How to hold a Flathead Catfish

I received an email last week asking me how to hold a flathead. They were wondering why most pictures show limbs in the cats mouth and with such large fish, doesn’t it hurt when they bite.

This was a good reminder to me that not everyone handles catfish and it might not be common knowledge.

First off, make sure you have a Flathead catfish. Keep your fingers OUT of a channel cats mouth as they will grip and try to crush your fingers like a clam shell!

With a flat laying on the floor, reach your hand in it’s mouth feeling for the “membrane” that’s just past the lips. Place your fingers behind that and lift the cat just like you would a suit case, as it’s very similar.
If it’s a larger fish, place your other hand just past the belly to help support it’s weight.

A flats teeth are more like sand paper. As long as you have a good “suit case” style grip, it’s pretty hard to get cut and if you do, it’s more like a sand paper rash…

In my experience, it’s the little guys that cut me up. That membrane is smaller and if the give a head shake, I end up leaving some skin of mine on their lips!

Couple other things to keep in mind. Try the best you can to protect the slime coat as this is their protection against infections among other things.
With all catch and release fish, get them back into the water asap. It seems to me that the bigger the fish, the faster in needs to be put back in the water.
Give them a hand in reviving them! Once the fish is back in the water, keep your up steam hand in it’s mouth (the fish should always face up stream in reviving). They will let you know when they’re ready to go with a swing of the head and a splash of the tail…many times in your face!

Good fishing!

DO NOT “thumb” them like a bass.

Back about 1992 a member of the Nebraska Cornhusker linebacker corp (not a big name but a huge guy) was fishing with me and he picked up a 25# fish to show it off – with his thumb in its mouth.

Next thing he knew the outside of his thumb was gone – literally.

The kitty clamped twisted and pulled free. Yikes.

T

Where to place your hand…

Sometimes if they are a bigger cat, it’s better to sit down to support them better.

Thumbing is not an approved method as Todd mentioned!

This photo illustrates the mid section support.

Of course the all around best way is to not take them out of the water.

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Of course the all around best way is to not take them out of the water.

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What fun would that be No photos!

Good tips, now I’ve just got to get this pesky monkey off my back and catch one to pick up.

You got any pics with you standing, your head in the sumo’smouth, and him wiggling?

I’d buy one of those!

Brian,

With muskies, it’s really important to NOT lift them out of the water in the net. It’s best to do the hook removal with the fish in the water (most use the net like a corral), and then carefully support the weight of the fish along length of the body (so it doesn’t hang vertically, which is a real no-no on fish over 40″) as you lift the fish for a quick picture — total out of the water time is 30 seconds or less. My muskie experience makes me cringe when I see people lift a big fish out of the water in the net and flop it on the floor or hold a big fish vertically. Do these same rules hold true for cats?

John

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Do these same rules hold true for cats?

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I would have to say those rules apply to any and all fish to be released

Great info! I think it is a obvious sign of the experience of Brian and the rest of the fishermen on this board that it is a pretty rare occurence (I don’t think I’ve ever seen it) to see a large deceased flathead floating near a known catfish hole. I am sure it must happen on occaision, but it obviously a case of knowledge as well as respect for the fish that keeps it from happening more often. I did see 3 walleyes floating over last weekend, 2 of them in the 28″ range. Judging by the feathered tail fin on at least one, she had been in a hard twine net and then at some point “released”. Sometimes mortality is an unfortunate reality of fishing but I’m going to take all precautions with the big girls. Thanks again for the education/reminders.

Notice in the below picture the incorrect way to hold a larger channel. My hand bled all night from a head shake on this girl!

Good post Brian! I usually dont net them unless Im not sure of where the hooks at…. Or maybe its because I olny have a little Walleye net. But I always get a kick out of people when they see there 1st big flathead and you sick your hand in his mouth and pull it up. scared the out of a couple of them
Very good info on protecting them. CPR on flatheads is a great thing but that starts with taking care of the fish in the 1st place. Good advise for those who have not handled these fish

I go by the rule, when you take the fish out of water hold your breath, when you need air the fish needs water!

I’m not saying this is the “right” way…but I stopped lifting flats with my hands out of the water last year for two reasons.

1) I’ve caught two fish with a rusty (about) size two walleye style hook in their mouth…one of which I didn’t see until a photo was being taken. Fisher Dave had one flat in the 30’s last year that had three (or more) hooks in it.

I ALWAYS get a good look in the mouth of my flatty’s before putting my hand in there!

2) I “believe” that using a good net supports the fish better than lifting them out of the water vertically.

Catfish in general are a harty fish within reason. It never hurts to take precautions for there care as with any fish.

Dfresh,

Before I read your text…I said to myself…OUCH!

Catten Addict has a video of the “meat” on his thumb being remove via channel cat. I’d like to post that one of these days!

It’s in the name of education Sean!

Good Info there Brian,
Careful handling applies to all BIG fish.
thanks
Jack..

Does anyone know if flatheads just swallow food whole? I thought they gulped the fish and crushed it in the back of the mouth before swallowing? One of those things I don’t really know, but just assumed. If that is so, has anyone put their hand deep in a flatheads mouth?

The nice thing I noticed about flatheads is they are relatively docile when out of water. That makes it easy to get a quick pict and release them.

I dropped my scale down ones mouth and had to retrieve Intire hand up to wrist plus scale were in there and there was more room if needed. (If that counts).
I think that they engulf the bait, flare thier gills to create suction to suck the bait in at the time they are bitting down. To gain control and prevent excape. (hence the difference in movement between stuggling bait and strike as mentioned above.) I’m not sure that they have the capability to crush anything in the back of thier mouths. Its all done by the pads in the front of the mouth
Take a closer look at the next one you catch, or BrianKs photo in the earlier part of the thread shows pretty good.
thanks
Larry

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Does anyone know if flatheads just swallow food whole? I thought they gulped the fish and crushed it in the back of the mouth before swallowing?

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They gulp ’em down whole, which is why you can use bullies over and over – if they’ve got it swallowed, often you can feel the bullhead wriggle in the belly, or if it’s still hooked you can slowly pull it out and cast it out again with virtually no harm done. If your baits get smashed, it’s channels.

Ya’ll must have missed these photos! That looks like one big gulp to me!

Photo credit-me

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Dfresh,

Before I read your text…I said to myself…OUCH!

Catten Addict has a video of the “meat” on his thumb being remove via channel cat. I’d like to post that one of these days!

It’s in the name of education Sean!

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Notice the grimace I tried to pass off as a sneer…..

No, I saw those pictures. I know they don’t chew their food, what fish does?

Next time I catch one he says….real funny!

Hey Mplspug,
Maybe I missundersood your question or statement. We all know that the fish don’t chew thier food like we do. But we all know that they will bite on the food sometimes killing it before if and when they decide to run.
I think that most of us have seen bait with Bite marks on it. (I know it makes me feel a little better if there is something to explain why I’m spazzing on my rodd thinking there is a bite)

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Take a closer look at the next one you catch

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Don’t take the quote as a jibe you’ll see what I mean by the next flat you or your fishing mate catches.
thanks
Larry

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Hey Mplspug,
Maybe I missundersood your question or statement. We all know that the fish don’t chew thier food like we do. But we all know that they will bite on the food sometimes killing it before if and when they decide to run.
I think that most of us have seen bait with Bite marks on it. (I know it makes me feel a little better if there is something to explain why I’m spazzing on my rodd thinking there is a bite)

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Take a closer look at the next one you catch

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Don’t take the quote as a jibe you’ll see what I mean by the next flat you or your fishing mate catches.
thanks
Larry

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Don’t worry Larry, I was just poking fun at myself. The one thing I hate about posting and emails is it is sometimes hard to get across the intent/mood of it. A good rule of thumb with my posts is to never take me seriously.

I dont think flatheads just *gulp* all of the time. Some baits they will, even a very large bait for their size. Other times, they crush the heck out of the bait before they swallow it.. sometimes to the point where it looks like the bait got run over by a car. Other times.. the bully doesnt hardly have a scratch on it.

I suspect the flats crush baits when THEY are trying to avoid injury, but still get the meal.

For landing flatheads.. I think a good quality net does far less damage to a fish than lipping and dragging a heavy fish over the side of the boat, or shore. Cats dont have scales, and the skin is very tough. They dont get torn up by the net. Its much safe for the fish, and the fishermen to carefully hoist them into the boat in a net… even the largest nets the fish usually fill the bucket quite well and calmly lay in the net as they are getting hoisted.

Brian demonstrated in the photos the proper way to hold flatheads… 4 fingers in the mouth and hold the lower jaw like a suitcase handle. The largest fish can be supported with 8 fingers in.. but its better to have your 2nd hand support the body behind the belly and hold the fish horizontally(sp?).

I can stress how important it is to hold the lower jaw TIGHT. The teeth are like sandpaper.. 36 grit sandpaper on larger fish and they can very effectively remove some skin if they thrash on you. The jawbone can be a little sharp also and can cut you like a knife if you hit the wrong spot on a hard thrash.. hold them TIGHT and you wont get cut. If you put your thumb in the mouth by mistake.. your asking to bleed.

Catching a fish last year with 3 10/0 hooks(and 1 big kahle? hook) in its mouth last year probably would have been a disaster if I tried to land the fish by lipping it and the fish thrashed. That fish weighed 35 pounds and would have had no problem sinking every one of them hooks into me if my hand was in the wrong place. That fish had a bad habit of picking up baits that were stuck in snags.

Buy a good net.. they are expensive, but they are an irreplacable tool in chasing flatheads. They make it much easier and safer to land fish in all conditions.. boat, shore, etc. They do not hurt the flatheads. We use the net to release the flatheads in elevated fishing areas and havent had one not swim away yet.

Channel cats are a whole differnet story. Small channels arent bad, a 10 lb channel can give a really good pinch and bruise you.. A 20 lb channel can break bones. In any case, there is a heck of a lot of biting pressure and can effectively remove skin(and maybe meat) with a chomp of the jaws and a thrash.

I noticed last night while catching bullies that touching the inside of the top of their mouth is like pressing a ‘mouth close’ button – the mouth automatically clamps down (maybe it is an involuntary evolutionary thing?). Does this hold true with big cats as well?

Dfresh,

I’ve found that touching the back portion..bottom creates a hard “swallow” that closes there mouth…but like Fisher Dave said, with a good grip it’s manageable.

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I dont think flatheads just *gulp* all of the time. Some baits they will, even a very large bait for their size. Other times, they crush the heck out of the bait before they swallow it.. sometimes to the point where it looks like the bait got run over by a car.

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Have you actually caught flatheads and had smashed up bait? I haven’t, so I’m wondering. If they were smashing baits for their own safety, they’d smash the heck out of bulls, but they don’t, in my experience.

If you look at the way flatheads’ muscles are aligned, it’s all about opening the mouth (to inhale – which their oversized mouth is adapted for), whereas with channels there are some pretty serious muscles for closing the mouth (to grasp and crush, which they need to do with those smaller mouths).

In my experience, smashing = channel cats. Flatheads may play with bait, not always swallowing, but they don’t smash.

Just wondering if I have to revise my thinking if you actually caught the flatheads that smashed your bait.

FlatheadWi, verygood point and until you pointed that out I was under the pretense that sometimes they do indeed crush the bullies, but now that I am thinking about it, I have never seen a bullie or sucker smashed up, granted sometimes their sides have some teeth marks on them, but that has only been on the missed hits. never on the connected hook sets.

CA