I started fishing again last Saturday. My SIL & BIL own a house on the Ross Barnett Reservoir. I use to fish 3 times or more per week. Don't know why I stopped. My wife and I started going over there for game night on Sundays about a month ago. 2 weeks ago BIL wanted to cook out before playing games. SIL and niece wanted to fish. The catch was I had to rig their poles that were a big tangled messes. Got them rigged up. They were using hot dogs for bait. They caught 10 or 12 good channel cats. Got my attention. Went last Saturday and caught about 25 cats. I was a little rusty on cleaning catfish, but I managed. Did a little Youtube research and found this guy.
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We're going back tomorrow. I'm going early to catch a few more. I'll be using this technique. I'll be buying me a fish cleaning table on my way.
I do love catfish but my wife won't eat it.She says it tastes like mud.
Andy
I'll be buying me a fish cleaning table on my way.
A musician from Chicago who is very much an avid fisherman wrote a tune named after his technique. He's the big guy on our left.
Nail that Catfish to a Tree
Trotline.
Bait and set in the evening and pull in the morning. Fish fry in the afternoon.?ÿ
Jules j
Make your own fish cleaning table. Get ya some good sturdy 2x4 and you used to be able to buy Teflon in sheet form, I don't recall how big it was but I am sure you can still find it. Or you can take one of those El cheapo fold up plastic tables and use that for the cutting surface on top of a sturdy solid wood table.?ÿ
And fish smarter learn about trot lines, limb lines, noodles, jugs and PVC pipes set in the bank with a length of line.?ÿ
Catfish is a delicacy and they can be big fish?ÿ so there's lots of meat if you fish a pole catch (or noodle) a big one.?ÿ I'll add a pair of pliers to pull the skin off in addition to the sharp knife when cleaning the fish.?ÿ Beware their dorsal & pectoral fins which can inflict nasty wounds.
Properly prepared catfish rivals lobster in delicacy & umami.?ÿ Breaded, grilled fillets can be dry and unappetizing just like trout, salmon, & other greasy fish which require careful cooking too. I've eaten (farmed) catfish in high end restaurants where it was exquisite but been disappointed by others who overcook it on grills and think it's OK.?ÿ Shame on them.
I have done all of the above before Steve. This adventure just kind of fell in my lap with the SIL and niece catching fish in their back yard on hot dogs. This won't last long. I'll be moving on to bream soon.
As far as the table, I can build one. I have a stainless steel restaurant grade prep table in the country. I need to get it over here. Cleaned a lot of deer, and made sausage on it. But I was thinking about something portable like this,
I have caught big catfish before. Don't like the taste as much as the 2 pounders or less. Oh I have skinning pliers and knifes to do the task. Learned a long time ago to not over cook the fish, or any type of fresh water or salt water seafood.
The real trick is to carefully remove any fatty tissue from the fillets. It's usually a thin yellowish layer and gives the big ones a "muddy" flavor if not removed. I like them fried in fine or extra fine cornmeal. Regular cornmeal doesn't adhere or cook as well.?ÿ Season the fish before you bread it instead of just throwing salt and pepper in the cornmeal. Mexican grocery stores will have the fine cornmeal or sometimes you can find Bob's Red Mill brand.
I should clarify that when I said "noodle" I did not mean to suggest that you learn how to noodle like those insane nutjobs in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri are fond of doing but rather a pool noodle with a capped and sealed PVC pipe as a floating fish catching rig.?ÿ
