Preparing some of the finer things in life

[Uncle Jesse]

I know some of you grew up in places where you had to eat inferior species of fish like walleye, and perch and some even tried frying trout I am told. But many of you have now discovered how much fun a big ole ugly catfish is on a long rod and some are actually pursuing them. If you have been wondering just how to prepare a catfish I have found a gold mine for you.
http://www.uscatfish.com/fried-recipes.html

[billhouk]

Uncle Jesse:
Everyone knows the best recipe for catfish and carp... Nail it to a board and leave it in the hot sun for seven days. Throw the fish away and eat the board.

(Just to get a rise out of the catfish connoisseurs. No offense intended...)

[Uncle Jesse]

Bill,

If you happen to find yourself down in the Mississippi or Arkansas Delta and say the word carp in the same sentence as catfish it could become extremely unpleasant. I found a spot on Google Earth in Mississippi that measured approximately 6 sq. miles that was nothing but catfish farm ponds. In my travels it has mostly been Northeasterner that turn up their nose to catfish. The phrase I remember "They live in the East River."

[Betty Hiner]

Don't know about carp. Gotta have someone else take the fly out of its mouth when I catch them!! BUT .. catfish? that's a whole nuther story! Ya'all come on up and we'll hit the "Jumpin Catfish" restaurant here in town. That's some mighty fine eatin'!!!

[AllenOK]

But, but, BUT UNCLE JESSE!!! I prefer my catfish Blackened!!!

Apparently, so do my kids. They scarf that stuff down like there's no tomorrow.

[Uncle Jesse]

But, but, BUT UNCLE JESSE!!! I prefer my catfish Blackened!!! Apparently, so do my kids. They scarf that stuff down like there's no tomorrow.

If you insist:
Blackened Catfish
A bayou favorite, blackened catfish is simple to cook at home on the grill with this easy rub made with a combo of zesty seasonings.
Serves: 4
Cooking Time:5 min
What You'll Need:
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon crushed dried thyme1
/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper4
(5- to 6-ounce) catfish fillets

What To Do:
Coat a hinged grill basket with cooking spray (see Notes). Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except catfish; mix well.
Sprinkle seasoning mixture evenly over both sides of catfish, patting seasoning lightly onto fish .
Place fish in grill basket and grill fish 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Serve immediately.

Notes - If you don't have a grill basket, be sure to spray your grill with cooking spray before heating to help keep your fish from falling apart when you flip it.

[FishnDave]

I grew up fishing rivers for channel catfish, carp and bullheads. My dad cooked 'em. We ate em. Hated picking the bones out of the carp, the bullheads were sort of muddy-flavored, but the channel cats were deelish! The smaller catfish (<24") seemed to have the firmer, better-tasting flesh.
These days, I only keep fish for maybe one meal/year. The public waters I fish get a lot of lawn fertilizer/pesticide run-off...and who knows what else. Not sure I'd want to be eating any of the fish from these waters.

Carp and Catfish are definitely both exceptionally fun and challenging targets for the fly rod!

[Uncle Jesse]

I can pretty well assure you that you can eat all the farm raised catfish you would like without ill effect, unless you have an allergy. Of course, you may develop an urge to grow a mustache.

Whenever I see tilipia on a menu or in a grocery ad I remember the first time I ever heard of tilipia was in Progressive Farmer Magazine, a farm building a modern pig farm was putting tilipia in his waste pond to process the waste from the hogs.

[hap]

I can pretty well assure you that you can eat all the farm raised catfish you would like without ill effect, unless you have an allergy. Of course, you may develop an urge to grow a mustache.

Whenever I see tilipia on a menu or in a grocery ad I remember the first time I ever heard of tilipia was in Progressive Farmer Magazine, a farm building a modern pig farm was putting tilipia in his waste pond to process the waste from the hogs.

All over Taiwan they have "restaurants" where you can rent rods by the hour and fish in a cement pond for whatever they stock it with. At the top of the hills they have mostly shrimp ponds, with other species of fish and "bugs" appropriate to the level of the pond. The runoff goes to the next restaurant down the hill, and the next, and the next, until they get to the tilapia pond at the very bottom... but they do not have to feed the tilapia...

The shrimp operations are very cool because of the ways they encourage people to visit... You fish with two tiny hooks at a time... catch two shrimp at once and you win a free beer... Shrimp sharks show up with their own custom rods... None of them really seemed to be catching many shrimp though.

When you have enough shrimp you skewer them, roll them in coarse salt, and toss them on a huge broiler grill. Buy you side dishes and eat very well...

They should have known better than to allow an ex-commercial fisherman into their crab and lobster ponds though... I ate WAY too much!

[Uncle Jesse]

Back in the late 70's or early 80's the cooperative extension service discovered freshwater prawns and thinking of expanding the aquaculture industry in the south tried growing them in southern Mississippi. Someone came up with the idea of growing them alongside the catfish in some ponds. The catfish really liked that idea. BTW, they are raising freshwater prawn in south Mississippi now, in their own ponds.