Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Cleaning catfish

As I was cleaning some catfish this weekend it occured to me that the comercial growers must surely have a better way of cleaning them than I do. Does anyone know how they clean large numbers of catfish efficiently?

The easiest way I have found to clean catfish is to hang them about head high with a large hook like a hay hook over a garbage can. with a sharp knife cut a full circle around them just behind the head. Get a good pair of pliers and get the skin started. You can usually pull the skin off in one hard pull when you get started. Gut the fish and remove to a cutting board where you will either chop off the head or fillet! Once you get the hang of it you can do it pretty fast.

You can fillet catfish with an electric knife just like you do bass or crappie. Once they get to be 4 or 5 pounds it gets a little bit harder to cut through the rib cage but can still be done. If you still want to skin them, be sure and get a pair of pliers made specifically for skinning catfish, the end is much wider and works much better than regular pliers.

When I was at Lake McConaughy last week there was a big channel cat bite going on. People were bringing in limits left and right. I could tell by watching their various levels of proficiency who had the most experience with cleaning them.

One guy in particular, who was the fastest, used an electric filet knife. He looked like he had done it a million times, but he was crankin' 'em out about every forty-five seconds, and they were five pounders. Pretty impressive.

I filet mine with an electric knife. I mess up a lot trying to filet the skin off with the electric knife so I use the electric to cut the meat from the fish and then a regular knife to cut off the skin and rib cage out.
On yellow cat and channel cat over five pounds, I also cut out the stomache meat and filet the skin of the outside and also the skin or inside liner off the inside.

I clean catfish like everyone else does except I use a schrade knife to cut the skin and cut off the head. Only because the catfish I catch aren't that big or else I would use something else.

It takes less than one minute to clean a catfish. Make two cuts, just behind the head, in front of the dorsal fin. Cut just through the skin, not into the flesh, around the gill flap. Using catfish skinning pliers, pull the skin downward, toward the tail. After you do a few, you can make two pulls and have all the skin off. Then, flip the fish over and pull the skin upward from the stomach flap, all the way to the v'shaped bone underneath the gills. Then, using your pliers, snip the backbone nearest the head, in front of the dorsal fin. Next, take your knife and cut the gut cavity, from anal fin to the v' bone. Then, put the knife down, bend the head downward, toward the fish's stomach and pull forward. The head will come off and most the entrails will disembark. Snip off the dorsal fin with your pliers, pull out the pelvic fins and flush with water. You will have a great looking fish, ready to cook.