Hand Fishing for Catfish

For me, most exhilerating form of fishing is handfishing. It is also by far the most extreme and dangerous form of fishing. Large catfish tend to make dens in brush piles, under logs and other structures, and inside hollow tree stumps. The goal of handfishing is to get a catfish to bite your hand so you can grab it's jaw and pull him out of the water. Idealy, you want to find a catfish hole with only one way in or out. If there is more than one way out of the hole, stuff the other escape routes with a burlap bag or crawfish sack. Stick your hand into the catfish den and try to agravate the fish around it's face and mouth to entice the fish into biting your hand. Once it bites your hand, grab it's bottom jaw, hold on for dear life and try to pull it out of the water.Catfish have teeth but they are more like sandpaper than regular teeth. Although their sandpaper like teeth cannot puncture you, catfish often spin while biting down and this can scrape the skin right off of your hand. I have had a few minor injuries from not wearing gloves in the past and I suggest to anyone attempting this method to wear gloves. Do not attempt this method in water that is inhabited by nutrea rats or beavers. Nutrea rats and beavers can often times live in the same places you would expect to find catfish. Even if you are wearing gloves, if you stick your hand in a hole with a beaver or nutrea rat, you will most likely be making a trip to the hospital for stitches.