Just harvesting some CC and noted the roe sacks. Does amyone know if the roe is good to eat, or tasty? I have eaten crappie roe and love it and, of course, shad roe. For those that don't know you just saute the whole roe sac, or broil and baste with butter. Seems a shame to waste a resource like these big CC roe sacks but I have in the back of my mind that some fish's roe is poisonous.

I think we should all sit back and wait for Lusk to comment on this gem

I'm not saying I wouldn't try it...but at this point I would probably dip another fried fillet in ketchup

Common American caviar comes from salmon roe (reddish eggs), trout roe (smaller reddish eggs), American sturgeon (black eggs) and whitefish roe (yellowish eggs).
I have never eaten catfish roe. My common sense suggests that if it were edible, the catfish marketing machine would be palate deep in it. The catfish industry has looked at every way possible to market every part of the creature. At one point, in the early 80's, someone even tried to figure out how to tan the skin for belts. Decided it could be done, but no one would buy it.
If roe were edible, and marketable, I suspect someone would be doing it.
I took a few minutes to research the topic and found absolutely nothing about it.
There's nothing...nothing to suggest it's poisonous...or delectable. I have no idea.

I tried it once. I rolled it in cornmeal and fried it like I have with other fish roe. It turned out like tiny hard grainy marbles. Good from crappie and trout, but I personally don't recommend catfish roe.

... and here I always wondered how the first person to ever eat a mushroom got the idea to munch down on a chunk of fungus growing out of a pile of crap.

OK, I tried it. I am still alive and kicking. It was edible but not delectable. I fried it in flour and panko breadcrumbs. Unlike crappie roe and shad roe it was not very juicy or buttery after being cooked. I paid close attention to not overcooking it. The texture was like fried cornmeal mush somewhat, the flavor very mild and neutral. It was on the dry side making me wonder if I overcooked it in spite of my efforts to the contrary. Next time I will try a gentle poaching and see if it retains more moisture, but it may be that it lacks fat content to make it moist.
A warning to those who would fry or saute this roe: it pops and explodes like a firecracker worse than any substance I have ever fried. I had a spatterguard over the skillet and it sent grease all over the cooktop through the spatterguard. Be very careful.
Right now I am not impressed with catfish roe as a delicacy but will try fixing it in some different ways before I give up on it.

Good report, Layton. The roe looks somewhat like cornmeal mush. You are a braver soul that I. As Eastland said, 1 more fillet or hush puppy for me. But I'm not exactly a cavier guy.

About 30 years ago when I commercial fished for catfish on the side from my government job...I also tried it. Best way I found was mixing the eggs with hen eggs and scrammbling them The family was not fond of them and we let it be just an experience to remember.

Did you guys know that someone is raising Bowfin for the caviar and Gar roe is poisonous to eat?