my favorite recipe for them is a good Shore Lunch recipe.
1. throw them on shore.
2. let the critters eat it for lunch.
First big key: soak the cat fillets in salt water for 24 hours, then in milk or fresh water for 24 hours. You can change the salt water a couple times if you want, but be sure to take the fillets out a couple times and change the milk/water and rinse them good.
In a food processor put:
1 tube UNSALTED saltines
1/2 package Shore Lunch
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
Blend in pulses till the crackers are entirely pulvarized and the mixture looks like coarse flour.
In a bowl, blend 1 cup 2% milk with 1/4 miracle whip (never tried mayo, so I dunno)…
Best off to cut the dark meat from the skin side of the catfish off, otherwise your end product will taste like it was scraped out of the insides of a tuna.
Cut the catfish fillets into 1″ wide pieces, dip in the milk and dredge well in the cracker mixture and set on a cutting board or piece of wax paper for 5-10 minutes so the breading can set. THIS IS IMPORTANT.
put about 1.5-2 inches of peanut oil in a cast iron frying pan, heat to 350 or so (I use a temp gun I got at Napa for $5 to watch the heat). Drop a few of the pieces into the hot fat at a time and cook till they’re good and GBD (golden brown and delicious).
Break the first couple open so you can get a feel for whether they should be cooked darker or not… I use the color as my “doneness guide”.
If you want, you can mix the remaining breading with the leftover milk mixture and stir thorougly. Leave to hydrate (let the milk soak into the batter and get thicker) while you fry the rest of the fish, then drop into the fat in 1″ balls for the best cakey hushpuppies you’ve ever had.
We just had this last night!
I don’t feel there is a need to soak for 24 hours in salt water. Take the fillets and chunk them about 1 to 1 1/2 squares. I soak mine in milk for about an hour. I then use Frying Magic and coat them good. Use a ziplock bag or Tupperware container with a lid. Shake them real good. Deep fry for 3-4 mintes at 375 degrees. That’s all there is to it. Enjoy them with hash browns or potato salad and a good beer!! 
Quote:
my favorite recipe for them is a good Shore Lunch recipe.
1. throw them on shore.
2. let the critters eat it for lunch.
Bake or grill on foil with a little butter and lemon pepper… Don’t over cook!
Key is… clean em live and cook right after, if its a flat cut the tail off to bleed it out. Rinse and cook…
If the fish sits for any period then do the recommended above soaking…. but once it sits or is frozen I think its never as good as fresh, cleaned, cooked.
Simple beer batter is the best IMO. Just flour, beer and hot oil. A few Cajun seasonings or hit the finished product with some hot sauce and you are golden.
MN river channel cats are the bomb once a month unless you are pregnant or nursing.
Catfish does have a little more “flavor” than most of your other fish- while some just like that catfish taste, others find it pretty nasty. I will say that fresh catfish tastes great, but once they get a little stale they taste really awful.
I don’t often keep wild cats, but If its fresh at the store i’ll get the farm raised cause its usually really cheap. My go to cooking for catfish is either grilled or blackened. To grill, I just brush with melted butter, salt, and pepper and grill 5-6 minutes a side. Skip the foil. Unlike many other types of fish, cat will kind of firm up on the grill. Once grilled, I’ll serve it up on hoagie buns with tartar, lettuce, cheese, tomato…
Or I’ll blacken it-messy and smelly and smokey but worth it. Buy or make (google) blackening seasoning and liberally sprinkle over the fish. In a cast iron pan, melt a stick of butter on high. When the butter burns dark brown or starts to smoke heavily (be careful here, it’s not far from starting on fire)reduce heat to medium and toss the fish in. 1-2 minutes per side, maybe three for a thick piece. The super hot butter will crust the spices on the fish, making it looked kind of burnt. Don’t over cook, it goes quickly. Serve fish samich style or eat as is with a little spicy tartar (1 cup mayo to 1 tablespoon asian chili paste). Best to cook out side on the gas grill, or atleast have a fire extinguisher handy.
cheers
I will have to disagree with CC. I don’t care for farm raised ones. Larry hit it. Bleed them while they are alive by cutting their gills or cutting off their tails. Let them bleed for 20 minutes or so and immediately clean. For catfish I really like a cornbread batter. Either shore lunch or that cajun one are both good. Some folks swear they are better if you don’t fillet them but skin them and chop them bone in. I like them both ways. Don’t ever eat a catfish that lives primarily in a lake. They are much fatter and not as tasty as a river cat. You want small fish 1-3 lbs for channels and under 10 for a flattie. I have a hard time catching fish that small here….
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I will have to disagree with CC. I don’t care for farm raised ones.
or you could say I’m better at cooking them than catching them in the ‘sconnie…
Pete’s Cat Cleaning Tip
Fillet like a walleye removing the skin.
Shave off the red meat and take out the lateral line.
Place fillets in water and in the frig over night.
Remove from water and clean off all yellow (fat turns yellow in cold water)
End up with pure white flesh that tastes as good as walleye and fights better! 
That’s as best put as I’ve ever heard it. For some reason I’ve always had a hard time putting it quite so… succinctly.
Also, you have to have a CRAZY FREAKING SHARP KNIFE to “shave off the red part”… but trust me, it’s worth it. That stuff tastes like it got scraped out of an aquarium filter. I suppose, in a way, that’s exactly what it is. 
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