I can fully butcher and process a deer so I am guessing I can clean a catfish for some good eats!
Used to fish a ton in high school but always put them back. Well my pond is getting a little over run so I guess me and the boys are going to have to catch a few and enjoy.
It is to the point they will come and eat out of your hand.

That is a beautiful pond! Catch a mess of those cats, don't bother skinning them, simply filet 'em. A little corn meal, some hot oil in a skillet and you will have a meal fit for a king. Or maybe fit for a a Southern boy with an appetite. Enjoy!

Mm.... that's some good eatin right there. Fish n cheese grits please.

My Pop-pop drove nail thru a board..
slapped the catfish head's into the the protruding nail
then cut its skin around the neck/head
pulled the skin with a pair of pliers and while peelin him the gut s fall out
when finally skinned, cut his head off and throw him into a bag of cornmeal and salt & pepper and then deep fry him

at any point you (as the skinner) have right to take a swig of (insert tasty beverage here) and keep on keepin on

quote:

Originally posted by Minnow:
That is a beautiful pond! Catch a mess of those cats, don't bother skinning them, simply filet 'em. A little corn meal, some hot oil in a skillet and you will have a meal fit for a king. Or maybe fit for a a Southern boy with an appetite. Enjoy!

Thanks!
It has come a long way. That is me dragging out the first tree I ever took down with a chainsaw.

After a bit of dozer work and rain

And the current view from the front porch just took this not too long ago about 7 years after initially starting. It was stocked initially 5 years ago and has not been fished but I have a 3 year old and a 2 year old that want to get to it.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
My Pop-pop drove nail thru a board..
slapped the catfish head's into the the protruding nail
then cut its skin around the neck/head
pulled the skin with a pair of pliers and while peelin him the gut s fall out
when finally skinned, cut his head off and throw him into a bag of cornmeal and salt & pepper and then deep fry him

at any point you (as the skinner) have right to take a swig of (insert tasty beverage here) and keep on keepin on

That's exactly the way I was taught a long time ago.

Throw 'em in the dishwasher?

Check utube, lots of info there.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
My Pop-pop drove nail thru a board..
slapped the catfish head's into the the protruding nail
then cut its skin around the neck/head
pulled the skin with a pair of pliers and while peelin him the gut s fall out
when finally skinned, cut his head off and throw him into a bag of cornmeal and salt & pepper and then deep fry him

at any point you (as the skinner) have right to take a swig of (insert tasty beverage here) and keep on keepin on

^^^^ This

you made it too deep! COuld have shot ducks on it at 18 inches and only where hip boots!

Looks like a nice place to relax. Just need some shade.

Those have got too big,the best size is about a foot or little less long.
I have cleaned cats all my life and the first was with pliers.
About forty years back at K-mart they had in fishing department there was a handy tool the was like pliers with a wide blades.
Those thing work fantastic,still have them,havent been used in 25 years because I discovered Deer hunting.

I believe that's the origin of the saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

quote:

Originally posted by Minnow:
That is a beautiful pond! Catch a mess of those cats, don't bother skinning them, simply filet 'em. A little corn meal, some hot oil in a skillet and you will have a meal fit for a king. Or maybe fit for a a Southern boy with an appetite. Enjoy!

Yes, filet them, but also remove the skin from the filets!

We have found that once they get above 3-4 lbs, they get tough and taste kind of strong.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
My Pop-pop drove nail thru a board..
slapped the catfish head's into the the protruding nail
then cut its skin around the neck/head
pulled the skin with a pair of pliers and while peelin him the gut s fall out
when finally skinned, cut his head off and throw him into a bag of cornmeal and salt & pepper and then deep fry him

at any point you (as the skinner) have right to take a swig of (insert tasty beverage here) and keep on keepin on

^^^^ This

Yeah, we used to do it that way too. A guy showed me a faster, better way to do it.

Just cut down to the spine, right behind the head, filet down to just short of the tail not cutting through the skin at the tail.

Flip that filet so the skin is down, and filet the meat off the skin. Remove ribs if desired.

Beautiful pond.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by Minnow:
That is a beautiful pond! Catch a mess of those cats, don't bother skinning them, simply filet 'em. A little corn meal, some hot oil in a skillet and you will have a meal fit for a king. Or maybe fit for a a Southern boy with an appetite. Enjoy!

Yes, filet them, but also remove the skin from the filets!

We have found that once they get above 3-4 lbs, they get tough and taste kind of strong.

Layering the filets in mustard in a bowl will draw out the muddy taste. Let them sit in the fridge overnight and rinse them off with cold water before getting ready to cook them. Thoroughly dry with paper towels, then dip in beaten egg. I use corn meal, flour, salt and pepper as my coating, then throw the filets in a cast iron skillet with hot oil. Doesn't take long to fry up to a golden color on each side. Maybe a minute or two for each side. Make some coleslaw to go with it and enjoy.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
My Pop-pop drove nail thru a board..
slapped the catfish head's into the the protruding nail
then cut its skin around the neck/head
pulled the skin with a pair of pliers and while peelin him the gut s fall out
when finally skinned, cut his head off and throw him into a bag of cornmeal and salt & pepper and then deep fry him

at any point you (as the skinner) have right to take a swig of (insert tasty beverage here) and keep on keepin on

That's how we do it. They sell fish skinners, basically pliers with a wide nose to grab the skin.

Is this at your house or do you have a separate property in the country? That's a neat pond!

Check meateater on Netflix they have an episode about cleaning catfish I think it is on season 6

I learned it Mike's way from my uncle, who was a professional trotliner on the Mississippi River