Willard Bay 09/23/23

[Gone Forever]

I have caught and eaten catfish from all over the USA.  And I have caught and eaten a whole lot of catfish from Willard Bay...since the late 1970s.  I might be qualified to render an opinion.  And I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinions...as long as they don't try to force them on others.

My opinion is that Willard Bay catfish are some of the cleanest and best eating catfish in the country.  Unlike the cats from dirty, stagnant, algae-filled waters elsewhere Willard Bay cats require very little extra care to make them palatable.  You can bleed them, soak them in milk, salt water or other solutions if you want.  But most of that is largely unnecessary.

Keep your fish alive in a live well or basket and then kill and fillet them as soon as possible when you get in.  And then cook them thoroughly when cooking.  They are a dense and oily fleshed fish and it takes more cooking than it does for thinner white fleshed fillets from perch, walleyes or similar.   And if you coat them, don't use a batter.  It will be overcooked before the fish inside is completely done.  A dry coating is better.

Also, the fillets will cook faster and more thoroughly if you don't cook them whole.  Cutting into "finger strips" or trimming them to get more or less even sized pieces will help insure that all pieces are cooked completely.  See the attached pic for the way I like to trim Willard sized cats for frying, simmering or baking.  Also attaching a writeup I did a long time ago on basic cat filleting. 


There are two things I routinely do in the trimming.  One is to slice out the red flesh along the sides.  Some folks call this the "blood line".  In truth, it is sensory tissue along the lateral line that enables the fish to feel and interpret vibrations in the water.  The second thing I MAY do...depending on the fish...is slice out the yellow oily tissue on the top and bottom of the fillets.  This is not present on all cats.  Just the ones that have been eating well and storing extra oil in their tissues.

Lastly here is a link to a video I put together on CATFISH..HOOK TO PAN.   LINK TO VIDEO
It shows actual video of filleting and cooking that might help make things a bit easier for newbies.

Thank you so much for the information! Having grown up on the coast in the Pacific Northwest I am in completely new territory with things like catfish. There seems to be a lot of hearsay like with any type of fishing. I have always gone fishing because I like eating and I love to experiment with different ways of cooking.

I remember, way back, when we used to have BFT get togethers of you cooking your catfish for the party.  It was the best I had ever had, cooked to perfection and the perfect coatings cooked just right.  That has been the hard part for me. Getting the fish cooked enough without burning the coating.  It was there that I learned to cut them into small pieces to help make them finish cooking together.
As far as taste, In Utah, Willard is way up on the list but I think the Lake Powell fish are a little cleaner tasting, it could have been time of year or recent weather making Willards water murky that made the difference.