Ariopsis felis
Common Name: (Hardhead Catfish)
If you know is a very venomous fish found close to shore along the gulf and atlantic coast. I'm going to destin florida, and I want to know how to avoid them. And jellyfish if possible. Staying out of the water is not an option, its the beach for all sakes!

Unfortunately, you really can't avoid catching these fish. You can minimize it by using lures or keeping you bait off the bottom. Use floats, balloons and such to keep the bait off the bottom. You can also try a dropper rig ( weight on the bottom and hook higher up on the line) to fend off the catfish.
The whole thing comes down to this, you will catch one or two of these fish here and there. Avoid handling these fish if you're not experienced by using a fish hook remover like this one: http://dehooker4arc.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AD&Category_Code=GCK
You can find some cheaper ones out there or construct one your self using the wire handle of a paint bucket. Just follow the designs of the ones you have seen. Another thing that would help is to smash down the barb on your hook, this will make releasing the hardheads easier.
No matter what you wear, if you step on a catfish's dorsal fin hard enough, the barb is going through it. To avoid all this, when you start walking in the water, don't walk like you normally do. Instead, push your toes through the sand and slide it forward. This will help you avoid stepping on a hardheads and stingrays. IT's called the stinray shuffle but it can be modified into a "remix" for hardheads. As for jelly fish, you'll run into a few and unless you are willing to wear heavy jeans in the water, there's really nothing you can do about them. If you get stung, pour vinegar on the area to help with the pain. Also, if you get stung by by a hard head catfish, get medical attention as soon as you can to avoid infection and all that comes with the sting. It's gonna hurt like you know what but keep a calm head and your whits about you. Well that's about it for this question, Hoped to have helped you out. Good luck catchin'.

Here's a link to help you out: http://www.fishingdestinflorida.com/

; )

I’ve lived in the Fort Walton Beach/Destin area my entire life and even though I’m an old fart now I still go surfing every time there are waves - Bull Sharks have always been my fear and I’ve never even considered people would be afraid of catfish, that’s hilarious. Jellyfish, on the other hand, can be a problem and it’s hard to avoid them, they sting but they aren’t dangerous, peeing on yourself and vinegar are supposedly true remedies, but I’ve never felt the need to pee myself or use vinegar, the sting is irritating not a wish for death, the jellyfish are either around by the thousands or nowhere to be found, just depends on the currents, just go to where lifeguard stands are and look at the flags that are flying, they have a sign telling you what the color of the flags mean… I believe purple is the one concerning jellyfish in the area, so if the jellyfish flag is flying stay out of the water, that’s the only way to avoid them. The catfish will avoid you, I wouldn’t even worry about shuffling your feet, they just aren’t a big deal, besides that, I think the ones you're speaking of live in the bays and bayous, the ones in the gulf are really big and I’ve only seen one when I saw someone fishing and catch one from the beach and thought it was a baby shark, that sucker was 3 ft long and had to have weighed 15 lbs… big-ass catfish, they don’t burry themselves like stingrays so you won’t accidentally step on something like that, if you saw one, which I doubt you even would, you’d probably run from it thinking it’s a shark.