I have been fishing all my life with a lot of lifetime anglers & everytime one of us gets a cat "Don't Touch The Whickers". Is t

[Ron Markel]

I have been fishing all my life with a lot of lifetime anglers & everytime one of us gets a cat "Don't Touch The Whickers". Is there a reason?

[Fritz Dreyer]

Ron,
The whiskers have nothing to do with anything that is going to hurt you. The Barbs which are where the Pectoral fins are on the side of the head can be very painful. I have had these on a large cat stick an inch into my arm. very painful.They thrash around and flop out of your grip. they do give a stinging sensation also in some cases. Just be sure you have a firm grip on your cat and you'll be fine. Whiskers are just for the fish to feel what it is going to eat in murkey water. no stingers there. Good luck, Fritz

[bigjake]

I agree with fritz, the whiskers pose no threat, but catfish do have barbs on their fins which can give you a dirty poke.Considering the murky waters that cats typically live in infection is possible.The tiny willow catfish(A favorite walleye bait in some areas) can be extremely toxic to some people

[alabamaoutlaw]

I will tell ya i was raised in Arkansas and had no idea about a hardhead or saltwater cat.I have been finned by flat heads bluecats and eelskins but nothing like the hard head it's more like a rattle snake bite.you just don't pull them off and for days if not weeks the swelling and pain is horrid.

[pineywoods]

Those saltwater hardhead cats are a real danger. Since they aren't considered good eating and are considered to be pests, many irresponsible anglers will toss them up on the beach after they take them off the hook and the fish will flop around and cover itself with sand, making it a booby trap for the barefoot beachgoers. Stepping on one involves lots of pain and a very real danger of a bad infection. Be careful of those fish---dead or alive.

[alabamaoutlaw]

pineywoods i fish from a boat and have a dehooker and do not touch the things.I saw a boy with flip flops on try to kick one off the pier.they had an ambulance come get him and surgery was needed to get the barbed fin out from the bones in his foot.

[pineywoods]

Jacy, if you want something impressive, next time you catch a hardhead cat of any size, carefully extract the pectoral fins, clean the slime and tissue off and dry them. The serrations on the back of the fins are downright scary and you can tell folks that they are Arkansas rattlesnake fangs, or whatever. (You can always just stick the carcass in a fire any bed and let them do the cleaning work.)

[pineywoods]

Fire ant bed---sorry

[alabamaoutlaw]

That is two critters i have no use for fire ants and hardhead .kinda makes you wonder why these critters were created they could use them down in Cuba instead of waterboaring.Bet they wouldn't go back to what they were doing before.

[shermanator]

the whiskers never worry me but the barb does the main reason why is because when i was younger i had caught a cat and it thrashed around and i didn't have a good grip and it ripped open my hand and i need 5 stitches so the barbs can be pretty painful stuff

[TimDavey10]

The whiskers are completely harmless but they lock their barbs in place when excited and they contain a poison that causes extreme pain if stabbed by them.