Catfish Supper

I tried catfish once at a fund raiser up north, wasnt the best. I never had it again till I went to Tennesee. There it was delicous. My question is, is there a difference in the fish? Batter? Is farm raised better than fresh caught? I would like to try it again. What do they do different than us Yankees.

Thank You
paul

I know I have kept thim through the ice out of the horseshoe chain as well as the missouri River. I know when we filleted them we took out the medial line as well as the skin that touches there skin is sort of a yellowish fillet that off the skin. For there size they do not yeild a super large amount of meat. We always breaded them in a cajun seasoning like a southern zatarins and fried em a little crispier. Always tasted good to me and I have ate walleyes from all over the midwest and Canada. – QB

I noticed when I fished them on college in ST.Cloud that as the water warmed (july-Aug) the fish tasted worse and was mush mushier. Only did it for a year though so maybe it was a fluke?

Perhaps we should ask the great and only GRAND POOBA of catfishin aka {BK} about this. He’ll probably say its all sushi

Wild catfish by far is better then pond raised. They can say what they want but I prefer a wild fish over a cereal or grain raised fish anyday.

Here’s an example,,,Where I buy groceries there was a checkout lady and her name is Gabby because she likes to talk and make people feel good etc. Shes evidently never ate good wild catfish. One day I was talking to her saying I was catching channel catfish and she said I’ve never eaten good catfish. My reply was I’ll bring you some wild fish to try and she said ok. She said all shes eaten was the pond raised catfish that the store had for sale. She said shes eaten both the fillets and the nuggets. I told her that’s the first problem,,,the nuggets are the belly meat and not the fillets, she said she didn’t know that.

A couple days later I brought her some fresh wild catfish and she took it home and cooked it. A few days later I was back in the store and I said how was the fish Gabby,,,and she said its better then any of the fish they had on the shelf in the store, including Cod. I said their pretty good aren’t they and she said their delicious and I could tell she wanted more, so I brought her in another small bag of fillets. Since then shes retired and I haven’t seen her since last year, but wild catfish made a believer out of her. Wild catfish is better by far then pond raised catfish any day. What do you think is better,,,pond raised walleyes of wild walleyes.

I keep them on ice in a cooler when catching them in warmer weather. Then I fillet them just like you would any fish. Yes it works great. I then split the fillet in half length ways and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Deep fry them after a quick shake in Frying Magic. Keep your oil hot, at least 360 or better. Fry for 3 – 4 minutes. People who don’t like catfish will like these.

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I keep them on ice in a cooler when catching them in warmer weather. Then I fillet them just like you would any fish. Yes it works great. I then split the fillet in half length ways and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Deep fry them after a quick shake in Frying Magic. Keep your oil hot, at least 360 or better. Fry for 3 – 4 minutes. People who don’t like catfish will like these.

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Yep. When people say fresh cat is the best I have to slightly disagree. Always fridge for a day or two to firm things up. Mushy fish sux Lately I’ve been soaking my fillets for two days with jalepeno juice, absolutely delicious!

I buy them from the local store and pan fry them with a blackening seasoning. No batter and I don’t have to deal with a pool of oil. They taste great. Smaller fillets are better than large which seem a bit rubbery.

Ya Jeff I soak mine too in saltwater, that’s still fresh to me compared to pond raised fish. Jalapeno juice is a good idea, maybe even hot pepper flakes.

I’ve been fortunate enough to partake in a couple of catfish fries with Nick(at Everts). As far as I can tell the secret is to soak the fillets in ice water overnight. The next day, the fat and other “things” turn a yellow color. Carefully trim off the refuse and fry as you would a walleye. You’d be as surprised as I was! YUM,YUM! Wish I would have been prepared enough to have hush-puppies with.