# How to prepare Channel catfish



## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

Now that turkey season's over, I'm going to be doing a lot of fishing. And I am looking to do some catfishing. What are they best (and easiest) ways to prepare channel cat fillet's?


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Skin the fish and then fillet the meat from the body.
Now look for the blood line that runs down the side if the fillet.
Cut it out and discard it. If you leave it in the fillet, you will have a nasty bloody taste in the fish.
At this point, I cut the fillets into smaller chunks. 

You can buy a fish batter or make your own. Either way, I like to deep fry my fillets.
One type of batter uses flower and is like the fish that you buy in restaurants.
Think fish and chips.
The other batter is made from corn meal.
I like both styles change it up from time to time.
Cook the fish in oil that is between 350* and 400* temp.
Cook the fillets for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Add spices to taste. I like to add Cajun spice, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and Lemon Pepper to the mix.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

My favorite way to cook catfish is as follows.

1. Fillet in regular fashion and cut the fillets in half.
2. Marinate the fillets in milk for at least 3-4 hours, ideally longer.
3. Once marinated, season with Mrs. dash chicken flavor or cajun flavoring.
4. Grill at a moderate heat.

If you get it just right, it can be some of the best fish you have ever eaten. No greasy cooking techniques either. (Healthier, and the dense flesh of catfish doesn't soak up the grease). |-O-|:hungry:


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## hardman11 (Apr 14, 2012)

do a rub of brown sugar, chili powder, and fresh garlic. Then fry in a pan of bacon grease. The bomb.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Fillet like GrandpaD said then rinse really good, or soak in milk or buttermilk overnight.

Heat 4 inch deep peanut oil quite hot...

mix 1 cup of everyday flour with one can of beer (I use Olympia)

Put fillets in batter and then straight into the hot oil...when golden brown take them out and put them on paper towels to get some of the hot oil off...eat and enjoy!

YUMMY!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Before you attempt to cook whisker bass, or any fish for that matter, you need to bleed them out. GrandpaD wouldn't have to cut out the "blood line" if he followed this step first. While they're still alive, either cut off their tail or slash their gills and let em bleed out to die. This will get rid of ALL the blood taste and you'll have great fish no matter how you decide to cook em.

Blackened on a cast iron skillet in olive oil is my favorite way to have catfish...


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> Before you attempt to cook whisker bass, or any fish for that matter, you need to bleed them out. GrandpaD wouldn't have to cut out the "blood line" if he followed this step first. While they're still alive, either cut off their tail or slash their gills and let em bleed out to die. This will get rid of ALL the blood taste and you'll have great fish no matter how you decide to cook em.
> 
> Blackened on a cast iron skillet in olive oil is my favorite way to have catfish...


Yep you are correct on your method of bleeding and I have to admit blackened catdaddys are prolly my favorite, now if you pour some crawfish achafalaya over them you are prolly going to die of a food overdose!!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Second damnest thing I ever heard.

Uh....growing up we commercially caught catfish in the Mississississippee River. The cats were sold to the fraternal clubs, restaurants, and taverns. Us kids also gutted and skinned 1 1/2lb "restaurant" catfish from commercial catfish ponds in our hometown that were owned by a Midwest hotel/restaurant chain.

We threw the big cats back and filletted the ones from 2 to 7 pounds. The small whole catfish, tails and all, were the best sellers. We sold lots of them with the skin on them but the margin was better if we could market them skinned.

I never bled a catfish in my entire life. What do I know. Man, I wish my grandfather, dad and uncles were alive so I could teach them sumpin new about catfishin.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

Catfish have few bones, and the bones are relatively large. There is not a lot to be gained by filleting them, unless you want to deep fry some fillets. I recommend gutting and skinning, then pan frying&#8230; yum, better than pan fried trout, except for brookies of course.

Here is how to gut and skin them without using a knife. I will only provide an outline of the method. You can work out the details.

1) Grasp the catfish a convenient way, such as thumb in mouth and fingers toward the back of the head. (You can experiment with the best way, but watch out for those wicked spines.
2) With the other hand, slip the index finger into the gill arch, all the way so it comes out the other side.
3) Pull to break the gill arch free.
4) In the newly-opened region, place the thumb of the free hand down the gullet.
5) Place the bent index finger on the outside of the throat, on the belly side, in a way so you can pull the free part of the gill arch down and out, using a kind of twisting motion. The twist is not side-to-side, but down and out, more or less in-line with the body of the fish. You If you do this right you will gut the fish.
6) Break the neck in a backward direction. You will need to experiment with the correct hold and at motion for this. You only want to break the neck, not tear the head off at this point.
7) If you did things right, you will find a T-shaped bone sticking out in the newly broken region. This is a handle you will use for the next step. Hook you index and middle fingers around this T in a way for you to hold the fish.
8) With the hand that is not holding the T, grab the head. The best way is with the thumb in the mouth.
9) Pull the head down and out, with a kind of twisting motion, the twist being down and out, but mostly down.
10) Continue pulling down. If you did everything right the skin will pull right off.
11) The fish is now ready for a final cleanup and pan frying

This method is much easier than trying to use a knife. I cleaned many a catfish this way. I don't know if it will work on a big catfish, as all I caught were the small ones.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I like catfish blackened. It's one of my wife's favorites.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cajun-blackened-catfish/


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

massmanute said:


> Catfish have few bones, and the bones are relatively large. There is not a lot to be gained by filleting them, unless you want to deep fry some fillets. I recommend gutting and skinning, then pan frying&#8230; yum, better than pan fried trout, except for brookies of course.
> 
> Here is how to gut and skin them without using a knife. I will only provide an outline of the method. You can work out the details.
> 
> ...


Good stuff. Remember to scrape the kidneys out too.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Good call goob ya dont forget to scrape the kidneys into the trash


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

wyogoob said:


> Second damnest thing I ever heard.
> 
> Uh....growing up we commercially caught catfish in the Mississississippee River. The cats were sold to the fraternal clubs, restaurants, and taverns. Us kids also gutted and skinned 1 1/2lb "restaurant" catfish from commercial catfish ponds in our hometown that were owned by a Midwest hotel/restaurant chain.
> 
> ...


So bubba, where on the Misssssiiiipppeeee did y'all fish? Grandpa had a marina down in Loozianer where I grew up and we commercial fished em as well. What the heck is bleeding them? Trot lines and hoop nets mostly. Was always fun when you pulled up a nice loggerhead turtle (aka Alligator Snapping Turtle). Sometimes them buggers weighed over 100 pounds and they brought top dollar but man keep your fingers and hands away from them or you'll lose em. Now I am going to share a recipe for catfish that goes way back and I mean way back but I cut a corner...so here goes.

Obviously you have fillets. I cut my fillets into 4 pieces each so I can get more crunchy on them. My sister in law cuts hers into strips about one inch wide and they cook really fast.

1) crack 4 eggs into a large bowl, add 4 heaping tablespoons of mustard and 1/2-3/4 cup milk. Mix up good with a whisk so its homogeneous (mixed up real good).

2) Get a bag of Louisiana fish fry and a bag of Zatarains Fish fry and mix together. If you can't find any Zatarains then add about 1 cup of corn flour, 1 cup of self rising flower and 1/2 cup of cornmeal to the Louisiana fish fry you bought. Add a little black pepper and salt maybe a tablespoon of each and about 2 tablespoons of Tony's Cajun seasoning (Mr. Tony was a good friend of our family). You should be able to find the Louisiana fish fry and Zatarains at WalMart.

3) Soak the catfish in the milk/mustard/egg mix for about 5-10 minutes.

4) put your dry stuff into a large gallon size or larger size zip lock bag or in a really big bowl

5) take the catfish out of the liquid and put directly into the dry stuff and mix thoroughly to coat the fish and put immediately into the oil. I use a cast iron dutch oven with about 3 inches of oil in it and get it up to about 350 and keep it there. Turn the catfish over after a few minutes, frying until it is a nice brown color. Eat as fast as you can before the rest of the folks realize how good it is and eat all yours.


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

massmanute said:


> Catfish have few bones, and the bones are relatively large. There is not a lot to be gained by filleting them, unless you want to deep fry some fillets. I recommend gutting and skinning, then pan frying&#8230; yum, better than pan fried trout, except for brookies of course.
> 
> Here is how to gut and skin them without using a knife. I will only provide an outline of the method. You can work out the details.
> 
> ...


Sound like a good making for a youtube video


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*How to prepare Channel catfish.*



LostLouisianian said:


> So bubba, where on the Misssssiiiipppeeee did y'all fish? Illinois, pool 16 downstream from the Quad Cities. Did the Rock River from Prophetstwn to Colona too. Grandpa had a marina down in Loozianer where I grew up and we commercial fished em as well. What the heck is bleeding them? Trot lines and hoop nets mostly. Was always fun when you pulled up a nice loggerhead turtle (aka Alligator Snapping Turtle). Sometimes them buggers weighed over 100 pounds and they brought top dollar but man keep your fingers and hands away from them or you'll lose em. Now I am going to share a recipe for catfish that goes way back and I mean way back but I cut a corner...so here goes.
> 
> Obviously you have fillets. I cut my fillets into 4 pieces each so I can get more crunchy on them. My sister in law cuts hers into strips about one inch wide and they cook really fast.
> 
> ...


Great recipe, thanks for sharing.

.


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