There is nothing more irritating than catching a catfish under 6" long, they are going to stick you more times than not. Everyone I know grabs them behind the head, using the heel of the hand to push down the dorsal fin and placing the index and middle fingers on each side of one fin and the thumb behind the other. If they are too big to handle like that there the mouth and the gills to get a grips, they will gnaw on your hand.
There's a guy I know in north Alabama who knows more about catching catfish than most who told me if you get finned to rub on the wound on the bell of a catfish and it will not get inflamed. I have thankful avoided getting finned since that time.