# anyone eat catfish?



## Guest

got into a bunch last year and should have kept a few. does anyone here ever heat channels or flats?


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## wabi

rapman said:


> got into a bunch last year and should have kept a few. does anyone here ever heat channels or flats?



Yes.

I catch & realease over 99% of my fish, but a couple times a year I'll keep a channel cat for the deep fryer. Took a couple home last year and one of those was one that had rolled and imbedded the circle hook in it's eye. I figured it was injured and I prefer catfish to any other species, so it came home with me.

I figure if it's legal to keep a fish and eat it you shouldn't feel guilty about it.


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## JimG

Yes Sir,
For the superbowl each year it's deep fried catfish along with perch and crappies followed by Labatt Blue Beer.
Sometimes I wonder are these guys my friends or do they come to scarf down the food ?

Loving it,

JimG


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## Shaun69007

I only eat Channel Cat. The secret is to soak the fillets in ice water for a while and keep changing the water and ice until it stays clean. It constrict the vessel and "squeezes" out all the crap. once its clean. cut off all yellow and red and pitch it only eat the white its much better flavor. The yellow and red is verrry fishy tasting


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## fishdealer04

I eat channels and the occasional flathead. Dont keep anything out of the river but usually in the winter and spring I catch a bunch of eater sized channels from the lakes that I keep.


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## dinkbuster1

Shaun69007 said:


> I only eat Channel Cat. The secret is to soak the fillets in ice water for a while and keep changing the water and ice until it stays clean. It constrict the vessel and "squeezes" out all the crap. once its clean. cut off all yellow and red and pitch it only eat the white its much better flavor. The yellow and red is verrry fishy tasting


when time lets me i leave my catfish filet's in a cooler full of ice and water for 12 hours then package and freeze. the difference in taste is amazing! i will keep about 12 small flatheads (under 8lb) a year. the river i fish is so lousy with dink flatheads it is probably beneficial removing a few small ones. i used to eat blue cats when i fished the pay-ponds a long time ago, they taste better than channels or flats IMO.

my favorite though are Bullheads! man those little guys are tasty! only problem is finding them around here big enough to eat.


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## xdukex

the only fish i eat is saugeye and flatheads, we call them shovelhead. the shouvelhead has a real white meat and is not as fishy tasting as a channel cat. the belly meat of the shovelhead is the best. i usually season the catfish with a spicy hot rub.


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## Guest

i appreciate the replies. i think i will be putting some channel cat filets in the freezer this summer. i can't think of a more pleasant way to spend a summer night, and i may as well have a meal or two to show for it.

thanks for the input, guys.


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## Rod Hawg

I prefer channels and bullheads. Any fish over 5lbs. though is put back unless it is injured or if it goes belly up.


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## Fishman

I think a farm pond channel cat is one of the best fish to bring home. Baked or fried they never disapoint. I imagnine the smaller ones from public lakes arn't to shabby either.


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## sploosh56

Channel cats and bullheads are the best tasting from the catfish family in my opinion.

My favorite way to eat catfish is to cut them into "nuggets" and soak them in milk for a half hour or so. Pat them dry and deep fry to a golden brown. Absolutely delicious.

With bullheads, just gut them, skin them, cut the head off, and deep fry.

Drakes mix is my preferred batter of choice, mixed with with bud light instead of water.

Channel cats between 14"-16" long are the best to use. The larger fish taste pretty bad usually. With bullheads, anything over 8" is a keeper


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## Carpn

Catfish is pretty good. Kinda soft compared to panfish and walleye but pretty good. Down south they love their catfish....They say flathead is the best there is in all sizes but I have never cleaned one.


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## fredg53

I agree C cats are best I chunkem up and marinate in beer they pick your favorite breading and fry I think horseraddis goes great with em aling with an 18 pack


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## CaptJoe

heat up an iron skillet good and hot (even better over a camp fire) coat the filets with a little butter and cajun seasoning and blacken them up real nice. MMMMMM


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## Shortdrift

Channel cats thru the ice or early Spring. I fillet like a walleye but start behing the ribs and eliminate the Yellowish back meat. Dust with flour, egg wash and your favorite coating. Fry in Cannola Oil at 400 degrees and allow to fry until they just start to go from gold to brown.


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## monsterKAT11

I usually let most of em go, i only eat the ones over 25 pounds  

only thing that sucks though is there's so much meat i only eat a few pieces and have to throw the rest away


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## Guest

monter, i don't follow you. why would you kill something and throw most of it away?


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## Rod Hawg

Yeah monster. And those are quality fish. I like to keep a lot of little ones and through the big fish back. I'll vacuum pack them and they are good for around 6 months. That way know fish are waisted.


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## leftfordead88

rapman said:


> monter, i don't follow you. why would you kill something and throw most of it away?


yeah monter, always practice cook and release.


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## Guest

i hab a speech impediment.......sowwy.


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## rcjohnson

I think I love a fried fish dinner even more than a nice steak. Trouble is, the catfish that I catch, or buy at Krogers has a muddy taste to me. If I go down to Tennessee it tastes great. I have tried every trick in the book but nothing helps. I have talked to the people in Tn., and they say there is no secret. Just clean them, corn meal, salt&pepper and fry them. A couple of ladies did prefer to fry them in lard. That being said, here in Ohio I find the best to be bullheads. Their flesh does not look that great when skinned but the taste is out of this world. I have never bothered to fillet them, right off the bone works for me.


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## jlami

Yrs channels and flats are both good eating, once you get up around the 30-40 lb. mark they get a little gamy. Soak then in milk after cutting them into nuggets to fix that though

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## Fisherman 3234

Monster... I think somebody is trolling........


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## monsterKAT11

Fisherman 3234 said:


> Monster... I think somebody is trolling........


can you blame? it's winter man!!


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## Fisherman 3234

monsterKAT11 said:


> can you blame? it's winter man!!


I hear yah, I'm going crazy myself! I HATE SNOW!


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## Rod Hawg

rapman said:


> i hab a speech impediment.......sowwy.


His nickname is is now monter.:bananajump:


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## Guest

sure hope that the anti-hunting and anti-fishing peta-types don't read this. we are being pressed hard enough these days.


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## monsterKAT11

rapman said:


> sure hope that the anti-hunting and anti-fishing peta-types don't read this. we are being pressed hard enough these days.


if i could i'd eat a peta member just to show them how much i love being a carnivore


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## fishdealer04

monsterKAT11 said:


> if i could i'd eat a peta member just to show them how much i love being a carnivore


Do you deep fry them too? I like to bake them with a little splash of lemon and a hint of rosemary.


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## timmyv

I don't like to eat the peta folk, they don't really taste that good...all they eat is veggies and fruit..bad quality meat!


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## FSHNERIE

No..............


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## CRAPPIE LOVER

Yes...Only channels and bullheads..as Rod Hawg said ...If they are 5 lbs. or over they go back..Cut the heads off after I skin them then all the fins and tail .off.. gut them and soak them in buttermilk overnight..Pan fry them very slow in butter ...Only way I'll eat them...JIM....CL....PS .....JimG is going to have them this Sunday..While he is rooting for the Steelers...


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## Booosh

i only keep and eat the channels....last year i prolly kept 8 from 3-6lbs....anything bigger and i throw back to make sure the big ones keep making babies for the future


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## Rod Hawg

I'm all about eating fish. They are great! But I also like catching big fish. So I just put the bigguns back so someone else can catchem. P.S-

Go PACKERS!


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## monsterKAT11

alright for real this time...I rarely ever eat fish, it's probably been 6+ years since i've taken a fish home to eat. Was thinking about trying a small flattie this year


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## fishdealer04

monsterKAT11 said:


> alright for real this time...I rarely ever eat fish, it's probably been 6+ years since i've taken a fish home to eat. Was thinking about trying a small flattie this year


You didnt keep any saugeye this year? Just gave them all to Dave and me?

Flatties are the best tasting in my opinion. I have not had a blue and not sure if I ever will eat one. Flatheads are all white meat for the most part.


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## monsterKAT11

fishdealer04 said:


> You didnt keep any saugeye this year? Just gave them all to Dave and me?
> 
> Flatties are the best tasting in my opinion. I have not had a blue and not sure if I ever will eat one. Flatheads are all white meat for the most part.


nope i didn't keep any saugeye. I should have, or at least asked you or dave to make me some haha


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## Booosh

once you have a blue you wont go back

homemade breading in the deep fryer o yea...ive never kept a flat to pretty of a fish for me to keep...it would be like eating large/smallmouth....y eat them...they both are GREAT BAIT


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## pendog66

i will eat a few channels a year out of the stillwater river, mainly early spring or winter. Last year i had a small flattie gut swallow a hook when i was fishing a tree. I hate to admit it, but it was delicious


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## zooks

rapman said:


> got into a bunch last year and should have kept a few. does anyone here ever heat channels or flats?


I've always eaten channels - never caught blues or flats but just talked to someone who grew up catching blues in Louisiana and he said they're just as good, but cut out the fatty parts. Their eye meats (across the head?) are excellent. 

Channels - I rinse the meat in cold water first after filleting, then cook or freeze in baggies. Either fry them plain in a skillet with a little butter/margarine, or use any of the traditional breading recipes. I dip in flour, then milk, then half/half flour/cornmeal with seasoning. Let them sit aside for a few miinutes (so breading doesdn't fall off when you cook them). Then fry. If you got a big enough skillet or cooker, you could deep fry, too. There's also the beer batter stuff.

Disaster? - I remember as a kid my mother tried to bake them in foil - Nasty fishy taste because all the oils cooked in.

Never had a bad one frying. Nice sweet meat on the firm side.


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## catmando

When cleaning a cat (channel,flathead or blue) try to avoid puncturing or breaking the gall bladder located under the liver. This is why you get the yellow meat and it gives you that gamy taste in big fish. The best way to do it is to hang and gut the fish before filleting it. The liver and gall bladder is located near the head and is cut by most people when you make your first cut around the head. BTW Drakes is the best with any cajun spice added to the "dry" mix....:eat:


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## jmackey84

you guys in southern ohio are lucky, clean water, every time i think about bringing home a fish i catch i get nervious, portage lakes and the cuyahoga river arent the cleanest looking bodies of water around, with my luck my kids will grow arms out of there heads or something,lol


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## Fisherman 3234

jmackey84 said:


> you guys in southern ohio are lucky, clean water, every time i think about bringing home a fish i catch i get nervious, portage lakes and the cuyahoga river arent the cleanest looking bodies of water around, with my luck my kids will grow arms out of there heads or something,lol


Sad to say that that is the same with ALL Ohio waters.


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## catmando

I fish Ceaser Creek and would eat anything out of it! 

*CFE: Catch, Filet , Eat*


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