hold it with your finger facing down with the fishes body inbetween your ring and middle finger with those 2 fingers keeping its 2 side fins out and your knuckle against its top fin

around here we have 30lb. flat heads and i dont think ur thumb is torng enough. most people were a big heavy duty rubber glove and hold them by their lips

I wouldn't stick my fingers in a catfishes nasty old mouth anyway, that's like lipping a buzzard. ;D

no its the fins on top and sides that will slice you up my daughter just grabs them and shes been hurt so many times she doesnt care she loves to take any fish off line except garfish. i just make it bleed and bleed and then rub the bleedingspot over the belly of the same fish that got you and itll stop bleeding lot faster and pulls the poison out. and back to fishing. this little catfish got her so good sliced her 3 different spots i find the smaller the catfish the more it hurts

i had bought a fishgrabber its yellow plastic that the fins cant go through it for my son, he uses it while we take the hook out and it works depending on the size of the fish please ignore the crab hes holding with it lol

my big catfish the one in the front was my biggest i think

You can, but I wouldn't recomend it (of course, though, my experiece lies mainly though erranty catching lots of hardheads and gaftops while saltwater fishing, especially when surf fishing and there are less options as to what you can do with he fish).  What I do is grab them by the body, letting one barb run between my index and middle finger and the other barb propped up by my thumb, this way, even if the fish tries to flop around there is no where for the barb to go (of course, I guess this wouldn't work to well for a 20lb cat).

This is the way that I handle small catfish and sea catfish.  However, whenever I catch one about 5 lbs or bigger, I put my hand in their mouth and hold their bottom lip firmly.

I say lip em.. You can grab them by the bodies but don't say I didn't warn you I've been finned twice, I'll take a thousand slaps to the thumb any day of the week than a fin. Those suckers twist sometimes when they jump you know, I wont put my hands NEAR those fins.

Don't ram your thumb down its throat, thats what makes them chomp down its some kind of reflex. If you ease your thumb in there and gradually let their weight shift to their lip and your thumb your fine. They rarely bite down if you do it like this and if they do there isn't enough pressure to hurt at all.

I suppose its possible for them to swing enough to get you with their pectoral fins but  I havent had it happen yet. Obviously a lot of people are going to disagree with me but being born and raised on the coast of florida and having caught thousands of these pests I really think lipping is the best way. -dok

Fishing for catfish,

reminds me about those folks that go noodling. they just stick thier hand in a hole and pull out a big cat. thats nuts.

reminds me about those folks that go noodling. they just stick thier hand in a hole and pull out a big cat. thats nuts.

I heard about that and thought the guy was pulling my leg. Your hand/forearm is basically your bait???

jamaddox, personally I would be more worried about those redfish and flounder than the cats...

reminds me about those folks that go noodling. they just stick thier hand in a hole and pull out a big cat. thats nuts.

I heard about that and thought the guy was pulling my leg. Your hand/forearm is basically your bait???

100% true!  They just put there hand in the hole, and the catfish bite down on them.  Its kinda creepy i think.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/photogalleries/noodling/index.html

You dont really want to lip the fish, moreso grasp the bottom jaw with your hand. The bites arent really that strong if you have all of your fingers in there. It might hurt if its just your thumb. Ive done it to cats up to 10 lbs.