cleaning catfish

i finally got me a good 5 pound flatty!! been setting poles out this time i used whole bluegill they were dead but still and put 1 bank poles out and got me a nice little flat to eat i had him sitting out for 45 mins he still wasnt dead and tbh i had to clean him fast because it was getting dark fast.. so i was told t hit him over the head which wills tun and kill them




well i didnt have anything blunt besides a long heavy machete so i took the blunt non sharp end and started hitting it over the head over and over and it didnt kill him... i started to feel really bad i got upset i was told fish dont feel pain like us but still i kept hitting it and its kills were still flapping and slight movements.

i started to skin him cause i didnt have time left after skinning and filleting him he was still moving his gills!! i feel horrible atm if fish do feel pain that was a horrible way to go next time im just gonna either have a big brick/rock ready or just let them die from no air

Bud that's part of it. Coming from someone who raises alot of their own food...dont look at it as taking a life, look at it in the sense that it gives you life. This is where balance and conservation come in...I dont think any of us enjoy killing or causing pain. But this is the natural cycle. In my humble and personal opinion, repeatedly bludgeoning an animal would prolly make most people upset..try not to do that next time. Instead thank the animal for the life its lived and will continue to provide.

it isnt about taking a life its about the torture i mean a fishing being smashed in the head like that so violently then skinned alive and filleted while gills were moving i had no choice though or it would been to dark out to do it though i did it before to a channel and it died instaintly i guess the flatheads have much harder heads than blues channels i just really hope that the study is real about them not being able to experience pain

Put the fish on ice, this also helps in the cleaning process.

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Originally Posted by matt1991

it isnt about taking a life its about the torture i mean a fishing being smashed in the head like that so violently then skinned alive and filleted while gills were moving i had no choice though or it would been to dark out to do it though i did it before to a channel and it died instaintly i guess the flatheads have much harder heads than blues channels i just really hope that the study is real about them not being able to experience pain

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I understand bud..as I stated I believe that would upset most folks. Next time maybe try to sharp edge? A nice clean whack should take the whole head...that's more humane in my opinion. I second the ice...also makes it less bloody...keep your head up and go get ya another

If you will feel for a small indentation in the middle of catfish’s head there you will find the entrance to the brain. Take a sharp knife and put a tiny slit in the skin. Next take a broom straw and insert the straw in the channel and push it into the brain. Spin the straw in your fingers and the catfish will shudder and be dead humanely. You just scrambled it’s brain.

i feel ya but knowing me id mess it up so i think from now on ill just let them die from lax of water but just sucks that flats can be out for hours the reason i didnt cut the head off was because to skin it i need t hold his head for grip t skin him then fillet but i probably could do it anyways

Could filet, then skin as well..that's how ive always done everything. Just like anything else in life, itll take time to find your own way. Dont beat yourself up man...again I dont think anyone hear wants to see something we care so much about suffer. You'll find what works for you

Try to have a old baseball bat handy. Couple swings with it will keep them from flopping or moving pretty quick

i cant fillet them with skin on since my knife prob isnt good enough iv tried it and always butchered them thats why i skin them first then fillet

See..you're already finding what works for you and what dont...stick with it and you'll have your own routine soon enuff..dont trip over it, we all still stand to learn a thing or 2

bleed them out in ice till dead.

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Originally Posted by cricket george

If you will feel for a small indentation in the middle of catfish’s head there you will find the entrance to the brain. Take a sharp knife and put a tiny slit in the skin. Next take a broom straw and insert the straw in the channel and push it into the brain. Spin the straw in your fingers and the catfish will shudder and be dead humanely. You just scrambled it’s brain.

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this^^^ I poke my fillet knife in that space then into the brain. Gentle up/down motion
with the tip of knife and fish is dead. Makes cleaning a whole lot easier. Done it for yrs.

Take the machete and cut its tail off about an inch up in the meaty part. Then hang on a nail they will bleed out real nice. Then skin or fillet when dead. The meat is much better. Do this with all species of catfish.

Sometime's when I put another crappie I just caught in the cooler and see other's wiggling around, I get to feeling bad. So I put the fresh caught one in and go try to catch another! :-)

Now, I am thinking about giving up Catfishing. { NOT } We all have our feelings to deal with, me to! I do think about that, when I kill any animal or fish!

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Originally Posted by matt1991

i finally got me a good 5 pound flatty!! been setting poles out this time i used whole bluegill they were dead but still and put 1 bank poles out and got me a nice little flat to eat i had him sitting out for 45 mins he still wasnt dead and tbh i had to clean him fast because it was getting dark fast.. so i was told t hit him over the head which wills tun and kill them




well i didnt have anything blunt besides a long heavy machete so i took the blunt non sharp end and started hitting it over the head over and over and it didnt kill him... i started to feel really bad i got upset i was told fish dont feel pain like us but still i kept hitting it and its kills were still flapping and slight movements.

i started to skin him cause i didnt have time left after skinning and filleting him he was still moving his gills!! i feel horrible atm if fish do feel pain that was a horrible way to go next time im just gonna either have a big brick/rock ready or just let them die from no air

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Why don't you just wait until they die ? A fish can stay 7 days on ice, and still be fresh.

I have only saw this done by one person, ever, and that was my grandmother. When I was a kid I would fish farm ponds and there weren’t that many around back then. I would bring home a mess of small cats 10 inches or so and she would help me clean them. She would take a butcher knife or sometimes an ice pick and push it straight down in the head of the fish about where the head would stop and the body start. She would then ta a straw off a broom and push it into the hole and feed it back along the fishes back. They quivered and then never twitched again. Probably wouldn’t work too good on a larger fish. Seeing the post brought back memories of this. Again, she is the only one I have ever saw do this and I have not ever heard of any one else doing it. Not sure how it works, but it did. As far as your dilemma, I agree to put it on ice and wait till the next day to clean it.

I have always wired catfish before dressing. There is a hole as you stated that when you drive a coat hanger into it causes almost instant paralysis


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Well I really suck at catching cats but working on it. Think I'll try that through the brain deal. Got a small handmade tool for cleaning primer pocket's in the boat. In there I use it to puncture sardine and cat food can's to use to chum cats, hasn't worked yet! But it's a nail in a wood handle I made, sort of like a short ice pick. Bet that would work.

Someone mentioned they didn't filet good with the skin on so they skin them first then filet them? Have a hard time imagining you can't filet them with the skin on but no problem with the skin off. Come to think of it, I used to always skin them first. Though it was the law!

I have a friend who ketch's the cats for me and calls me to let me know they are next to my toon. usually can talk the neighbor into cleaning them for me and then have him cook them on his iron skillet.:highfive
but when I have to do it pop them in head with filet board and that usually gets it done then filet right down the backbone and then put the filets on board and it's really easy to run your knife along and skin them that way. easier than skinning first IMO.

I think you guys are putting too much thought into it......he's a catfish. We've skinned em before, twisted the head off & threw it in the gut bucket, and it'll still be moving 15 minutes later. He's a catfish, not your family cat. Just my thoughts.

I’d love to know the actual count on all the catfish I’ve cleaned in my life. For 10 yrs growing up we owned a fish camp and used to, at certain times, attract the in and around the dock with catfish pellets and literally catch them by the wash tub full. We always cleaned similar to the way the commercial fishermen that launched out of our ramp did. The only difference being is they would “ring’em”(wearing a cotton gardening glove, you pick the fish up by the head and cut the skin from behind the pectoral spine on one side all the way across the top, in front of the dorsal spine, down past the pectoral spine on the other side) as they removed them from their trailered boat and toss them in a crate. Then take them to the cleaning table to skin and gut. A skinning board ( usually a 1x6x18”-24”) has a 8penny nail driven through from the underside about 4” down from the top. Then take pliers and roll the pointed end of the nail into a semi-circular hook shape (the nail, with use, would pivot inside the hole but never pull through in either direction). Although driving a large finish nail in, angled upward, at the top of the board and nip the head off will suffice for most recreational fishermen. It helps to have the top of the skinning board raised to about 30-35 degrees. Hold the fish by and across the top of the head as you place him on the nail and while performing the next step. Then take skinning pliers(Maybrun commercial catfish skinning pliers) and grasping the skin to one side of the dorsal spine and pull skin all the way down and off the tail. Then do same to other side. Now cut the head off and slit the belly and gut. Usually there is still some belly skin that can be removed with the knife. With practice, an experienced fisherman with a sharp knife has to be safer and a lot less traumatizing to the fish than beating it like a baseball with a club or stabbing at a moving target. Quite often the proper ringing process will slay the fish. Good luck, keep catching and practice. The fillet cleaning method is used mostly only on larger catfish. Icing your catch, as mentioned above, will put them to sleep as well as preserve them until cleaned.

No gutting for me anymore. I start at the top fin and cut down to the ribs, once I have cut back past the ribs I slide the knife out the bottom and slice to the tail then fillet the meat off the skin.

Get an electric filet knife. When it is new it may be too sharp to skin with. After it gets a little dull, you can filet a catfish like a crappie. Good luck.

I grew up with commercial fishermen. I hope I never even see another catfish.
6-8 hundred pounds a day was loafing.
I am rather adept at cleaning them exactly like SpeckledSlab was describing.
I have seen the dorsal fin, all the way through my Gpas hand more than once. He was a tough ol bird.



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I use a 2x8 board, drive a 16 penny nail through the catfishes head. It serves two purposes, kills and holds fish in place making skinning easier.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cricket george

If you will feel for a small indentation in the middle of catfish’s head there you will find the entrance to the brain. Take a sharp knife and put a tiny slit in the skin. Next take a broom straw and insert the straw in the channel and push it into the brain. Spin the straw in your fingers and the catfish will shudder and be dead humanely. You just scrambled it’s brain.

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My mom, how is 84 now, had grown up in the country in east TX. She taught me this when I was a kid. Works like a charm...only trouble I have is finding long stiff broom straws for bigger catfish. I'm thinking of using weed trimmer string next time if it's a big enough fish.

Use skewers from Wally World's cooking dept. They are already pointy on one end.

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I use a 22 short in a High Standard HD Military!

I used to ice them until they were done , typically the next day , i skinned a few over the years for sure .
i made a cut right down the back past the dorsal on each side and then skinned em with pliers .
next step was the fillet part .
my nanny loved yellow bullheads whole and all i did was gut them and she would give them a dip in a pot of boiling water and use a washcloth to skin them .
now mind you its been a few years since i even thought about cleaning any and typically try to put them back without getting finned if possible ,them little ones will get ya good :Rofl
i about never clean a fish that aint really good and dead , to much trouble and blood and soft and i start feeling sorry for them when they flip or take a breath anyway....
give me a cold firm one that aint wiggling :Rofl

Don’t skin it. Run your knife along the spine and right before the tail flip it and run the knife next to the skin and you’ll have a clean fillet. Best is a cheap mister twister electric fillet knife for about 25 dollars

Fillet like any other fish. Key is when you skin them, go shallow, meaning keep your knife blade off the skin a little, like 1/32 of an inch. This takes most of the dark lateral line off. Make sure after you get all that dark area completely removed, or it will taste very bad. Also you can unzip the lateral line like walleye and other fish.