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I just recently got in to fishing and really love it but dont know much about it or how to tell what kind of fish it is I have caught except for catfish. . Catfish I was told have horns on them and was told it can smart if one of them horns you , is it pretty painfull and can some one tell me where the horns are located on the fish? do both sexes have horns and are the fish able to retract them in side there bodies? I know that these are silly questions but I would like to know , I am planning on taking my grandson fishing and want to make sure he nor I get hurt.
Not horns in the literal sense. They are more like the bullhead whiskers that can sting or stick you. You just have to handle them carefully.
And I'm not speaking from experience. I've only fished for pan fish but we are in catfish country and I've heard others talk about getting stung or spiked.
If you get "finned" by a catfish it will sting like a son-of-a-gun!! I've never been finned but lots of old timers around here say that, if you do, the best remedy for taking the sting out is rubbing some of the slime off the catfish onto the stung area. That sounds pretty disgusting to me so I just get hubby to take mine off the hook :-}
Many years ago, I was warned about the sharp barbs just past the catfish's gills on the pectoral fins. No one mentioned the sharp barb on the dorsal fin on top of it's back. I made a grab at a flopping fish and ran the top barb into the palm of my hand. Lesson learned. It stay red and very sore for over a week. Just remember that whatever bacteria is in the water is also on the fish. Later, a friend showed me how to handle them by carefully smoothing back the top fin with the palm of your hand and putting a thumb and forefinger behind each side barb. Might not work on a bigger fish so I would just cut the line. LOL
We keep heavy gloves in the boat just for removing catfish off the line. But cutting the line for a real big catfish isn't a bad idea either because they aren't real good for eating anyway. We prefer the small to medium size catfish.
