Catfish myths!

There is ALOT of mythology surrounding catfish! Perhaps it is because of the peculiar way the look? Perhaps it is because of the mysteriousness of their habits? I’m not sure, but either way there are a few things I can assure you are not true about cafish.

Myth #1- Catfish whiskers will sting you.
First of all, they’re called barbels, and no…they cannot sting you! I’m not sure where this one came from, but if it were true then I would be in a perpetual state of pain! My guess it that this comes from the fact that a couple of very small species of catfish ,such as the madtom, have pectoral fins capable of producing a venom considered to be the equivalent of a bee sting. I will say that smaller catfish have much sharper fins, and the serrated fins of a juvenille channel catfish have cut me on numerous occassions. But this is a defense mechanism of small catfish. Once they become larger, the fins become dull and there is little to zero chance that a fin is going to poke you. In fact, I’d prefer to handle a large catfish over a prickly white perch ANY day!

Myth #2- Divers went to the bottom of the dam at the local lake and saw catfish down there so big that they could eat a man!
This legend exists in nearly every part of the country I have visited. Whenever I tell people I am a catfishing guide, they just can’t help themselves. They proudly recite their own version of this piece of folklore, throwing in variations like “my uncle was the diver” or “the fish was a big as a Volkswagon.” And while it’s fun to imagine the proposition of a catfish of these proportions, unless you live next to the Po River in Italy, it probably isn’t true!

Myth #3- Catfish are nasty bottom feeders that will eat anything.
If you believe this, then you have failed catfish 101! It’s not unusual for me to catch more catfish on suspended rigs than on the bottom. Catfish, just like any other fish, move up and down in the water column depending on atmospheric pressure and many other factors. And remember, while smaller catfish are more opportunistic feeders, larger catfish are almost exclusively fish eaters! And they are alpha predators….which means they eat WHAT they want, WHEN they want! They are incredibly smart, well adapted creatures, and they can be very picky eaters. If you don’t believe me, keep fishing with dough balls and chicken livers and let me know how many citation catfish you catch! 🙂

These are probably the top 3 myths I hear about catfish, but there are many more out there. If you have a catfish myth you’d like to share, I’d like to hear it!Catswagen