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I watched a YouTube video where two filleted catfish, just heads, skeletons and tails, were still alive and trying to swim away. This sickened me. So I was wondering two things. One, how long can you keep them out of water while photographing them, etc. before releasing? Two, if you intend to keep them, how is the best way to dispatch them? I want to be ethical and humane, and minimize trauma to human bystanders.
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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Catfish are pretty tough critters for sure. I had some mudcats on ice years ago and when I got them back home and they warmed up in the sink they "woke up" and started to swim in the wash water.
I know have a small leaded wooden bat, about 8" long, that I bonk them over the head with. They use to call them Billy Bonkers I believe. It will dispatch them instantly.
Some prefer to slit the gills and have them bleed out. This sure does work, and gives you better/whiter flesh, but it takes longer.
Just don't get too worked up about pain, they don't feel pain like we do as far as we can tell.
