Does it get any better?

  • Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    May 4, 2012 at 12:45 pm #1222631

    I headed down to Everts after work yesterday. Not with fishing on the mind but putting the finishing touches on stocking the camper up for the summer.

    I met ol’ Pete by the fish cleaning house and while he was cleaning his pail of channels, he asked if I was interested in having dinner with his family…a fish fry he said.

    I jumped at that chance!

    >Insert fishing Report here: Channels are on fire. Bait is Secret 7 or Sonny’s Blood or Regular. White Bass are committing suicide if you take the time to find them busting minnows near shore. They’ll hit darn near anything that moves!<

    At 6 pm I took the hike down to the picnic table that was laid out with everything from salad and no less than 5 dressings, to sliced up pineapple, strawberry’s, black olives, mushrooms, radishes, baked potatoes and of course a kettle FILLED with golden brown, deep fried, lightly breaded channel cats! The way Pete cleans his channels they are really, really hard to tell from walleye (if that’s your standard). Had it not been for the rain shower that lasted for a few minutes I would have cleaned them out of fish.

    I can honestly say I had more fresh fish last night than I’ve had in my 6 years of staying at the resort!

    The catfish talk was good. Pete shared his channel catching secret with me.

    He takes his girl friend Shirley along.

    He says it doesn’t matter what bait they use or what fish they are after, if she’s in the boat she’s a “fish catching machine”! LOL!

    The Everts Hospitality Director, River Rat Randy stopped by and dropped of a 1 gallon plastic bag of morels. Yes, I tried to steal them. Didn’t work.

    My only regret was that I left my camera back at the camper so I can’t share. It was an amazing, mouth watering spread and a fantastic way to start off the spring of 2012!!

    dfresh
    Fridley, MN
    Posts: 3053
    May 4, 2012 at 12:47 pm #1065573

    Sounds like a great night at the resort. Hopefully there are many more of those this year!

    thegun
    mn
    Posts: 1009
    May 4, 2012 at 12:50 pm #1065574

    Good times, Good friends, and good food! I dont think it gets any better than that.

    skunkboy
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Posts: 172
    May 4, 2012 at 12:52 pm #1065575

    Dang, now I’m hungry for a fish fry. Fortunately, this is the time of year to get whatever you might want. I’m catching Crappies, Walleyes and Cahnnel Cats at will right now. It’s a great time to be a fisherman.

    Thanks for that mouth watering report. I’m going to try to duplicate that this weekend.

    L8R…Ken

    fishthumper
    Sartell, MN.
    Posts: 11945
    May 4, 2012 at 4:30 pm #1065659

    There sure are some nice people at the place. Someday when I’m over chaseing the grass carp I’m going to become a River Rat. I just wish there were more free days in a Minnesota Summer.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    May 4, 2012 at 5:41 pm #1065694

    Quote:

    I just wish there were more free days in a Minnesota Summer.

    I hear you! I just bought 4 gallons of RV antifreeze preparing for this winter.

    thebigd25
    st. paul
    Posts: 124
    May 4, 2012 at 7:28 pm #1065749

    So what’s his special cleaning technique?

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    May 4, 2012 at 7:52 pm #1065763

    I’ve heard of others doing it too and some with minor variations…but here goes.

    Fillet them like a walleye, same with taking the skin off.

    Trim off any red flesh between the skin and the flesh. Cut out the lateral line. (Just like a river walleye)

    When finished place the fillets in water and leave in the frig over night.

    Next day remove them from the water. Any fat will turn yellow. Trim all yellow off and cut into chunk sizes of your liking.

    I promise you that you’ll be hard pressed to pick out the difference between a channel deep fried like this and a walleye.

    Whiskerkev
    Madison
    Posts: 3835
    May 4, 2012 at 7:58 pm #1065766

    I tried that with some Mendota fish. When I got to the trim the yellow part there wasn’t anything left when I was done. To properly clean a catfish or bullhead if you bleed them out, and trim as above they can be just like whitefish. The feast above sounds mighty fine to me.

    chirp
    Rochester
    Posts: 1471
    May 4, 2012 at 9:55 pm #1065809

    Brian anti freeze? Bite your toungue.

    joshbjork
    Center of Iowa
    Posts: 727
    May 4, 2012 at 9:59 pm #1065815

    Quote:

    I’ve heard of others doing it too and some with minor variations…but here goes.

    Fillet them like a walleye, same with taking the skin off.

    Trim off any red flesh between the skin and the flesh. Cut out the lateral line. (Just like a river walleye)

    When finished place the fillets in water and leave in the frig over night.

    Next day remove them from the water. Any fat will turn yellow. Trim all yellow off and cut into chunk sizes of your liking.

    I promise you that you’ll be hard pressed to pick out the difference between a channel deep fried like this and a walleye.

    You can cube them. I like to lay them on the board and lay the knife flat and split them. 1/4″ thick is perfect. 3/8″ works if you cut some scores in them. The thickness of the fillet is directly related to how oily it is on your plate.

    Water should be warming up fast now. Time to fish

    josh_eats_kitties
    Posts: 123
    May 4, 2012 at 10:01 pm #1065816

    Quote:

    I tried that with some Mendota fish. When I got to the trim the yellow part there wasn’t anything left when I was done. To properly clean a catfish or bullhead if you bleed them out, and trim as above they can be just like whitefish. The feast above sounds mighty fine to me.

    Totally agree with the bleeding out, it’s a must!

    Also I add some salt to the overnight water (I know others that use buttermilk to soak them overnight as well)

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