Fish-Hawk.Net

As the saying goes, I like cats but I can't eat a whole one, who eats channel cats out of the Ottawa River, say, up about Constance Bay.

I must have thrown back a gazillion catfish without considering keeping one for the table. However, with the increasing culinary appreciation of these bottom feeders, I'm acquiring an increased incentive to grill some.

Any suggestions?

Maple wrote:As the saying goes, I like cats but I can't eat a whole one, who eats channel cats out of the Ottawa River, say, up about Constance Bay.

I must have thrown back a gazillion catfish without considering keeping one for the table. However, with the increasing culinary appreciation of these bottom feeders, I'm acquiring an increased incentive to grill some.

Any suggestions?

I have not eaten Ottawa River channel cats.

But if the fish comes out of good cold water, and is killed IMMEDIATELY after it is caught, and put on ice, it will be fine, is my educated guess. Smaller cats are tastier than big ones, I would not personally thank you for anything over about three pounds. Fillet them, skin them and remove any blood line, and you should be good to go.

Doug

The guidelines are pretty generous about eating catfish out of the Ottawa: https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and- ... d=45257545


With up to 12 meals indicated for the normal population. One of the keys is too trim teh fat when cleaning the fish as this is were most of the toxins build up.

I have eaten a couple to my wifes dismay.

Remember they are real old in the Ottawa as they grow slower than US counterparts so the US practice on eating larger catfish here would generally not be recommended. Iwould only eat from the smaller recommended sizes. But hey, that's just me.

I tried them backed and fried.... I preffered battered and fried.

I have eaten them a lot. They are an OK fish to eat (not as yummy as Walleye, but better than Drum

Totally agree that the keepers are in the 2-3lb range. Big enough to clean easy, small enough to not be tough. I have also found that you can smell them. I know that sounds weird, but i have caught fish in some spots on the ottawa where they all smelled bad (in the deep hole off westboro beach for example), yet 1km away they come up from the bottom yet have no smell to them. I have found that keeping those "fresh" smelling cats seem to have a much more mild taste.

Don't have to kill immediately, not sure where that comes from (maybe Drum, they have to be super fresh).

Here is what Cats look like before they go in my freezer.

I bake them, deep-fried batter, use them in casseroles, etc. The meat stays together nicely. They are a little on the meaty side to eat steamed or poached (in my opinion). Early season are best. Once they get a lot of yellow summer fat on them they get pretty fishy. Best time is from now until mid June.

Good eating. Anyone have a good tip on killing them? I've been keeping less of them since being disturbed one too many times, tough fish...

I'll also add there seems to be an extremely healthy population of these guys on the ottawa river, I would never feel bad keeping a limit if I wanted to.

fishingcarpenter wrote:I'll also add there seems to be an extremely healthy population of these guys on the ottawa river, I would never feel bad keeping a limit if I wanted to.

Yep for sure. Largest biomass in the whole river I believe.

Cheers

fishingcarpenter wrote:Good eating. Anyone have a good tip on killing them? I've been keeping less of them since being disturbed one too many times, tough fish...

I'll also add there seems to be an extremely healthy population of these guys on the ottawa river, I would never feel bad keeping a limit if I wanted to.

If I am going to clean a bunch of them, i lay out newspapers on the garage floor and take secaters (those scissor things used in gardening) and I cut under their chin between the gills. go deep. There are main arteries there running from gills to heart. They bleed out fairly quickly. Once cut I leave them for 15-20 minutes before i start skinning. But it makes a mess.

If I am doing a few, then basically I just bash them on the head... repeatedly... wait 5 minutes to see if they start moving their gills. If their gills move, I bash them again. Not very pleasant They are a crazy tough fish.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh

Cat fish.

Well crap, I guess you wont need these cat recipes then, my bad.........

DropShot’r wrote:Ohhhhhhhhhhhh

Cat fish.

Well crap, I guess you wont need these cat recipes then, my bad.........

Reminds me of that song, "There's a cat in the kettle at the Silver Moon, The place we go to eat every day at noon............