I used to eat cats when I was younger, but not a lot. I had bought them in the store from time to time as well as fresh cats. I was kind of suckered into the whole “gourmet” label that has been put on them. You know some people think it is a delicacy and is one of the best eating fish out there. After gettting over the brainwashing I now think that they aren’t that great. Far too oily for my taste. Give me cold water panfish. For my pallete, they are the best tasting fish.
The ONLY Catfish I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant was at Buzzard Billy’s Flying Carp Cafe. It was Blackened Catfish. I have to admit, it was quite tasty. I’d order it again if ii wasn’t for their Crawfish Platter. Yum Yum!! 
At best restaurant cats are OK,most are farm raised and fed fish pellets.Taste kinda muddy to me.Now give me a 2lber right after ice out and it will be some of the best fish there is for eating.
Ive never been impressed with store bought/restaurant cats, they just dont taste the same as fresh cats do. The restaurant fish are generally farm raised fish, or fish raised on fish pellets vs a natural fish with real forage(fish based diet).
Pug, if your cats are oily, your probably trying to cook fillets that are too big. Catfish are very dense meat, you have to cook them in smaller pieces or they can be mushy or oily(undercooked). If you cut the pieces into fish sticks with nohing more than 1″ thick, it will be very flakey and not saturated with oil… as long as your oil is hot enough.
I rarely order it at a restaurant but when I have it has been very good…..at least for my taste. I cook fish at home about every other week and catfish is usually one that I serve. I pulled a recipe off the web for a blacked seasoning that is just a killer. My son can’t get enough of it. Actually, I have some fish thawing at home right now for tonight. I am sure my son will ask “where’s the catfish?” I think I have cod ready to go…
Unfortunately, I end up buying 98% of my fish at the store……frozen or fresh. We get out and fish but just don’t catch much.
I have tried it a few times, but have never really liked it. Too Mushy.
I think I will stick to a hamburger when the urge to eat catfish hits me the next time, and maybe a few 
I pick up fresh catfish about every other week at Cashwise. It is tasty deep fried. I never really knew about catfish or had it before, until one time at Famous Daves. That is some good eatin’ stuff. I love it done cajun style 
big g 
You guys who aren’t liking cat aren’t cooking it right.
You have to cut them into small chunks or fingers and deep fry in VERY, VERY hot oil! Once in the grease, the fish should be done in 3 minutes or so.
When cooked this way, the breading is good and crispy and the meat is light and flaky with no oiliness or mushiness to the meat.
Also, cut out the mudline (lateral line) and any meat that is yellowish. Just keep the good, white meat.
Mmmmmm!!!
Hmm, thanks for the tips guys, that makes a lot of sense. I might have to try it again. It’s been a very long time since I had catfish. I bet ones caught through the ice would be tasty. Then again, I think all fish are best though the ice.
I’ve ate catfish fingers at a resturant before and they were pretty darn good. But, for the very best tasting catfish I’d have to say that Fishhead does it the best. Very, very good. He has it down pat. He’s got a thermometer in the oil making sure it’s the right temp and the breading he uses is awesome!
Red Lobster of all places does a catfish, as does Chili’s.
Would not recommend it. At 11.99 for the dinner, get something else.
Now some nice Upper Miss springtime channels breaded and fried….
I’ve had Dennis’s on the ice channels…but since that was the first and only time I’ve had cat…I have nothing to compare it to but walleye. I would have been hard pressed to tell the differance. What was that breading called again…hey! It’s been almost a year!
I was watching an old timer clean cats down at Everts this summer. He fillet them just like a walleye starting the cut behind the rib cage, then flipped the fillet over to take off the skin…exactly like cleaning a walleye. He cut out the lateral line and put the fillet into water and the frig. The next day the fillets had firmed up and the “faty” parts were easily seen. This is when he cut all this fat off. He did say that many people through out the “yellowish” flesh, but if the fat from it was removed it was actually a sweeter, better tasting part of the fish. This guy has been cleaning cats since before the sippi had dams…so who was I to argue?? (that might be a slight exageration 
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What was that breading called again…hey! It’s been almost a year!
Was it Chef Roberts?
My experience is if you cook cat and walleye together and ask people which tastes better, the cat will win out nearly 100% of the time. You seriously can’t tell the difference.
I will!
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Come on, no one going to back my claim up that panfish are the best???
I have this policy against eating bait. 
Never, and after 50 years of fishing I am down to Perch, Sand Pike, Sunfish and Walleye. 
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