Safely removing catfish

    I've been removing catfish with my hands since I was 10 years old. And in that time I've seen many ways to remove them from a hook. I guess the most popular way is "flipping" the catfish off. But the problem here is if you're not good at it, you may flip the fish towards yourself. This can result in a serious injury.

    Because I take a lot of different people fishing, I came up with a way that's easy to teach and less likely to backfire. With needle nose pliers, put the bottom fork into the mouth of the catfish and the top fork of the pliers on the top if it's head. Squeeze the pliers firmly enough to keep the catfish's head still, but not so hard that you'll crush its skull. This method will enable you to safely grab the hook without fear of it flipping and squirming so you can work it out of the fish's mouth. Be careful not to stick your knuckle on one of the fins as you're extracting the hook.

    What works even better is to have a second pair of pliers to remove the hook with while holding the fish with the first pair. I always have two or three sets of pliers in the boat when I go fishing. Mainly for removing hooks out of a fish's mouths quickly so I can get back in the water to catch more.

    If you've ever been on a school of speck1s while using "The Speculizer" and fishing with someone who is removing their fish with their hands you can have a second fish in the boat before they're finished taking their first fish off.

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