How do I remove the skin from fresh catfish ?

Dharma Nature: How do I remove the skin from fresh catfish ?
The fresh catfish I can buy at the supermarket has the skin (or skin residue) left on and doesn’t taste so good when I cook it. So far I haven’t been able to think of a way to remove the skin without losing a couple of fingers.

Any ideas gratefully received.
Thank you for the answers so far.

The catfish is already cut up when I buy it. Any suggestions what to do in this case?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Gene H
My neighbor, who fishes, uses pliers. He uses a knife, too, but once he gets the thing started, out come the pliers and off goes the skin. Maybe it will work for store-bought, too.

Answer by LEF
People have different methods, but I cleaned mine with pliers.
I take them (alive) and drive a icepick through the head and into a sturdy board. (like between two trees). Cut lightly the skin around the would-be neck area. Take some good pliers and pull it off.

Answer by halsca
Check out this link, pretty much tells it like it is. Much better than I could.

https://www.h2ow.com/catfish/catfish_cleaning.html

Answer by vat
Lef is entirely correct . I have skinned many a catfish I’ve caught – I have never seen them in the grocery store with skin on however. They also make a special board with clamps that hold the fish down for cutting around the head (neck) area if you don’t want to use a ice pick and a special clawed pliers for pulling off the skin. But skinning is how you clean up a catfish rather than scaling as most fish…..usually pulls right off through the tail area (gutted first of course). Kinda like skinning a rabbit if you’ve ever done any hunting….

Answer by vanillachild1
I agree with LEF. That’s the method we used in my fish fabrication and cookery class (I’m a culinary school graduate. Except our fish were dead already.