Duane,
I finally got a chance to fillet as you described. Of course I didn't get it completely right but the good thing about Asian Bigheads is there are plenty to practice on. Oh and btw, I fried some up with my secret batter and oh was it good. It is such a white and mild tasting meat. Now my favorite is walleye and lake perch so it's obvious that I don't like a real strong fishy taste. To me, even larger catfish can obtain a strong flavor and buffalo, well forget that garbage. This was excellent especially when I mixed in a batch of Morrells that I picked behind the house. One other nice thing is that even a fair sized fish will feed a family of ten. I haven't grilled any yet but that will be next. I've smoked some in the past and it has just enough oil to not be real dry. And from an unbiased source, I happened to shoot a three pound catfish this weekend and so fried it upand my wife swore it smelled the house up much more than the Asians, so there you have it from the nose that knows.