# How should a cat fish be filleted?



## RWBlue (Feb 20, 2005)

How should a cat fish be filleted?

I caught one today. I filleted it. I skinned it. But it wasnt pretty.

How is it supposed to be done?


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

Same as any other fish.


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## bassn317 (Apr 8, 2004)

With a catfish, you can expect lots of blood. I suspect that is why you are saying it wasn't pretty. When I was young, my uncle used to just nail them to a tree to clean them so he could drain the blood as well as making it easy to skin.


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Mrfish is right


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I always skin the fish first and then the fillet process is pretty similar to other fish. The biggest difference is just due to the difference in shape of the fish but the fillet concept is the same. Here is a pretty good step-by-step instructional that looks very consistent with the way I do them.

Jackfish's Catfish Fillet Page


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

"The "Lost Finger" method of catfish filleting " 
Can you say Wendy's??


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I did not even notice the title on the page until you pointed it out. That is pretty funny.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

That is how I do it too... Guy from Ga. showed me...
I hang mine though from a "S" shaped hook and skin them that way 1st...


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

atrkyhntr said:


> That is how I do it too... Guy from Ga. showed me...
> I hang mine though from a "S" shaped hook and skin them that way 1st...


 We always put a nail in the fillet board and the pop their lower jaw onto the nail to hold it in place.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

I use to do it that way too but found that hanging them with that "S" hook through the gills I get done much faster and don't have to keep pulling and pounding nails  
When doing a couple nails are nto bad but when doing 10 or more it in itself becomes a job...


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

We never pull the nail. You just push the fish down over the nail. If by chance the fish is large and the skin is too tough you simply use the knife to put a slit in the underside of the mouth. We alsway leave the nail on the board.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

I'm opposite I guess - I do it in reverse order. I make a pile of the fillets and do my skinning last.


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## Tadpole (Apr 8, 2005)

Do any of you " Bleed " the fish first before cleaning them ? i learned this while salmon fishing in Michigan years ago and it made an unbelievable difference in the taste of the fish. Seen local guys on the river doing this .... as soon as they would catch a " keeper " fish they'd pull out a knife and cut into both gills and drain the blood. 
I haven't tried this on any other fish besides the salmon but was curious as to if anyone else does this


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

If the temp is warm I bleed all my fish by cutting off the end of their tail and then placing them into a cooler full of ice with the drain plug open on land or closed on a boat and I have a old stove shelf for my cooler that keeps the fish from laying in water and blood...
I had a buddy who didn't think it mattered till he tasted my fish next to his at a family outting... He still said I did something else til we went again and I let him take all the fish home...
Fish deteriorate very fast and must be, at the least, kept on ice minimum for best taste... Keeping cold keeps the bacteria from forming...


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## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

For those of you that use an electric fillet knife,you can fillet a Catfish just like a Walleye,Perch or any other fish.
There is no need to skin the fish first.
The electric fillet knife removes the skin just fine.
The average catfish can be filleted in under a minute.
No nails or pliers needed!


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

I wanted to add I don't bleed out panfish just ice them...

Hey Lewis does it take anymore effort then say a walleye or perch?
THANKS in advance...


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## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

Not at all Clyde.
For your average eating Cats..say 1-6 lbs...It breezes right through the rib bones just like any other fish.
Enter behind the gills,follow the backbone,stop short of the tail,flip the fillet,and go right under the skin like normal.
I have had many old timers around the fish cleaning station down at Kentucky Lake look at me in amazement using the electric knife to clean those eater Channel Cats.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I keep saying that I need to get me one of those electric knives. Guys who have used them for a while sure make it look easy with those. We took a mess of perch to a cleaning station up at Erie last fall when I had my two older boys. They were amazed. And the one even had the nerve to say to me, "Dad he goes way faster than you!". I tried to convince him it was all because he does it every day.


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## RWBlue (Feb 20, 2005)

Ok, I didnt do to bad. The blood wasnt. In fact, I didnt have much blood at all. It was the skinning and the meat that I didnt get off of the fish. If I am going to kill a fish I want all the meat. 

I went with the fillet, then attempt to skin method. I ended up running a knife under the skin to instead of pulling it off.

BTW, what is the best size cat to eat?


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

RWBlue said:


> I went with the fillet, then attempt to skin method. I ended up running a knife under the skin to instead of pulling it off.


 If you are using a regular fillet knife I would say that the method of pulling it off would be much better. However, I like the idea of Lewis method with the electric knife.



RWBlue said:


> BTW, what is the best size cat to eat?


 I am sure you will get a wide range of opinions here but my opinion is that anything over about 5-6# will go back because they start getting too strong tasting for me. Others will claim large fish are good but not me.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

THANKS Lewis...
I never thought to use them after all the walleye done ...
I may try this weekend


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

I read somewhere ( I think in IN-Fisherman) they recommended to gill & gut any fish you are keeping ASAP and ice it down. When you cut the gills out, that bleeds it out really fast. Do that 1st, the heart is still pumping & then when you gut it, there goes the rest of the blood. Now you can throw ice in the body cavity. I used to stringer hybrids & stripers I was keeping, and then 1/2 hr before leaving, I'd cut them under the chin into the gills & let them bleed out. After reading the article, I gill & gut them on the spot. I don't keep many fish at all, but that's my 1st choice of how to do. They are iced down that way while still kicking fresh. Also, that method keeps you legal as some say to fillet the fish, but the DNR doesn't want you to do that on the bank or in a boat. Makes it too hard to identify the fish I guess.


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## CarpFreak5328 (Aug 16, 2004)

If your going to fillet a catfish make sure you cut out the nasty looking dark/yellow parts toward the bottom of the fillet.


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