# “KISS” my Catfish  (Bear Style)



## Bearcarver (Jul 27, 2018)

*“KISS” my Catfish  (Bear Style)*


OK here’s my favorite way to do Catfish “KISS” (Keep It Simple Soldier).

I like Catfish Breaded, and eventually I’ll Smoke a few, but once again I decided on KISS.

I much prefer Smaller Wild-caught Catfish, but these larger ones were pretty good too. I actually prefer the size that I can get 4 or 5 Catties in the Pan at once. 

When my Dad was still around, we used to go to the Delaware River & fish all night, and sometimes bring our limits home (50 Each). They all ran between 10" and 12" long. Then we'd have a Family Fish Fry, and my Mom would just keep frying, until everybody had their fill. I was good for about 5, my brother 3 or 4, and even my younger Sister would take care of 3 of them. 

A Catfish is the easiest fish to clean & eat, and the only fish that we never filleted. All you have to do is Skin it, gut it, cut the head off, rinse it off, and Fry it. Then you just grab the head end of the backbone, and scrape all the meat from one side off the bone, with a fork. Then flip it over and do the same thing on the other side. Now you have a pile of Meat without a single bone, and in your hand is the complete skeletal system of the Catfish, all in one piece, including the Rib cavity. You can’t do that with any other Fish!!

So all I do is melt a bunch of butter in a Pan, and Drop a Fillet (or Fillets) in the butter. 
Then after the first flip I give it a couple good shakes of “Old Bay” seasoning.
I like to get it pretty well browned, because that little bit of soft bark adds to the overall flavor.
You will see 2 completely different Catfish Fillets, so don’t get the idea that it’s the same one. (Second one was slightly bigger on the second night)

I did the same thing two nights in a row, but after adding some Tartar sauce on my plate with the first one, I didn’t feel it was needed on the second one. The Awesome flavor of the Fried Catfish was too good to spoil with any Tartar sauce!
I do however make sure I get some extra Browned Butter on the plate, from the Pan, when I serve it to myself
I didn’t add any Veggies this time, but I did have a few slices of Italian Bread with Butter, not shown in Pics.


Enjoy,

Bear

One Nice Catfish Fillet:







Swimming in Butter:






Getting close to done:






Plated with extra Butter & some Tartar Sauce:






*Second Night's Supper*

Another of the same, only slightly larger:






Browning nicely:






Now we're getting there:






Perfect !!






Plated with extra Butter. Tartar Sauce Not Needed:


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## chopsaw (Jul 27, 2018)

Nice cook on the fish .


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## Jeff Wright (Jul 27, 2018)

Nice looking fish, Bear. I am a crappie and walleye guy, but you make catfish look pretty darn good.  Be awesome with some fried morels!!!  A regular artery clogging delight, for sure.


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## chilerelleno (Jul 27, 2018)

That looks very tasty Bear, nice fish dish.
We fish pretty frequently and love our fish too.

I prefer my fish gutted, scaled and otherwise whole, but sometimes steak and fillet. Just like with animals, bones in fish are flavor and moisture, making for a better deal. That and all the meat on the heads of some fish, yum!
Plenty of saltwater fish where you can do as described, flounder, pompano, Spades and more.


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## ravenclan (Jul 27, 2018)

I will have to try this! All we have ever done is salt, roll in cornmeal  and deep fry to done.

This looks very yummy!!


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## gary s (Jul 27, 2018)

Mmmm   Looks tasty     Catfish down here is like corn bread   pretty much a staple 

I "Like" it

Gary


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## erain (Jul 27, 2018)

Very nice John, believe it or not a week ago is the very first time I went fishing exclusively for catfish. I have caught a rogue one here and there but never kept one much less ate one. Anyway caught a nice bunch and I did fillet mine but I was impressed by the taste of them. And then strange I see this post from you today. Will be sure to go out for some more!


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## idahopz (Jul 27, 2018)

I'm salivating now - great looking fish!


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## HalfSmoked (Jul 27, 2018)

Ah yell another great meal by the Bear. Goes good with corn bread, greens, stewed tomatoes and fried taters too. That's the way we do a fish fry.

Warren


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## tropics (Jul 27, 2018)

Bear I love fried fish,had some Catfish down in Alabama that was good. Caught a bunch up in Lake Ontario that tasted like mud never tried them again.
Richie


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## GATOR240 (Jul 27, 2018)

Looking good Bear. That's one of the two types of fish that I care for.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 27, 2018)

chopsaw said:


> Nice cook on the fish .



Thank You Rich!!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear




Jeff Wright said:


> Nice looking fish, Bear. I am a crappie and walleye guy, but you make catfish look pretty darn good.  Be awesome with some fried morels!!!  A regular artery clogging delight, for sure.



Thank You Jeff!!
I love most Freshwater Fish, especially Crappie & Walleye, but Catfish has been my #1 favorite Eating Fish since way before eating them was socially accepted above the Mason-Dixon Line. Now they have Catfish in Restaurants in the North, and it is Expensive!!

Bear


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## TomKnollRFV (Jul 27, 2018)

Hey now, I'm from the North Bear, depends where you go for the Catfish. A place near me does cornmeat dusted catfish on Fridays..13 USD all you can eat. That is to me, pretty darn cheap for All you can eat fish!

I almost got Catfish fillets today; but all I saw from the fish place I went was the breaded kind and they were shortstaffed trying to handle a ton of custom orders. <They smoke fish commercially and for private customers. Pulling up to the place smelt like heaven>. So I didn't end up asking if they had non breaded on hand. So instead we got about 4 pounds of smoked Salmon...


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## SmokinAl (Jul 28, 2018)

That is some good looking catfish my friend!
We eat a lot of fish, mostly tilapia & salmon, but your catfish looks delicious!
We just did some tilapia in the AirFryer, and boy am I glad you got me to buy one of those things!
Al


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## Bearcarver (Jul 28, 2018)

chilerelleno said:


> That looks very tasty Bear, nice fish dish.
> We fish pretty frequently and love our fish too.
> 
> I prefer my fish gutted, scaled and otherwise whole, but sometimes steak and fillet. Just like with animals, bones in fish are flavor and moisture, making for a better deal. That and all the meat on the heads of some fish, yum!
> Plenty of saltwater fish where you can do as described, flounder, pompano, Spades and more.



Thanks John!
No Scales on a Catfish---Just a Rubber Wetsuit.
Never heard of a Pompano or a Spade, but we Fillet the Flounders my Son catches.
Catfish is still the only fish I ever ate or saw that you can cook the whole fish, and then pull the whole skeletal system out in one piece, with ALL  bones intact, and NO Bone-Picking.

Bear




ravenclan said:


> I will have to try this! All we have ever done is salt, roll in cornmeal  and deep fry to done.
> 
> This looks very yummy!!



Thanks Raven!!
I love them that way too, but I get lazy & can't resist the buttery flavor of this method.

Bear



gary s said:


> Mmmm   Looks tasty     Catfish down here is like corn bread   pretty much a staple
> 
> I "Like" it
> 
> Gary



Thank You Gary!!
LOL---I can still remember the looks I got from others around my Area, when I said we had Catfish for Dinner.
Nowadays if a restaurant has it, it's expensive!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## hardcookin (Jul 28, 2018)

Looks good Bear! Only thing missing is some mac & cheese.


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## chilerelleno (Jul 28, 2018)

Yeah, I hear ya John about the Cat's rubber wetsuit, skinning cats is the hardest part of cleaning them.

We've countless catfish farms down here that supply the commercial demand.
We also have some great _'Pay to Play'_ catfish ponds where you can catch'em yourself.
I take my kids and they love it, it's not fishing, it's catching!
And the fish in these ponds are allowed to grow, average fish is 2-3lbs, which is industry standard for harvest, but there are fish ranging from 10lbs, 20lbs, 30lbs and even over 40lbs.
We bring home a lot of fish when we go.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 28, 2018)

erain said:


> Very nice John, believe it or not a week ago is the very first time I went fishing exclusively for catfish. I have caught a rogue one here and there but never kept one much less ate one. Anyway caught a nice bunch and I did fillet mine but I was impressed by the taste of them. And then strange I see this post from you today. Will be sure to go out for some more!




Thanks Erain!!
Good to see ya!
Yup---We all love them here, but we prefer the size to be between about 10" and 16", and best when caught during Spring or EARLY Summer.
You'll never guess my second favorite eating fish------American Eel.

Bear


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## HalfSmoked (Jul 28, 2018)

Chili you should throw that little guy back. :D

Warren


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## HalfSmoked (Jul 28, 2018)

Hell yell I'm with you on the American Eel' Dad use to cut them in about 3" pieces then cut through to the back bone in 2 places on each side and you had 3 nice bites on each side. Wow that brings back some memories of some good eating haven't had that in awhile.

Warren


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## chilerelleno (Jul 28, 2018)

HalfSmoked said:


> Chili you should throw that little guy back. :D
> 
> Warren


He did go back.
I don't keep anything over 5lbs or so as they get to coarse in the flesh.


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## chilerelleno (Jul 28, 2018)

X3 on the Eel!
My son and I love it, we fish them when we can.
One of the first things I order at a Sushi Bar is the Unagi, extra sesame seeds.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 28, 2018)

idahopz said:


> I'm salivating now - great looking fish!




Thank You PZ !!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear




HalfSmoked said:


> Ah yell another great meal by the Bear. Goes good with corn bread, greens, stewed tomatoes and fried taters too. That's the way we do a fish fry.
> 
> Warren



Thank You Warren!!
Yup---Our biggest Fish feasts revolved around  either Catfish, Trout, or Shad Roe or Sucker Roe!!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Jul 28, 2018)

tropics said:


> Bear I love fried fish,had some Catfish down in Alabama that was good. Caught a bunch up in Lake Ontario that tasted like mud never tried them again.
> Richie



Thank You Richie!!
We try to catch & keep Catfish in the Spring & Early Summer, to avoid the "muddy taste" problem.
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Jul 29, 2018)

GATOR240 said:


> Looking good Bear. That's one of the two types of fish that I care for.



Thank You Denny!!
What's the other one?
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear




TomKnollRFV said:


> Hey now, I'm from the North Bear, depends where you go for the Catfish. A place near me does cornmeat dusted catfish on Fridays..13 USD all you can eat. That is to me, pretty darn cheap for All you can eat fish!
> 
> I almost got Catfish fillets today; but all I saw from the fish place I went was the breaded kind and they were shortstaffed trying to handle a ton of custom orders. <They smoke fish commercially and for private customers. Pulling up to the place smelt like heaven>. So I didn't end up asking if they had non breaded on hand. So instead we got about 4 pounds of smoked Salmon...




Around here, if a Restaurant has Catfish, it will cost from $20 to $30 for a Dinner with a very small piece of Catfish.

Bear


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## HalfSmoked (Jul 29, 2018)

You get a line and I'll pole and we'll fishing down oh well you know how it goes.
So many memories of days gone by have come up in this thread. Thanks John.

Maybe you should start a thread of old memories of days gone by.

Warren


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## Bearcarver (Jul 29, 2018)

HalfSmoked said:


> *You get a line and I'll pole and we'll fishing down* oh well you know how it goes.
> So many memories of days gone by have come up in this thread. Thanks John.
> 
> Maybe you should start a thread of old memories of days gone by.
> ...



Now with that phrase, you're bringing back Memories of "Jerry McGinnis" and "The fishin Hole"!!
I watched that one more than a few times!!!

Bear


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## mike5051 (Jul 29, 2018)

Never tried catfish cooked in butter, it looks delicious.  There is a catfish house near me that serves all you can eat catfish everyday...it's whole fried catfish.  I've never ordered it because I thought it was a gimmick and you spend all your time picking fish off the bones.  I didn't know that the fish comes off the skeleton easily.  Thanks for tip!

Mike


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## dward51 (Jul 29, 2018)

I've never tried them in butter either.  Looks great though, Bear!

When I say the thread title, I figured it was breaded and fried (being from the south like I am there is generally no other way to do catfish, right?).  I may have to give this a try as there are a lot of days I don't want to fool with oil and disposing of it afterwards and just forgo things like catfish.  Plus I'm trying the low carb thing and true breading is not a good idea, but this would work great.

Thanks!!!!


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## Bearcarver (Jul 29, 2018)

chilerelleno said:


> Yeah, I hear ya John about the Cat's rubber wetsuit, skinning cats is the hardest part of cleaning them.
> 
> We've countless catfish farms down here that supply the commercial demand.
> We also have some great _'Pay to Play'_ catfish ponds where you can catch'em yourself.
> ...




Nothing that big around here in the Catfish Department.
The closest thing we got to that size would be a bit South of here at the Conowingo Dam. (Havre deGrace)
However we always preferred them to be under 16" for the best eating.
Those big ones gotta be fun though, because I know even a 20" Catfish feels like you're stuck on the bottom, until you get him moving.

Bear


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## MeatSkull (Jul 29, 2018)

I agree , the easiest to skin and gut. I do like them but prefer Cod and Salmon, now that's some eating!


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## ravenclan (Jul 30, 2018)

Bearcarver said:


> Thank You Richie!!
> We try to catch & keep Catfish in the Spring & Early Summer, to avoid the "muddy taste" problem.
> And Thanks for the Like.
> 
> Bear



When we clean catfish we "roll them" we have a five gallon bucket filled with water, take a hose with a adjustable nozzle put in the water and spray the the water towards the bottom to "roll" the fish. this cleans the fish and removes the muddy taste. you will know when you are done the fish fillet will be white. we fill the bucket half full of fish then rinse them. more then that will take longer to clean.


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## gmc2003 (Jul 30, 2018)

Man it's amazing how many threads slip on by when your working and can only log on for 10 or 15 min. at a time. Bear that cat looks scrumptious. Brings back allot of memories from when I was younger and went fishing/camping with my buddies. We used to cook them on a cast iron pan over an open campfire. Good times. 

Point for sure.

Chris


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## Bearcarver (Jul 30, 2018)

ravenclan said:


> When we clean catfish we "roll them" we have a five gallon bucket filled with water, take a hose with a adjustable nozzle put in the water and spray the the water towards the bottom to "roll" the fish. this cleans the fish and removes the muddy taste. you will know when you are done the fish fillet will be white. we fill the bucket half full of fish then rinse them. more then that will take longer to clean.




I hesitate to tell this story, because the last time I told it, a Non-Member of this forum joined just to call me disgusting & abusive:
Anyway, back in the 1960s my Dad had it down to a science (This would take him well under 1 minute per catfish):
We used to fish the Delaware River at night with lanterns. We sat on 5 gallon buckets, and every time we caught a Catfish my Dad would hold him inside the mouth with a rag (to get a good grip), and he would cut lightly all the way around, just behind the head. Then he'd grab the skin with a pliers, and pull the skin right off, from head to tail. Then it would go into one of the 5 gallon buckets, filled with water. They would swim around calmly until we got home in the morning to Gut & Behead them.
This probably accomplished much the same thing as your "Rolling" did, because we didn't get the Muddy taste.
However we still preferred harvesting Catfish during the Spring & Early Summer, because the flesh was more Firm at that time.

I can remember a few times that we limited out at 50 Cats each.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Jul 30, 2018)

HalfSmoked said:


> Hell yell I'm with you on the American Eel' Dad use to cut them in about 3" pieces then cut through to the back bone in 2 places on each side and you had 3 nice bites on each side. Wow that brings back some memories of some good eating haven't had that in awhile.
> 
> Warren




Yup---Nice flaky, pure white meat---Very Tasty!!!
And I used to get a kick out of how the Eel Chunks would jump around in the pan, even more than Frog Legs did.

I hated dealing with them when I caught one. My Dad used the trick of holding them with a rag in his hand, so the rag would soak up the slime & allow him to get a good grip on it, but just like a snake the Eel would wrap himself around his arm while he was removing the hook.

Not me---Too much like a snake for me---I just cut the line & put him in the stringer bag. A lot easier to put a new hook on than to play with him, especially when they got up to 30" long or more!!!!!

Bear


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## HalfSmoked (Jul 30, 2018)

WE just take and slam them down on the deck and they straighten right out like they are knocked out.

Warren


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## Bearcarver (Jul 30, 2018)

mike5051 said:


> Never tried catfish cooked in butter, it looks delicious.  There is a catfish house near me that serves all you can eat catfish everyday...it's whole fried catfish.  I've never ordered it because I thought it was a gimmick and you spend all your time picking fish off the bones.  I didn't know that the fish comes off the skeleton easily.  Thanks for tip!
> 
> Mike



Thank You Mike!
Yup---Definitely Zero Bones to pick.
I think that's a big percentage of why a Catfish is my Favorite Fish to eat.
I hate picking bones.
One of these days I'm going to tap some LA guys for some "Cajun Catfish" Recipes.

Many moons ago, when I had my own Cabinet shop, I redid a Big Bar (Spinnerstown Hotel), and I did both kitchens, his upstairs office, his Waitress Stations, and even his Bar at his mountain cabin at the Lake.
So I took Mrs Bear there for Dinner, and I ordered "Cajun Catfish". So after we ate, the owner (My Buddy) asked me "How did you like that Catfish?"  I replied, "You're asking a guy who usually eats 4 or 5 Catfish at a sitting how he liked a little sliver of a piece of fish you put on my plate. I can't really say. It wasn't in my mouth long enough to taste it."

And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Jul 30, 2018)

gmc2003 said:


> Man it's amazing how many threads slip on by when your working and can only log on for 10 or 15 min. at a time. Bear that cat looks scrumptious. Brings back allot of memories from when I was younger and went fishing/camping with my buddies. We used to cook them on a cast iron pan over an open campfire. Good times.
> 
> Point for sure.
> 
> Chris




Thank You Chris!!
I know what you mean---I miss a lot of Awesome posts, I'm sure!!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## zachd (Jul 30, 2018)

We just have a board with a nail stuck all the way through slam the head onto it and make it stick. make a cut Then you take a needle nose and pull the skin off.

Speaking of eel I love me some eelpout


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## Bearcarver (Jul 31, 2018)

hardcookin said:


> Looks good Bear! Only thing missing is some mac & cheese.




Thank You HC !!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Jul 31, 2018)

zachd said:


> We just have a board with a nail stuck all the way through slam the head onto it and make it stick. make a cut Then you take a needle nose and pull the skin off.
> 
> Speaking of eel I love me some eelpout




That's exactly the way I used to do them at home, but at the River my Dad was quicker his way, and he could get one done in the time it took for his sinker to stop bouncing & settle down for the next Catty to bite.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Jul 31, 2018)

dward51 said:


> I've never tried them in butter either.  Looks great though, Bear!
> 
> When I say the thread title, I figured it was breaded and fried (being from the south like I am there is generally no other way to do catfish, right?).  I may have to give this a try as there are a lot of days I don't want to fool with oil and disposing of it afterwards and just forgo things like catfish.  Plus I'm trying the low carb thing and true breading is not a good idea, but this would work great.
> 
> Thanks!!!!




Thank You Dave!!
I'm a sucker for Buttery things:
When I used to Stop for a few Beers after work, I often brought home a dozen "U-Peel-ums" from the Hotel. 
Then I'd peel them & put them in a bowl with a hunk of butter, and Nuke them until the Butter was melted.
Tasted Just like Lobster Tail to me. 
Mrs Bear doesn't eat Seafood, so they were ALL MINE !!!

Bear


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