How in the world do you remove a hook from a catfish? Wanted to go cat fish fishing for the first time ever. Caught a couple of channel catfish and holy crap I could not get the hooks...

FS Digest

Wanted to go cat fish fishing for the first time ever. Caught a couple of channel catfish and holy crap I could not get the hooks out to save my life! It took so long to get them out because they kept getting stuck, on top of their fins scratching me made me drop them a few times.

How do you get the hook out of these things as to not torture it for 10 minutes straight?

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by MyNonCreativeID

FS Digest

They have a fairly sharp bone under their jaw, so be careful. Also, they can live very long outside of water as they can breath air normally so beware of that. I would recommend using a barbless hook, but it’s not an easy task to use one, it takes loads of experience

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by ThSlipperyKraken

FS Digest

I bend the barb down on every hook I fish with. This makes it super easy to remove and causes less damage to the fish. Also if you're hooking them in the gut you have to pay more attention and keep your slack reeled up

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by The_Coopler

FS Digest

It’s extremely difficult, I recommend barbless hooks for catfish to avoid the hassle. You have to be careful landing them but the hook slides right out when unhooking

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by -BigBassBoi-

FS Digest

It is not that hard, I always use something when handling a catfish, either a grab it glove or towel. You can't be gentle, being gentle, you need to pull that hook out with some force behind it or you will be all day with a catfish. I always use barbed hooks and I am not going to change, I fish to eat and only target fish I can keep.

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by kcinnick1982

FS Digest

Circle hook, needle nose pliers, and a dry towel. You can still get stung so be careful but unhooking them should be essier.

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by NOLAolskool

Big dog Loc: Bayshore, Long Island, New York

FS Digest wrote:

I bend the barb down on every hook I fish with. This makes it super easy to remove and causes less damage to the fish. Also if you're hooking them in the gut you have to pay more attention and keep your slack reeled up

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by The_Coopler

There was a time when there were no barbs on hooks. The reason barbs were invented was to keep the bait on the hook.

Ivey Loc: South Central Tennessee, Tim's Ford Lake

First handling a catfish can be sticky, meaning if you handle it wrong you may get finned. If the fish is small enough to fit in your hand, put the palm of your hand on it's belly and thumb and little finger right under it's pectoral fins. After a time or two you'll see it's a good fit and finning is minimized. Now apply pressure , don't be afraid to squeeze with a firm hand to make sure it doesn't slip, kinda like shaking the preachers hand on Sunday.

Now you got hold of the sucker, use needle nose or some type multi tool to remove the hook, I always take my Leatherman multi tool with me just for hook removal. Now you got my 2 cents worth, go out and catch you a bunch and please post photos if possible.
Tight lines.

JRK227 Loc: Cedarburg, WI

Use circle hooks. The fish will be hooked in the corner of the mouth. Back when I used conventional hooks, I would ,the channel cats that swallowed by hook with a knife and retrieve them when I cleaned my fish. I now use circle hooks for everything except panfish.

bobber22 Loc: Ocala, Florida

You can buy a tool fairly cheap that acts as a sort of pliers that locks when you squeeze it. Put it in the mouth and clamp down that immobilizes the fish so you can't get stung by the venomous fins. Then use a fishing pliers to get the hook out. Quite simple and fast.

TonyB Loc: Dudley Massachusetts

If the fish isn't to big I take the cats by placing the top fin between my trigger finger and my middle finger keeping the fin up then lock the same fingers over each h side fin they kinds lock them out then you have a good grip and a free hand. Just my Way of doing it hope it helps.

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Are you trying to release em or keep em and eat em? If you're releasing them and having a hard time getting the hook out, just cut your line. Catfish are incredibly robust fish - they are very very hard to kill. The hook will eventually corrode or be digested. You can also do the same if you're gonna eat em. Just put on another hook - you'll get that one back when you clean it.

bobber22 Loc: Ocala, Florida

My hooks are almost a buck apiece. Being retired and on fixed ( hear small ) income, I get depressed when I lose a hook. Even more so if theres a fish attached to that hook.

Paul britton Loc: Carlsbad nm

FS Digest wrote:

Wanted to go cat fish fishing for the first time ever. Caught a couple of channel catfish and holy crap I could not get the hooks out to save my life! It took so long to get them out because they kept getting stuck, on top of their fins scratching me made me drop them a few times.

How do you get the hook out of these things as to not torture it for 10 minutes straight?

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by MyNonCreativeID

I catch them I have rubber glove to hold them and have these plier things that get hook with out fish clamping on your hand works forme

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Get yourself a pair of oyster shuckin gloves, a pair of pliers and use barbless circle hooks - that's about as easy as you can possibly make it. But still, be careful of those barbs - they're not toxic but it sure hurts like hell if you get nailed by one.