Catfish Solution to Bullheads

[guywhofishes]

Have you tried an overnight soak in buttermilk? Gotta get all the red meat and yellow fat out of the fillets as well.

Saw the English chef w/cooking show on outdoor channel (Mike Robinson) bleed, gut, and then tail-hang fish overnight on last night's episode. They were in way Northern Finland spearing cod and "flatfish" intending for Halibut but got a Plaice instead.

They talked about hanging fish from the tail in the "not-quite" freezing cold helping to "set-up" the fillets. The fillets sure looked nice and blood-free.

I bet that bleed-out and tail hang would work for any kind of fish. A deep/talll cooler with a little ice @ the bottom oughta do.

Yes - tried lots of things. Having caught thousands over the 30 years I've fished the Red I have had ample opportunity to try many sizes and in many seasons.

Yes - I have been aware of the red meat issue for many moons - even bass aren't half bad IF you remove the red tissue.

RR cats are not only oily but they have that "fishy" taste. Even smoked em... to no avail. : (

Tailrace cats are edible - oily (smelt eaters) but they're edible.

Red River cats are simply a different kettle of fish for some reason. I eventually just gave up. Maybe it's because I live downstream of Fargo and they're eating liberal turds.

 

[Jiffy]

The sheyenne is half a mile from my house. It produces yummy kitties. Come over in the spring, I’ll whip some up.

 

[Kurtr]

The Cajuns I run dogs with said to cut the tail off right when you catch them and they bleed out really good. We did that with 5 last time out and it made a hell if a difference when cleaning them.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

The Cajuns I run dogs with said to cut the tail off right when you catch them and they bleed out really good. We did that with 5 last time out and it made a hell if a difference when cleaning them.

This is what I've always done and it usually yielded pretty good table fair. A little trick we tried when I was younger with the bigger 8+ lbs was have pot of boiling water the quick dip the fillets a couple times. Or a bigger bowl of water with a dash of salt and/or cap of vinegar to help draw out some fish oil, anymore all my fish cleaning i got a bowl of cold water with about a tablespoon of kosher salt dissolved

 

[KDM]

The best way I've found to bleed a catfish is to take your knife and reverse fillet the catfish from the tail toward the head about 5 inches and stop. There are larger blood vessels that come off the spine between the vertebrae and the point is to cut several of these vessels on both sides of the spine. Cutting the tail off or just cutting on both sides only severs one or two of these vessels. These tend to clot up IME leading to a poor bleed out. If you cut 16 or so of these vessels on each side, you not only get a faster bleed out, but it's much more difficult to clot that many outlets. Just some thoughts from an old grey beard.

 

[guywhofishes]

The best way I've found to bleed a catfish is to take your knife and reverse fillet the catfish from the tail toward the head about 5 inches and stop. There are blood vessels that come off the spine between the vertebrae and the point is to cut several of these vessels on both sides of the spine. Cutting the tail off or just cutting on both sides only severs one or two of these vessels. These tend to clot up IME leading to a poor bleed out. If you cut 16 or so of these vessels on each side, you not only get a faster bleed out, but it's much more difficult to clot that many outlets. Just some thoughts from an old grey beard.

That's the method I used on fresh caught lively 2-3 lb cats. I was hoping to find some catfish I enjoyed eating. They still tasted icky.

Oh well - first world problems.

 

[Slappy]

Eaten many delicious Missouri River and Sak channel cats that were bled out from a cut throat just like the walleye. Will have to try the tail cut for comparison.

 

[svnmag]

Bullheads or bluegills ?

Bullheads. Sorry.

 

[svnmag]

Yes - tried lots of things. Having caught thousands over the 30 years I've fished the Red I have had ample opportunity to try many sizes and in many seasons.

Yes - I have been aware of the red meat issue for many moons - even bass aren't half bad IF you remove the red tissue.

RR cats are not only oily but they have that "fishy" taste. Even smoked em... to no avail. : (

Tailrace cats are edible - oily (smelt eaters) but they're edible.

Red River cats are simply a different kettle of fish for some reason. I eventually just gave up. Maybe it's because I live downstream of Fargo and they're eating liberal turds.

Bleed bleed bleed: No matter the fish.

Mild salty club soda is your friend to remove oil. Also Sprite. Down South they like Mt. Dew. Both impart a slightly sweet citrus flavor. The MD is too much for me. Soak overnight in the 'fridge. You'll see little oil droplets on top in the morning.

Cat's from water above 60 degrees taste like paddlefish. The Tailrace spoiled me.

 

[CatDaddy]

I've eaten many, many cats out of the Red River and never had them taste fishy. 8-10 lbs is my target size to keep. I bleed them out by cutting the gills and leaving them in the livewell or on a stringer to die. Remove all red meat, fat, or yellow meat. No soaking in milk, etc. Chunk into catfish nuggets, flour-egg wash-50/50 panko/Shorelunch cajun or original.

I'm very picky about my fish and catfish done this way is the best fish out there IMHO. More than once I've persuaded people who were ADAMANT they hate fish to try mine and they have always raved or asked for it again at a later date.

Guy, not sure what's driving your experience with Red River cats. Wish I were more helpful!

 

[tikkalover]

Holy shit I could understand svnmag’s post he must be sober

 

[Lou63]

I have fished Kansas, Nebraska, South and North Dakota for channel cats. The worst tasting ones came from the Red River, some of the best were from Lake Sakakawea. I think it probably has to do with the forage as well as the structure. Seems to me that the Red was muddy every time we were there. Most of the other waters were for the most part much cleaner.

 

[johnr]

I enjoy catfish - but Red River catfish are oily/nasty. Can't figure out why.

Maybe it's because the Red runs through my back yard - and having tasty fish at my disposal would be too good to be true.

As a young man I fished the Red on the banks of River Dr south Fargo. Me and another fella would set up and do the night bite. Caught a lot of huge bitches over the nights of summer for a couple summers in a row. The challenge was to get the wad of chicken liver out past the riprap and dead fall into the current, let the line go until you had a bit out there. Then crank out the second rod doing the same ordeal. We would then get the fire going, spread out the lawn chairs and bust the cooler open. The cats were usually caught by hearing the line alarm start to scream, jump up, get over to the bank and grab the squealing rod. By this time a cooler would be about 1/3 empty, and the smokes were about 1/4 gone. We would pull in anywhere from an 8lbs-22lbs cats, almost every time. Was the best few summers as a broke fella one could ever have.
Back to the nasty/oily Red River Cats, a lot of urine, and potential other grossness was placed strategically back into the mighty Red River of the North. Not pollution for you green fellas, I am talking piss, vomit, diarrhea, some homemade cocktail of catfish stink bait that my buddy Squirts would make, and maybe some tears.

Careful eating out of the mighty Red. Whole lota farm chemical also infests these waters.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

I will say that I have had catfish in Iowa and Texas at small town cafe's and they do taste different from up here. Not sure where theirs are sourced from but I would assume regionally at least

 

[Slappy]

I will say that I have had catfish in Iowa and Texas at small town cafe's and they do taste different from up here. Not sure where theirs are sourced from but I would assume regionally at least

Almost certainly farmed catfish if from a grocery store or restaurant, even a small town cafe down south.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-fish/catfish-farm-table

 

[svnmag]

As a young man I fished the Red on the banks of River Dr south Fargo. Me and another fella would set up and do the night bite. Caught a lot of huge bitches over the nights of summer for a couple summers in a row. The challenge was to get the wad of chicken liver out past the riprap and dead fall into the current, let the line go until you had a bit out there. Then crank out the second rod doing the same ordeal. We would then get the fire going, spread out the lawn chairs and bust the cooler open. The cats were usually caught by hearing the line alarm start to scream, jump up, get over to the bank and grab the squealing rod. By this time a cooler would be about 1/3 empty, and the smokes were about 1/4 gone. We would pull in anywhere from an 8lbs-22lbs cats, almost every time. Was the best few summers as a broke fella one could ever have.
Back to the nasty/oily Red River Cats, a lot of urine, and potential other grossness was placed strategically back into the mighty Red River of the North. Not pollution for you green fellas, I am talking piss, vomit, diarrhea, some homemade cocktail of catfish stink bait that my buddy Squirts would make, and maybe some tears.

Careful eating out of the mighty Red. Whole lota farm chemical also infests these waters.

Pooping?