I was wanting to catch a few and fry them up. I was wodering what kind of catfish and what size. I have eaten catfish but only in restraunts. I am very new to cat fishing and the cooking of the fish. Any cleaning tips would also be helpful.

well my brother and i caugh quite afew this past summer. some blues, some flatheads, and some channels. we just filleted them out like all other fish and on the bigger blues and flatheads we took the belly meat off as well. the way we get them to taste (not so muddy) as people would say. is we soak it in salt water for 3 days changing the water daily. then package it in a bag with regular water, and then when its defrosted before we go to eat it we soak it in milk for a while. then we batter it and then deep fat fry it, or we put it in boiling water with a cup of vinigar and cook it that way

we catch them in the Suwannee River all the time,mostly blues and channel.we like the ones about 10" to 12",if we get the bigger ones we fliet them,we just clean them (skin) scrap the tail fin and season in everglades seasoning lowyers season roll in corn meal and deep fry.

the muddy taste most people get is from not scraping the tail fins.(I would rather have the fins , than the rest of the fish).if you scrap it,you can fry them golden brown without and muddy taste.

Down here in Kentucky, catfish is a staple. I've heard all of the remedies for the meat to take away the " muddy taste, but never have had it. Here is what I do. I always filet the larger fish (12-14 inches are smoked). On the side of the filet that the skin came off, you will notice a strip of dark meat that runs down the middle. CUT IT OUT! Normally the cats I've been catching here are 20-28 inches and instead of eating whole filets, I cut the filet (after strip is removed) into bite size pieces. The only remedy I would suggest for cats or any fish for that matter is soaking in salt water. It brings out any blood in the meat from the cleaning process. Oh, one more trick, I fish mainly at night and take a cooler filled with ice. As I catch a fish, I put it immediately on ice. Once you are done fishing, cleaning these fish is alot easier since they are frozen and alot less blood is involved too.

Firehawk-we prepare it a lot alike. Remove those things and then catfish from just about anywhere prepared in just about any fashion is a wonderful dish.

I can't remember how I cook mine- but if you send me your catch- I'll practice some more and get back to ya!!!!!!!

I always skin mine and cut all the fins off. Then I wrap it up in tin foil with some butter,season salt, and lemon pepper. throw it on the BBQ grill, leave it for 20-30 min then check it. when the the meat falls off the bone its done, some like to open the foil for the last 10 min or so to let some liquid cook off.

Blues are the prettiest but yellows are the tastiest. Skin them, gut them, cut them into filets, scrap the first inch or so from the ventral area the entire length of the fish, soak it in milk for at least a couple of hours, dry it good, dredge it in seasoned flour, then into beer batter, then into hot oil, then into your plate alongside hush puppies, dirty rice, and maybe some greens!

go for faltheads there the best type of cat and just cut the head off right behind the gills and take your kinfe down the stomach and then right under the dorsal fin on top and slice it al the way down to the tail and cut about half an inch from were the tail start towards the head and pull up on the skin/meat using your knife or fingers to push and pull bones out and if u do it right u should have 2 vary good fillets

good luck, caleb


p.s. gold fish, creek chubs, blue gill, and worms are the very best bait for all cats and dont really bother with the dough.

You know I never found a better bait or catfish than a handfull of night crawlers or a wad of chicken liver!