Slot size to eat?

[MuleSkinner]

Ok. I am primarily a walleye fisherman. But very much enjoy eating fish now and then. Caught a cat yesterday, while fishing crappies. Sometimes also run into cats fishing walleyes in open water. Is there a slot limit that someone would recommend for eating? Or for not eating do to breeding or prime sport fish size that should be released for sure? Channels? Flatheads? Does time of year matter?

If I found 'em tasty, I would fish 'em, and would find it funner to catch and release them.

[Mr Special]

Yummy,
Deep fry catfish with shorelunch mix Original or Cajun. A 2lbs channel in my mind is a great tasting fish. Never kept a flat or no anyone that has not sure how they taste.
Oh Beer batter is good too.

[slabberknocker]

Channels, flat heads, blues, they all taste good. I would agree that the two pounders taste good, we generally keep up to five pounds though on any one of these catfish. I don't know if you would be able to taste the difference if put side by side. All the cats I have eaten have come out of the James River in SD.

Slab

[Dennis Steele]

I like them 2 to 4lbs.Any smaller than 2lbs and they aren't worth the time cleaning and over 4lbs they are not as clean as the smaller ones.
I have never tasted a flathead.They are trophy fish to me and just can't bring myself killing one.
I usually fillet my cats.Start behind the rib cage(no meat there and you are going to wreck your knife if you try! )Then I take out the white lateral line and remove any yellow meat so there is only nice clean meat.You end up with two catfish "fingers" out of every fillet and they fry up nice and fast that way also.
My favorite way to fry them is in a cornmeal batter with no egg.Just dust them and drop them in a deep fryer or a pan with enough peanut oil to cover the fillets.Then a little hot sauce spashed on the fillets and start chowing!! Yummm!!!Chef Roberts is my favorite breading brand.I think you can still get it here on the site or I have found it at most New Markets.
Just a reminder that by state law you can only keep one cat (channel or flathead combined) over 24".

------------------
Minnesota River Guided Fishing
www.mnriverguidedfishing.com
[email protected]
NPAA #863

[MuleSkinner]

Hey, great responses. I really appreciate it. Now, last questions. I measure lengths. Haven't used scale for years. Do cat fish run consistent in length to weight? If yes, what is 2 lb and 4 lb. approx. lengths of flatheads and channels?

[Guest]

From your elbow to the tips of your fingers is a nice size eating cat.

[catfish1]

I agree with Dennis on the size but I do keep them up to six pound and Flatheads are very good also. And the trick is known how to cook them. I have some recipes on a home page that are very good and even a catfish chowder that I really like . It is
( expage.com\catfishrecipes ) You can use these with any fish and I do. And the Hush puppy recipe is real good as will. If anyone goes there please sign my guest book.

Catfish1

[smallie_hawgin]

Muleskinner,
Cats from the Miss run 14 inches for a 1 lb fish on up to 24" for a 4 lb fish. This is based on a L/W regression from 189 channels between 6 inches and 29 inches (the formula has an R square of 0.97). One thing to keep in mind with channels though, their weght can vary quite a bit. Good luck. I always harvest fish less than 24 inches. Most of these are oooold. They are anywhere between 8 and 11 for fish around 25 inches or so. Just a thought.
BTW there is plenty of information on the DNR Montrose Area site on the Miss and Horseshoe Chain, and more data will be uploaded soon.