re: Skinning Catfish over 25lbs

My sons trashy wal-mart swimming pool was used as a holding cell.......

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Don't you just love the belly meat off those huge flatheads???

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Yes, I absolutely do. I usually cut it off in one big piece, then fillet the skin of and carefully cut away the abdominal lining as close as possible to the meat. Then I cut it into kinda long, thin "fingers".

I rarely get those pieces because the kids usually destroy them before I even get my hands washed to eat

bleed it out. then filet it.. do it all the time. Dont skin it, too much work

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Y'all bleed your fish out?

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Absolutely, yes. Anything over about 10 pounds gets bled. And I'm not bragging because we go home empty handed far more often than with fish, but we call everything under 15 pounds a "grower", and release them. So we pretty well bleed everything, since we only keep flatheads at our usual river spots.

A few years ago I fabricated a custom stainless cleaning table with a post and lip hook. I knock the fish between the eyes with a hammer to expire them, then hang them on the hook and cut off the tail, letting them bleed out into a 5 gallon bucket beneath the fish.

The meat does turn really red from bleed out when you get close to the tail, but that comes out with a good rinse and overnight salt water soaking.

The "red" meat I encounter is the stuff that's not too deep under the skin, usually in patches and usually more predominant and a little deeper along the lateral line. It's fatty deposits and built up contaminants from bad stuff in the water. If you ever get a bite of that stuff you'll probably never eat fish again. It tastes like shite, period. No es bueno.

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Out of curiosity what do you get your big flatheads on?

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Almost always live bait. The bigger the better, to some extent.

Bluegills and redears starting at about 5 inches. Even smaller 5-7 inch freshwater drum when I can get them. Occasionally smaller carp when I can net them. I have a buddy who commonly catches 20+ pounders on 10-14" live carp but about 8 inches is usually the biggest carp I'll put on a hook, just for reasons of casting distance.

When the flatheads are just coming out of their winter slumber, I've seen them caught on big chunks of cut bait like bluegill heads or halves of big gizzard shad, but it seems like that's only about the first week or so after they become active.

Live pan fish have always done me right. This flathead engulfed a eating size channel caught on a bluegill. Yep... the bastard ate what I caught. I know they must take some big live baits.

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Clyde knows, his paw paw was a catfish catching legend around these parts.

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Thanks. I miss him dearly and think about him every time I go.

My mom has a binder full of all the clippings every time he was in the paper with a good one.

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Does anyone keep and cook cats over 25lbs?

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Only when I catch 'em

Yep we always use mud cats for op bait.. find a bluff bank on the river and set some limb lines. I prefer catfish 2 lbs or less unless it's an op.

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Yep we always use mud cats for op bait

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I don't run trotlines or limb lines, as it's a personal preference and challenge that has turned into an obsession for my family, exclusively targeting and catching big flatheads on rod and reel. And we use some ridiculously heavy gear for what we call our "logjam rigs".

I LOVE fishing for them with live mudcat/bullheads... when I can get them. Twenty years ago I had permission to catch bullheads at at least 2 dozen different ponds that are just stuffed with them. But every single pond has either changed ownership or the owner has cut off fishing permission because assholes trash their ponds out.

I would pay someone in my area $20 a trip to let me go net or catch some bullheads from one of those muddy little ponds. I have a homemade 100 gallon outdoor livewell under my carport, so believe me I would make one $20 trip last me half the season