Newton Catfish

[dma_ayotte]

cats out of the Bear are really good eaters, soak them in buttermilk like said above. i dont like soaking them in saltwater, sometimes to me its a bit salty. maybe i dont rinse good enough i dunno. the bigger ones if you try to cook em will have a dark trim to em on the the meat just trim that out that also adds to the muddy taste like the yellowish fat said before. my wife has landed a 5lber and i landed a 7lber just on the Idaho side of the bear and both of them was very very good... mine had the darker color to it i just trimed that off and had no problem... My wife is from Kentucky and she gave me the idea of the trimming of the dark color and it works good....Also if your goin to freeze them before you use them try covering them in water in a freezer zip loc. just add enough water to cover the fish and freeze it. This helps against freezer burn and keeps the great taste in....
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[gstott]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm looking forward to a spring fish fry. We just got a nice chest freezer, so I will have to try the water trick. I have to definitely agree about all the bullheads around the marina bridge. You can't keep them off your line. I think they're even worse down in that slough by the pig farm. They would pretty much hit the bait as soon as it hit the bottom when I fished there. Does anyone try to eat them? I've caught some around 10-12" that I could probably fillet.
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[FISHINMA]

Thanks for the info bassrods! I never intended in transporting to another water...only for harvest. I thought it was only crayfish as said on page 9 but as I read on page 14 clearly makes me a criminal. I fish about 10 minutes from my home the catfish are usually still alive on my stringer when I get there. Ouch never do that again pop em on the head before I go!
Smiles Always!
MA
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[bigearl]

I have never eaten one, but when we used to fish the bridge there were alot of asian people who would keep them. It was kind of fun when they were there because they wanted to keep all of our mudcats. It made catching them alittle more fun when you could give them to someone to eat. There used to be a southern man there some nights, and he would keep all of our carp. He said he made gumbo out of it. With all the fertilizer that runs into the marsh I have a hard time eating anything out of there.
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[DeeCee]

I like to soak my fish in some baking soda with water. Since it takes odors out of a fridge it also works good for taking off tastes out of fish. I just mix up the water and a cup of baking soda and put the fish in whole. Works great. I keep the fish in the fridge in a stew pot or roasting pan for two or three days, wash the fish thoroughly inside and out to take the baking soda off the surface and then fillet them to cook, works great everytime.

DeeCee []
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[DeeCee]

Many years ago a friend of mine and myself had a spring tradition of fishing for mud cats or bullhead catfish as they are known by. We would fish for them at night using a latern for light and a bobber and a worm for a rig. The flesh is richer in flavor than a channel catfish and you had to get used to the taste with the first few bites because of the richer flavor. After that they were great tasting. Of course make sure you skin and fillet them.

DeeCee []
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[gstott]

Thanks, that's good to know. Maybe I'll have to give them a try this year since they're a lot easier to come by than the channel cats.
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[Fishhound]

[#008000]Every year, I do a fishing excursion for mudders exclusively. It's a blast with ultr light gear and two hooks. When they swim trough in groups and you get two on, it's quite a little charge. [/#008000]
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[#008000]They can be tasty if prepared properly, and, if you have neighbors that enjoy them, it is easy to share the bounty of a nearly no limit kind of fishing day. To make cleaning easier, use an electric knife for nice and convenient little fillets.[/#008000]
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[gstott]

I really need to invest in an electric fillet knife. I would keep a lot more fish if it wasn't such a chore to fillet all the little buggers.
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