How do you kill a catfish?

[Bassin for Walleye]

Before you go judging catfish, why don't you get to know them better? Sure channels and blues will eat stinkbait and dead cut up fish but a flathead almost exclusively eats live bait. Plus flathead is some of the best eating in this area. Just cuz it lives on the bottom doesn't mean it eats mud. Clean the fish correctly and take off all the dark meat and I guarantee you some of the best eating of your life.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Before you go judging catfish, why don't you get to know them better? Sure channels and blues will eat stinkbait and dead cut up fish but a flathead almost exclusively eats live bait. Plus flathead is some of the best eating in this area. Just cuz it lives on the bottom doesn't mean it eats mud. Clean the fish correctly and take off all the dark meat and I guarantee you some of the best eating of your life.

Yup.They will herd shad and shiners and bust em just like bass do. Coincidentally the best bait I've ever used when I used to catfish is live injured shiners and blugills fished on bobbers.

[Matt Fly]

We take them and hang them with baleing wire already in the "hangin tree".

   We cut the tails and bleed them, they will die in minutes.   Draining them also will aide in a better tasting fillet.

     Plus, you don't need two hands to skin one.

While hanging, make a few cuts around the dorsal and gills.   

when you pull the skin down, work your way around to the belly, the strip of skin will split the fish down the middle with out the knife.   

   Once you pulled the skin off in one piece most of the time, bust the head off and the remains will stay with the head and you don't have much to do on the inside.

     Easy to clean 50 with a few guys in short work.

[timothy_spain]

have yet to catch a catfish.  it's on my to do list this year

[LunkerBandit]

Cut the head off with a strong sharp knife. Its the quickest

[brushhoggin]

Stick a knife in the top of the head and then run a piece of broom straw inside its back to basically paralyze it.

huh? :-/

[Red Bear]

just hang them up, cut the tail off and let them bleed

[farmpond1]

I say we stomp 'em!

Then we tattoo 'em!

Then we hang 'em!

And then we kill 'em!

[Owasco]

Filet, toss carcass back, watch it swim away.

Now thats funny!

And kinda true.

[Owasco]

But seriously though, while on the bank or boat just give em the old columbian neck tie!  Slit them from gill to gill and toss them on ice to let them bleed out.

[tholmes]

Put 'em back in the water, they'll eventually die of old age.

Tom

[Fishwhittler]

I did finally manage to figure out how to kill a catfish. I drove some nails through it's head into a board (it usually took one 20 penny nail plus about three 16 penny nails before it would stop moving). Then I'd skin and fillet it. I tried nailing it to a tree trunk and cleaning it that way, but the board worked better for me.

After it was filleted I killed it by cutting the head off. ;D No, really. Some of the catfish I cleaned this year really did survive until I cut the head off. It was much easier to clean them with the head nailed in place, but I still had to fillet a squirming catfish on several occasions.

Draining them sounds like a very good idea. I'll have to try that next year.  Thanks for the tip!

[nashontheriver]

Be mean to it,say insulting things,tease it,tell it that its mom never loved it,give it a guilt trip about being alive and a bottom feeder.

The catfish will kill itself!!

Emo catfish!

[Owasco]

I did finally manage to figure out how to kill a catfish. I drove some nails through it's head into a board (it usually took one 20 penny nail plus about three 16 penny nails before it would stop moving). Then I'd skin and fillet it. I tried nailing it to a tree trunk and cleaning it that way, but the board worked better for me.

After it was filleted I killed it by cutting the head off. ;D No, really. Some of the catfish I cleaned this year really did survive until I cut the head off. It was much easier to clean them with the head nailed in place, but I still had to fillet a squirming catfish on several occasions.

Draining them sounds like a very good idea. I'll have to try that next year. Thanks for the tip!

If you drain them they come out a little whiter.  Taste better too!

[Grey Wolf]

Small charge of C-4 works good.

[I.rar]

dolphin bat?

[BassThumb]

Put a nail through its head and into a tree. Make a 1/16 incision around the head, below the gills. Grab skin with pliers and pull down. Once skinned, cut off head.

Yep, thats how you do it.  If you have room, wrap it tightly in a garbage bag and toss it in the freezer or in a ice filled cooler for a few hours first.

[slonezp]

It's been 18 months since this thread started. Just curious. Have you had any luck killing this catfish or is it still alive?

[bilgerat]

It's been 18 months since this thread started. Just curious. Have you had any luck killing this catfish or is it still alive?

Now that's some funny shat there...

[Talmadge]

one time i completely gutted a catfish took the heart out it was still beating and i threw it in a bucket of water and it started swimming it was swimming strong too really strong like it was normal if i would of put him back in the lake it would of been gone! they are indestructible fish!

[tmier]

But seriously though, while on the bank or boat just give em the old columbian neck tie!  Slit them from gill to gill and toss them on ice to let them bleed out.

This is the best response I've seen on the post so far...you want to bleed the fish correctly and kill it quickly. Best is to cut the gills and toss head first into a bucket with ice AND water. Bleeds out and the fillets tighten up from the ice.

Omg just realized this post is way too old

[BTarby15]

Either a)stab it through the head with a sharp knife and a lot of force or get into its gill with a knife and bleed it out. Make sure to put it on ice right away...that extends the life of the fish meat 2-3 days.

[Bass-minded]

First cut around the tail vertebrae as close to the tail as possible. Then use some tree loppers and lop off the bone. The fish will bleed out. Of course it will still twitch from time to time when you are cleaning it.

[baluga]

is it still alive ???

It's more than 2 years now. I hope you are already expert in killing it.!

[Fishwhittler]

is it still alive ???

It's more than 2 years now. I hope you are already expert in killing it.!

I actually did manage to kill the original catfish; it didn't last much longer than the time it took me to fillet it and cut off the head.

On the other hand, this thread has been far more resilient than any catfish ever was.