I have cats I stocked two years ago and they are huge Though myself annd family love to catch these monsters they need to be weened, I hate to toss em in the woods I need catfish recipes anyone no any easy ones, can I just fry them like pan fish? Any ideals for the grill?

Our favorite way is my wife's "Cajun Catfish" (my apology to all the real Coonass chefs out there).

Skin and fillet. Fry in butter with "Cajun seasoning" from local restaturant supply store (you can tell already it has authentic N'awlins flavor, can't you?).

It may not be real bayou gourmet, but it's good.

I am very interested in other recipes.

BC, I've kinda figured you deep fry up other fish just like you do catfish. On larger fish, I cut them into chunks so they fry better.

Regarding grilling, I use a "tool" that opens up and lets me put the fish in it and then closes. I has a long handle. Be sure to spray with something or grease it so the fish don't stick.

Here area some recipe's some of us posted a while back:

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=000756

Feel free to add more! I'm always intrested in new recipe's.

I learned this from an old 'Bama catfisherman. He brought a 22LB cat to a fish fry. I thought that it would taste like heck. It was great. He said the secret starts when you catch them. They are such a heavy blooded fish that you have to bleed them before they die. He cuts the tail off about 1" or 2" into the meat and hangs them over the side of the boat. It will breed like crazy until it bleeds out. Then put it on ice or fillet it at once. Cut any yellow fat off the belly. He cut this big cat cross grain into strips. Batter it to your choice, but only deep fry it in peanut oil. It was not strong tasting at all. I do it all the time now. The secret is to bleed them and not let that strong blood stay in the fish.

:rolleyes: Boy, thats sound crule to me.....

Yeah, maybe it is but nature itself doesn't have a definition for cruelty. I've done that before and kinda figure the cat goes into shock.

I suppose hoolking a fish is cruel to you to.

bc,

Fillet the big guys and cut into thin strips about 1/4 - 1-2 inch thick. I do not use the thin strip of meat around the belly, perhaps this is superstition, but somehow it tastes "more fishy" to me...

I always use corn meal based fish fry mix for catfish and peanut oil at about 350 to 375 degrees. When they float, they are just about done.

Gator

bc, not like makeing an animal bleed to death. 9 time out of 10 a fish will survive being hooked..

Any large fish (say, over 10 lbs) we bleed out, as well. Channel cats, we discard the belly meat, but on Flatheads, it's supreme. Flathead meat is extremely white and sweet...mmmm!

CC belly meat is my least favorite part of the fish too - it seems a lot tougher than the fillets.

We chunked out and soaked a 10lb Miss. River channel cat in milk for a day and it was the best cat I ever tasted (fried in peanut oil w/ a corn meal/flour/salt coating).

BC,

Cut catfish into strips as wide as your thumb. Dip in slightly beaten and seasoned egg white. Dredge in seasoned corn meal. Get your oil very hot (350F, or hot enough to strike a match) and fry the fish *fast.

Use cooking oil that does not impart an odor of its own. Cottonseed oil is odor free for sure.

Seasoning is always to your taste, but we just use salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper here in Cajun Country. I suppose some Cajuns use fancy herbs, but nobody we know does.

A good alternative is to buy a 1 Lb box of prepared "Cajun Style" coating mix. All it consists of is cornmeal and seasonings. The mixes we have tried were surprinsingly good, but we blended in about 30% more plain cornmeal to tone down the flavors.

Pond-raised catfish are notorious for having a muddy taste. Some argue it's the protein feed or anerobic sludge on the pond bottom. The latest theory is that it's a specific algae that causes the "off-taste". The fish's fat is where most of the off-taste accumulates. If the catfish tastes generally good, the fat will not taste muddy either. If the flesh tastes a little muddy, the fat will taste a lot muddy, and should be cut out.

Bon apetit! :p

As Dave mentioned, I find that catfish fries up like any other, and I suppose that different methods suit different tastes. After experimenting, this is what I finally settled on: Use a high-sided stock pot (12 inches or a little deeper) and about four or five inches of oil. Vegetable oil, corn oil, peanut oil - whatever you prefer for whatever reason. Cut filets into about 1/2 inch wide strips after removing any blood line. Put the strips in an egg wash or coat the strips with mustard, or mayonaise or hot sauce.
Put about a quart of yellow cornmeal in a gallon freezer baggie with as much salt and black pepper as you like, and shake it up. Add the fish strips
and shake to coat the strips with the cornmeal mixture. As Bobad pointed out, the oil has to be hot - close to smoking but not quite at that point. You learn to judge this. You can use the
kitcken match firing up as an indicator, but I always heat the oil beyond that. I should know the temperature but have never checked it. Put in the fish strips a couple at a time. Cook in small batches of eight to ten pieces. If the oil foams up, wait a few seconds before adding more strips. The strips are done when they float, but since I like crispy fish, I always cook longer. Drain the fish on newspaper covered with paper towels.
If the cornmeal burns, you'll know the oil was too hot. If the oil foams up over the top of the pot, you've put in too many strips too quickly and will truly regret having done that even if your house survives the fire.
For a little flavor variety, try a drop of Tabasco
on a piece before you munch.

Thanks guys I ended up catching two with my little girl whos six, we bled it out then fillet them then pan fried them in a mix I bought from bass pro they were delicious. I did not get the fishy taste everyone talks about then again thats why I eat a lot of what I catch. The fillets were huge It had been two and a half years and these things are 22- 25 inches just unbelievable in size. I must be doing something right in this pond. I cut open the bellies as always to see what it was eating as always, crawfish and what looked like weeds and grass that surprised me because it was mostly grass, at first I thought it was just digested and looked like grass but upon closes exam in was mostly grass? Surprisingly they had no minnows or fish

If you did not see any fish (bream) you might had just a big Ol greasy Bullhead......you get them thangs up there where your at from time to time.. :p

Or your bream population might be lacking

Fillet and remove belly meat while the fish is still kickin'. I know sounds cruel. Cut into 1 inch squares and freeze in salt water until ready to eat. Roll in UNCLE BUCKS origional batter and cook in turkey fryer. I do not like catfish normally. This is the only way I will eat it. We cleaned 6 9-12lbs pond raised blues earlier this year. We had a great family fish fry and I actually joined in on the catfish.