DNR would like you to take blue catfish

[Mr H]

Hey...

 

[Bountied]

If a local restaurant served them, I would try them. Fried fish is one of my favorite foods.

If it smells like fish and it tastes like fish, it's not fresh fish.

 

[Slackdaddy]

You mean like eating scallops that have been cut out of skate wings.

Old wives tale,,, 20 years ago I drug home 3 skates,,, the wings have a brown textured "meat" ,, like the gills of a crab,, and tasted about the same.

 

[Doco Overboard]

Here's the other fish thats popular. The eel pots are out about now.

 

[ChannelCat]

Do blue catfish have to be skinned? It has been a VERY long time since I caught catfish.

Just fillet them, and slice the skin off just like you would do a rockfish. No need for the nailing the fish to a board and pulling the skin off with pliers nonsense.

 

[gtodave]

Here's the other fish thats popular. The eel pots are out about now.

I've had beers with that waterman. He's a good dude.

 

[Afrikeber]

Grandma used to make big batches of fried catfish, scrambled eggs with cheese and home fries every Sunday for years out on the country lower forty. Neighbors from all over always came over with biscuits, pies and homemade wine.

Those were great times and the only time I saw fried catfish for breakfast.

 

[tosainu1]

I wouldn't have too many blue catfish from MD especially from DC unless I wanted to get cancer or grow a third ear

 

[Bigsawer]

When I was in UCLA (Upper Corner of Lower Alabama), the local seafood restaurants would do Fried Buffets of Catfish, Gator, Frog Legs, Soft Crabs, Oysters and Shrimp and if it wasn't Lent, Chicken and Rabbit along with Fries, Hush Puppies and Coleslaw

OMG. WHERE?

 

[cww]

Love fried catfish. We would always keep the 15”-24” slot size for eating. No skin, as stated fillet them down the back flip and run the knife between the meat and skin. We never had an issue with freezing as long as it wasn’t for too many days, like less than 2 weeks.

 

[Slackdaddy]

Love fried catfish. We would always keep the 15”-24” slot size for eating. No skin, as stated fillet them down the back flip and run the knife between the meat and skin. We never had an issue with freezing as long as it wasn’t for too many days, like less than 2 weeks.

Can you elaborate? I was going to hit the blue cats hard this year and vacu-bag and freeze.
Bad idea?

 

[remrug]

Can you elaborate? I was going to hit the blue cats hard this year and vacu-bag and freeze.
Bad idea?

I dont freeze fish too often and never have vac-paked them. I would take qt size freezer bags and fill them to 3/4 full of fillets. Put some water in and squeeze the air out. When the water is about to overflow I seal the bag. The fillets should be surrounded by the water so there is no chance of freezer burn. You may have to adjust the amount of water. I have eaten fish up to 2 yrs later and all is good.

This will never be as good as fresh, but no meat or fish ever is

 

[remrug]

To add to my previous post

I posted my way of making fish cakes. I usually make a big batch and broil them. Then I freeze the cakes with a vac-pac. I take them for work lunches and eat on Ritz crackers.
To me, this is a great way to consume a bunch of blue cat fillets. I feel there are better fish to be fried and eaten than catfish but your taste buds may differ.

 

[Tracker12]

Love blue cat fishing. The Pax is loaded with them and I have been doing my best to control the population

 

[mauser58]

We see Blue Catfish regularly at Geresbeck's in Pasadena (locations in Sun Valley and Essex, too).

We've been tempted to try it, but I'm not a huge fish fan. Maybe if I can get a recipe that suits my chicken-shit palate

They also have Snakehead fillets quite a bit there.

 

[King Chicken]

I wouldn't have too many blue catfish from MD especially from DC unless I wanted to get cancer or grow a third ear

"Today, Washington, DC is the only major city in America to completely ban swimming due to public health risks linked to sewage pollution" - although they've cleaned things up some... I wouldn't eat anything below DC(see watershed map below). On the map below you can see how all the DC poopies/chemicals flow into the Chesapeake.

"Delicious crab anyone?" "No I already have crabs ty"

Most contaminants to be worried about, upstream from DC, is agricultural runoff (animal crap, fertilizers, pesticides, etc) and stormwater (oil, transmission fluid, etc)

And then there are the diseases and such...those all cook out though i guess?

I'd stay away from red/yellow areas if possible....that's WV and Western Maryland, unfortunately.

Bottom feeders contain elevated chemicals due to their eating habits and predatory nature.

Catfish consumption as a contributor to elevated PCB levels in a non-Hispanic black subpopulation - PubMed

The human body burden of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) sharply declined after production was banned in the US in 1979. For the 10% of the US population that remains most exposed to PCBs, fish consumption is the primary source. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Don't get me wrong, i love Catfish in my gumbo and is a super super sustainable fish, when done correctly.

Eat more blue catfish – unless they’re contaminated

Maryland wants people to eat more blue catfish to keep the invasive species from gobbling up the Chesapeake Bay’s prized blue crabs and striped bass.

www.bayjournal.com

"For the same reason, MDE recommends limiting meals of blue catfish caught in the Potomac River from the District of Columbia line all the way downriver to the Bay, and from the Middle River near Baltimore. Since bigger blue catfish tend to pick up more contaminants, MDE suggests not eating any lunkers longer than 30 inches from the Potomac.

Because children 6 years old and younger are more vulnerable than adults to contaminants, MDE also urges limiting their meals of blue catfish from those rivers, as well as from the Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent and Wicomico."

TLDR: Don't eat anything below DC. If you must limit it as much as you can. Eat small catfish, and only the filets which tend to store the least chemicals.
BTW the Chesapeake gets Baltimore too.

 

[gtodave]

I'd stay away from red/yellow areas if possible....that's WV and Western Maryland, unfortunately.


TLDR: Don't eat anything below DC. If you must limit it as much as you can. Eat small catfish, and only the filets which tend to store the least chemicals.
BTW the Chesapeake gets Baltimore too.

You do you. This is like one of those warnings about treated lumber being bad for you. Yeah, if you happen to eat a whole deck! Eating catfish once a week won't hurt anyone.

 

[Archeryrob]

Dave, you're gonna die some day with that attitude! It may take 20 to 30 years or more, but this stuff will kill you.

 

[willtill]

Love blue cat fishing. The Pax is loaded with them and I have been doing my best to control the population

That’s a nice passel of fish right there

 

[Tomcat]

Love blue cat fishing. The Pax is loaded with them and I have been doing my best to control the population

How do you fish for them? Best bait? etc.