Cleaning big cats by hand.

[Gator gar]

1-Start with a sharp knife or a razor knife. Those big cats have a tough hide on them.

2-Score the fish on the back, belly, sides and around the head. The more you score the skin, the easier it is going to be to pull the hide off.

3- Next, just start pulling the strips of hide toward the tail. Trust me, it will be alot easier this way, than trying to pull all of it at one time, like some people do.

4-Once you have the hide pulled back, cut it off and take a knife and cut behind the dorsal fin toward the head.

5- Bend, break, cut, chop, or what ever you have to do to seperate the head from the body. Discard the head.

6- Remove the belly fat and discard it too. It contains alot of fat and if you aren't accustomed to that strong taste, then it will probably be offensive. You don't want to serve it to your guest.

7- I start about an inch or two above the tail and then I start filleting the fish. Once I have the fillets off, I split them length-wise along the blood vein.

8-Then you can really tell the contrast of colors, between blood and white meat. Remove all of the blood the best that you can, so that all you have left, is pure white meat. Make sure you trim the outer edges of the fillets on both sides of fat that is left on them. You can do that before you cut it length-wise. You should be able to spot the undesirable fat pretty easy on a big cat.

9- The rest is history. Just wash and freeze or release in some hot grease. It is that simple.

10- As you can see, the edible yield on a big fish isn't that much. Not compared to the whole size of the fish. That is another reason to CPR those big catfish.

I hope this helps.

[Gator gar]

Here are a few more.

[Gator gar]

and some more pics.

[Gator gar]

A couple more pics.

[Gator gar]

I hope this helps in cleaning those big cats that can't be CPR'd. This one couldn't be, cause she was carrying a jug and a 1 pound weight wrapped all up. I tried to revive her, but she just couldn't make it.

I am real thorough when cleaning the blood off my fillets. I just run a knife up the length of the fillet between the blood and the fillet. Sometimes it all comes off at one time and other times you have to kind of whittle it off.

I cut meat off and on for 18 years, so it might seem a little easier for me. You will deffinately see and taste the difference, when getting all the blood off of your fillets.

The colder the fillets, the firmer they are and easier they are to handle. A sharp knife is a must.

As you can see, the yield on a big cat really isn't worth killing them over, if you clean them this way. They do produce some excellent white meat, but the ratio isn't worth me knocking them in the head. Too much trouble and they serve a better purpose laying eggs for the future.

That being said, you do as you please with the big ones. This is just a little guide line to get the best out of them.

[fishinganimal]

Good info and pics. I treat my fillets of any fish that way by removing any blood line that you can will make for a much better tasting fish.

[RAYSOR]

Thanks GG for the info and pics, this will help a lot of folks.

[sea ray]

very good , good pics, Gator Gar gets green .

[atcfisherman]

Great photos and good tips.

[RAYSOR]

GG, another tip on the catfish cleaning that helps a lot that I figured out, is drill some one inch holes in selected places on your cleaning table that are comfortable near your waist, when skinning the cats put the fin that is located on both sides behind head, this keeps fish flat and gives you great leverage.

[rambunctious]

Sorry the old boy couldn't be revied. You are right ,you don't get as much meat out of a big cat as you would think. Don't waste the trouble and CPR when you can. This is what keeps our lake number one for cats. Thanks for yor report and demo.
Catch Photograph & Release cats over 10lbs.
Terry

[txjoker]

Do you clean flatheads similarly, Gator Gar? I know there is a lot of belly meat on a flathead as well.

[Gator gar]

Do you clean flatheads similarly, Gator Gar? I know there is a lot of belly meat on a flathead as well.

On a flathead cat, I keep the belly meat and the two pockets of meat out of it's head.

[HAIRCUTTER]

wtg thanks again gg.
R.E.B.

[johnmyjohn]

Good info and pics, you went out of your way to share with those don't know and some who thought they did. There's more than one way to skin a cat!

[capn]

We all have different tastes, so here's mine -

To me, the only palatable meat on a big blue is the belly meat. Kinda funny that's what you throw out! LOL You have to trim the skin off the outside, trim the film off the inside, and cut out any fat. And it must be very cold so you can see the fat. Bigtime pain in the rear to do it right, but what's left is pretty good.

The rest of the white meat, what you show in your hands, is just not very good to me. There is still too much fat mixed into the meat.

A big op is a totally different critter and is very, very tasty even when really big. Follow steps 1-8 above. Skip step 6 and treat the belly meat just like another filet, in fact keep it separate because this is the best meat there is. Then put in an ice chest, cover completely with ice, and let it set overnight. On day 2, after getting really cold again you will see some additional fat on the filets that you missed, plus some blood being drawn out. Cut off ALL of it liberally. Then cut in serving sized pieces, and throw them all back into the ice chest full of ice, but this time add water and salt to the ice chest. You want a very, very cold salty slurry. On day 3, the meat will be snow white as the salt has drawn out any blood and remaining fat. You'll see a film of fat over the water usually. Rinse off the salt water and any film, and either cook or freeze. Excellent eating for a big op. However, even this much care doesn't make a big blue palatable to me.

[Gator gar]

I'm having some Yellow Cat tonight for supper. I didn't go through the process that you described though. Now, alligator meat will be getting chilled really well, to be able to visibly see all the fat that can and should be removed.

The Blue cats belly.........It just isn't for me. I'm sure some asian types, that prefer a fishy taste might appreciate it. Or, like you say, go through it with a fine tooth comb.

The only fat that I see on my cats are along the edge of the fillets. On the upward edge and on the bottom edge and that is the fat that I remove.

This was a 14 pound blue cat. I wouldn't think it would have the intramuscular fat running through the fillets that a 25 plus pound blue would have. I just don't know, as I don't keep them that big. If one is near death on the line, I'll have to examine it a little closer.

I guess I shouldn't have condemned the belly meat as a whole. It just doesn't suit my taste. Maybe baking it on a wire rack, letting the fat kind of render out of it might do it some good. Who knows??

As a matter of fact, it is standard procedure for me to just chunk all the belly meat off a blue catfish, no matter what size it is. I just don't want the belly meat. Channel cats too.

[fonz]

Belly meat....Isnt that what HEB sells as catfish nuggets?

[capn]

This was a 14 pound blue cat. I wouldn't think it would have the intramuscular fat running through the fillets that a 25 plus pound blue would have. I just don't know, as I don't keep them that big.

In that case we're talking about two different things. The 8-15 pounders or so really aren't that bad and I would follow exactly what you just posted... I just don't think they're very good or worth the effort. There is enough intramuscular fat that I can taste the difference. It is ok to eat and folks that don't eat fish often won't know, but my family eats a bunch of fish and can taste the difference.

Once they get above that 15 or 20 pound range, they have too much intramuscular fat that cannot be removed. Honestly, I think it's nasty. Again some folks that don't eat fish often won't complain and if one happens to die on me I'll give it to them, but I cannot eat the stuff.

The big yellows (again, talking over 20 pounds) also have a lot of intramuscular fat, but due to the difference in the texture of the flesh it can be drawn out with some effort. Under 20 pounds just filet them up.

The belly meat on both has very, very little intramuscular fat... but it has tons of fat lining the muscle and you have to do a good job or trimming it all off. I can eat the belly meat of a big blue, but it must be trimmed very well or it will taste fishy and nasty.

[ShortyStillSurfs]

Cool Tips . I am sure you catch alot more catfish than I do. However wouldnt there be less steps and the same amount of meat if you just filleted it?