How do you brain a catfish?

Some cut the tails off to let them bleed out Palolo.

Some of the guys will chime in here that have cleaned cats before.

I just don’t feel right skinning it while it’s still kicking.
If anyone has any input that’ll be awesome.

They are tough, I usually club’em over the head a couple of times. I have one of those fishing clubs but anything club like would work. I have a buddie who cuts their gills right after he catches them and lets them bleed out that way, by the time he gets home to clean them they are dead. I have to agree I do not like them alive when I go to clean, it just seems creul and I think fish deserve some respect too. Good luck.

There is some spot you can stick a knife in the head and kill them but I don’t know it. Get them cold and they won’t move much. I don’t let them sit around dead and all pastey white if I’m going to eat them. I think it makes them taste bad. Bleeding out seems ok but gruesome in it’s own way.

I’ll try both of those methods next time(not the clubbing)

Best thing ever invented for the catfisherman, the wooden mini slugger bats. a piece of broom handle works good too. Lay them on the concrete and give them a hard thump right behind the eyes, no more flopping cats. I know a guy that does it right in his boat, he “bops” them when he takes the hook out and throws them in the cooler. I prefer to keep them alive and “bop” them right before I clean them.

Meat cleaver works

Clubbing is braining.
Another fast death method is to push a flat screw driver into the soft spot on the top of the head.

I can see very few know how to clean a catfish. Always, cut their gills or tails off and throw them in the bucket for 15 minutes. Catfish have a lot of blood in them and that is best left in the bucket. I then fillet them by cutting them from the dorsal to the anus down to the back bone and out through the tail. Some fish bigger fish will also have a nice belly fillet and sometimes a shoulder fillet. I prefer to keep fish less than 5lbs for the table.

There is a spot between the eyes and the the mouth that is in the very center of the head, if you insert a small wire ,like a straightend coat hanger into this soft spot and slide it straight back towards the spine the fish will quiver and twitch just a tiny bit! as soon as you remove the wire he will never move again? Not sure if it parilizes or kills them but it does work! Had a old timer show me this after my buddie got back from ER getting stitches from a fillet knife wound!
This is super fast and easy when you figure out the spot

Yes guys that’s the spot I was looing for for a fast kill but I see from the skull pic I’d have to be a sharpshooter to hit it..hmm unless I stab it from underneath going up to the brain.
Thanks for the all the input!I learned something new

You could try to hold the fish underwater for a few minutes to drown it?

Too funny Doc! I was thinking the other day to just strangle them.

PS palolo… I want a catfish skeleton! That would be way cool!

What’s the trick? Boil it in bleach?

As bad as we might feel causing our tasty water friends pain, I don’t know that various bleeding methods are any less traumatic than just being caught in the first place.

Best method I’ve found, and has a decent chance to kill them, is get yourself a 2×8 (or similar plank) that you can stand upright. Nail the catfish to the board through the head (aiming for the brain, but as you stated, small target to hit)

Chop off the end of the tail (can always make gill cuts too) and let gravity do your work. (I never liked the bucket method since they stop draining once the heart stops)

Once it’s drained you can skin it a lot easier now as well with the nail holding it to the board.

You’ll find your fillets much much whiter and a lot less “muddy” as some people claim.

(I know this was just about braining, but the nail and board method serves multiple purposes!)

To bleed them I like to clean them alive while the hearts still working. To me if the hearts pumping its pumping out the blood. It sounds kinda gruesome but thier going to die soon anyway. I then wash the fillets in running water right after I fillet them to rinse the fillet clean, then soak in salt water over night to get the rest of the blood and cut the oil. My fillets are nice and white with very little blood when I package them. A 2 lb ballpiene hammer between the eyes would work if someone does want to kill them befor they clean them though, I’ve done it with a hammer and it works quickly.

BK has tried braining me a few times. I just laugh.

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I’d have to be a sharpshooter to hit it..hmm unless I stab it from underneath going up to the brain.

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ok I figured out what I’m gonna try next time I catch one.

Thanks for all the input.. you guys make me laugh.

This may have been said already, but if you go to the hardware store you can get replacement ash or hickory hammer handles… they’re about 15″ long and make great small clubs. I use them to brain any cats I clean.