So the head off thing would only make it harder to clean would be the catfish so you can "nail it to a board and skin it". Bleeding out only would work if they're still alive - so it would seem that the key would be a good bonk to render them unconscious, but not kill them so they can still be pumping blood. How to bonk to knock out and not kill? Seems it would be too difficult to know that fine line... It looks like cutting gills to bleed out while in the live well without the PITH would be better eating meat... Cutting heads off "kills" (scuze' the pun) the ability to bleed out, so I don't see the advantage in it.i always cut it through the spine. catfish always got the knife through the head. cutting the fishes head off doesnt make it any harder to gut or clean.
Nope. Different and a bit more specific than that: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pithingP.I.T.H. = Pop In The Head