DNR would like you to take blue catfish

[joppaj]

Are Blues better or worse??

My western friends in it's native range swear it's a more desirable, better tasting fish.

 

[remrug]

I like blue cats more than channels. The meat is definitely a lot whiter. Never had flathead , so I cant compare those.

 

[Dantheman]

Are Blues better or worse??

Blues are way better.

 

[Mr H]

Well, looks like we'll be buying some blue this coming week...

Not to get brave and find a way to make it edible

 

[Doco Overboard]

Cherry Beach Catfish rodeo coming up quickly.
DNR/Info Here

Maryland Catfish Tournaments Offer Invasive Species Angling

news.maryland.gov

 

[Mr H]

Bought a nice sized filet yesterday, seemed fresh enough, so cut it into "nuggets" and marinated overnight in a honey/garlic/soy/ginger bath.

Fried them just now in an olive/sesame oil blend.

Could have used more ginger but they seem to have turned out OK. Edible, but not impressive.

The Missus likes them, but I still think it's fish

 

[joppaj]

Bought a nice sized filet yesterday, seemed fresh enough, so cut it into "nuggets" and marinated overnight in a honey/garlic/soy/ginger bath.

Fried them just now in an olive/sesame oil blend.

Could have used more ginger but they seem to have turned out OK. Edible, but not impressive.

The Missus likes them, but I still think it's fish

Where did you buy it?

 

[Mr H]

Where did you buy it?

Geresbeck's in Riviera Beach/Pasadena (Wednesday is Senior Day )

They have it pretty regularly. Sometimes have snakehead, too.

The guy behind the case seemed impressed at the size of blue cat they get in.

 

[Muleskinner]

The problem isnt that there isn't a viable solution.. but because the MDDNR isn't serious about keeping the population in check.
The state of Washington is a liberal utopia and is backward in many ways.. but when it comes to controling the overpopulation of fish species they have the solution that would probably work here.. until Maryland does something similar the blue cat population will continue to grow and so will the problems that go along with it

Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery Program

Image Photo by WDFW

wdfw.wa.gov

 

[ChannelCat]

We tried eating them, yuck. They were ok if you were really hungry and had nothing else.

Try bleeding them out. Make one cut ahead of the tail, and another cut in the gill rakers. Put the fish on a stringer and let it bleed out for 30 minutes or so before icing down. The resulting meat will be flaky white instead of tainted with red. Bleeding also works for Spanish mackerel and blues.

 

[Muleskinner]

Try bleeding them out. Make one cut ahead of the tail, and another cut in the gill rakers. Put the fish on a stringer and let it bleed out for 30 minutes or so before icing down. The resulting meat will be flaky white instead of tainted with red. Bleeding also works for Spanish mackerel and blues.

There is no size or creel limit so you don't have to keep them whole in case you're stopped by NRP . I fillet mine right on the boat and into a bath of salted ice and water they go. The salt draws out the blood and the ice keeps them fresh.

 

[outrider58]

Try bleeding them out. Make one cut ahead of the tail, and another cut in the gill rakers. Put the fish on a stringer and let it bleed out for 30 minutes or so before icing down. The resulting meat will be flaky white instead of tainted with red. Bleeding also works for Spanish mackerel and blues.

Salmonids too. Catch'm-kill'm-bleed'm.

 

[gtodave]

The problem isnt that there isn't a viable solution.. but because the MDDNR isn't serious about keeping the population in check.
The state of Washington is a liberal utopia and is backward in many ways.. but when it comes to controling the overpopulation of fish species they have the solution that would probably work here.. until Maryland does something similar the blue cat population will continue to grow and so will the problems that go along with it

Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery Program

Image Photo by WDFW

wdfw.wa.gov

DNR doesn't have the budget for that. That funding would have to come from MGA. Besides, some species will reproduce faster than you can get rid of them. Look at Grass Carp. Snakeheads too.

 

[Muleskinner]

DNR doesn't have the budget for that. That funding would have to come from MGA. Besides, some species will reproduce faster than you can get rid of them. Look at Grass Carp. Snakeheads too.

Well I can tell you this. Catfish will never get the attention that DNR needs to help control the population as best they can...If they don't there won't be much left in the bay and its tribs. Blue cats are every bit as veracious as any other predator fish and their numbers are increasing way faster than snakeheads. Mainly because snakeheads are a target species for many anglers. Catfish are just a bycatch for most and they get thrown back most of the time.

 

[joppaj]

Well I can tell you this. Catfish will never get the attention that DNR needs to help control the population as best they can...If they don't there won't be much left in the bay and its tribs. Blue cats are every bit as veracious as any other predator fish and their numbers are increasing way faster than snakeheads. Mainly because snakeheads are a target species for many anglers. Catfish are just a bycatch for most and they get thrown back most of the time.

It's a marketing problem. Catfish are delicious. If local restaurants would start serving it the way they pushed rockfish and the way they push crabs, local anglers would go to work. If they can make the fish commercially viable, local restaurants can make them an endangered species.

 

[gtodave]

It's a marketing problem. Catfish are delicious. If local restaurants would start serving it the way they pushed rockfish and the way they push crabs, local anglers would go to work. If they can make the fish commercially viable, local restaurants can make them an endangered species.

The irony is that they WERE commercially viable and there was a huge market for them, then the state changed the rules and ended it. They've since changed them back, but they let a lot of time go and lots of population growth

 

[remrug]

If restaurants prepared them like crabcakes, I bet a lot of people would buy them. I make them at home and they are really tasty.

 

[John from MD]

Just call them Bay Scallops and they will beat a path to your door.

 

[joppaj]

The folks who make Old Bay should be developing a catfish cake recipe and sending it to every seafood restaurant in the state. Pre-mixed boxes of Old Bay infused breading with a recipe for catfish nuggets could be shipped to stores. MD politicians showing up at fish fry dinners...

 

[gtodave]

I'd almost be in favor of a moratorium on channel catfish so's people can only take blues and flats, but i dont think it's practical.
i personally let go all the channels i catch