cleanin’ a cat

hey all,

i’ve never actually fished for catfish, although i plan on trying it this summer. i’ve got a few secret spots picked out that i now have some catfish lurking, just waiting to be caught.

i have caught a few smaller ones before on accident. they were any where from 20″-30″. i thought that these would probably be about the right size to eat. now i like catfish (at least the kind you by in the store) but being i’ve never kept one before i didn’t now how i would clean ’em. so how do ya do it?? do fillet them just like anyother fish, or do ya do ’em more like trout?? maybe they have there own unique way to be cleaned??

what is the best eating size for catfish anyway? i can’t believe you keep any 20+ pounders to eat. you’d have enough fish to last you a couple of years.

I clean them like a bullhead (I only keep smaller channels). Nail the head of a smaler fish to a board and circle behind the head with a shallow cut throught the skin all the way around. Peel off the skin with a pliers then filet or pan dress (gut & fin). Hang them with a rope through the jaws for the skinning process if they are bigger – – now the important stuff…. What’s everyones favorite way to cook them? I like cornmeal fried filets of a two pound channel – fantastic!

I have cleaned and eaten quite a few catfish in the last 30 or so years and firmly beleive any fish over 1 lb is too big to eat. The bigger the fish is, the softer the texture of that fish is going to be. Also, cleaning the smaller fish is a lot easier than cleaning the bigger fish. You can hold them in your hand for the skinning process. Personally, I feel the need for selective harvest in catfish the same as we have for walleyes. I fish mainly in pool #14 and have observed first hand what commercial fishing and overharvest have done to this fishery. I do enjoy catching large catfish, but I also enjoy releasing them, to bend someone elses pole in the future. Just my .02.

Grab them by the tail and peal from the head back. The Furr should come right off.
jc

how long would a 1-2 pound fish be??? 15-16″ or so???

here’s another one. do flat heads and channels taste different??? if so, which is better???

My proccess of cleaning a CAT:
1) Find a poor unsuspecting victim (preferebly in the ditch)
2) Push foot down on gas pedal in order to increase speed of automobile
3) Grab the “Oh-Crap” handle on the roof on the truck
4) Yank steering wheel into ditch in order to run over the poor little kitty.
5) For best results, back over specimen several times to make sure it is “Cleaned” properly.

6) On occasion, an addidional pinch of 7 1/2 shot lead is needed for a spectacular finish.

ooooooooohhhhhhh ….. you mean catFISH!?

i’m sorry, i probably should have specified myself a little better

Here’s one where the skinning process didn’t go as planned…

Another view

Oh Man!!! LMAO! That’s hilarious!!!!

i’d have to say, this was not what i expected when i posted that question.

i’d like to see the processe that was used to get that result. that poor kitty doesn’t look too happy.

Now that brought TEARS to my EYES….LMAO with Tears. That cat looks Bummed out for sure.

Someone has got to get this thread up to the big General Board. Everyone has got to have the chance to laugh as hard as I did.

Oh man, that is funny! And I actually like cats!

J.

Post deleted by ecnook

Buzzer,
I think you’ve got issues.

That pic should put this post in the cat forum record book for most views in the near future!!

Now that is funny, no matter if you like cats or not! I had to get the tears out of my eyes before I could post.

I like cats too Jon!… so whats YOUR favorite recipe!!??

He looks like my old cat Earl Were did you find him!!!
When this went this direction this came to mind.
Back in jr high I worked saturday mornings cleaning a vet’s
clinic, Crapy Job. They were short handed one morn. and I
was asked to hold a old tom cat, so the vet could clean its
anal glad. after what that cat did to me he’s lucky i did not have a shear handy, it would have looked like that cat posted here. I was told that was my initiation and every one got that pleasure

I was always wondering if the lion from The Wizard of Oz had any kids. Now I know. LMAO thats one funny pic.

I woke my wife up, I was laughing so hard. I’m looking for the Instant Graemlins that has tears falling from it!

I fillet them just like I would a walleye. The only thing is that I can’t use an electric on a cat because the serrated blades go through the skin. It’s much easier than skinning them with a pliers.

I usually cut out the lateral line after I get the fillet off. It’s a dark/red bar that runs down the middle. Then I soak the pieces in ice water with about a teaspoon of salt dissolved in it. Before cooking them, soak them in buttermilk – this will help to draw out the blood, which catfish have plenty of.

Just don’t forget, “When Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset – people die!”

Ohhh boy. After reading all these threads 3 times now, I am still laughing. But here is the really bad part. When I read the last post about how to clean them, I can’t get the image of the cat out of my head. I keep trying to clean the wrong cat. I am off to the shrink.

Post deleted by ecnook

Hey this post couldn’t have come at a better time, I need a picture of a skinned cat for one of my presentation for school. Thanx a bunch. Saved my some wasted surfing time on the web. Now if you guys could only post your presentations on here that could saeve me a whole lot more time.

Cultural bias aside, I’d be willing to bet that large cats are actually pretty tasty. There was a conversation we had on the way to our deer stands last year about guys who eat Cougar steaks.

No, they didn’t say, “Tastes like chicken.”

I know a guy who shot a cougar out west last year – they ate it. Of course, he is from Wisconsin. . .
This summer he is planning a trip way, way, way up north the hunt Musk Ox. Of course, he’ll eat that too.

Post deleted by ecnook

Well, if big cats are good, which I’ve heard (and am from WI too! ), then those little cats must be like veal!

Actually, I used to have 3 Vietnamese who worked for me in a millworking plant. Two of them had eaten cats but said dogs were a lot better for flavor. It’s hard to imagine that it’s even possible, but over there………….they grow up eating them just the same as we grow up feeding them!

And no JC…………the Hindu’s of India are not fond of the Americans use of cattle. They’ve never declared holy war against us but they do believe we are all banished to the grimmest of eternal hopes.