Thread: fileting catfish

Hey guys,is it possible to filet catfish just like you would a crappie or a walleye,with a elect.knife or do you have to skin them and use a regular filet knife. your help would be great. pictures or directions would help.

I don't have any pics or directions per say, but I always use an electric knife to fillet catfish, I've tried skinning, but using an electric knife is so much easier, especially with catfish. I cut the "horns" off of them so they will lay more flat on a cutting board & then start just behind the gills & slice them down the bottom & the top, but getting the meat out of them is just so much more easy to me with an electric knife. This isn't much, but hopefully some of the more knowledgeable fishermen/women can provide more detailed information.

H man all I can add is I dont like the taste of the meat next to the skin.In saying that I would be wasting my time skinning them.I fillet all mine and raise the knife up a little and leave a thin layer of meat on the skin.The question of elec vs knife,I use a knife and my friend use's elec.Both way's work very well.I do think the elec get's a little more meat as you can cut down closer to the gill area.Hope this help's speck and welcome.

Catfish are very easy to fillet with an electric knife.
I just make a slice along the gill and then run the blade along the backbone down to the tail, but do not cut the fillet off yet at the tail, leave attached. Then flip the fillet over with the meat side facing up. Now place the blade right by the end where its attached and pull back on the skin as you run the blade down the fillet near the skin. Result a perfect skinless fillet.

I do it just like any other fish. I do think its a little rough on blades and sometimes the knife if you cut through the ribs which I do. Last year I went through a set of blades but it beats the heck out of skinning and all of that mess. Good luck.

I skin mine first cause I haven't gotten the hang of cutting of the skin with my electric knife.

i use a fillet knife on all my fillets just because i grew up using one and catfish are bout the easiest fish to fillet. cut cross the gills then then tail then bout an inch from top so you dont get that yellow meat.then slide knife down and cut at belly.. lay fillet skin side down lay knife horizontal and slice skin off. wala

Look on youtube and there are plenty of videos showing how to filet a catfish. Some folks skin them first while others just go straight for the filet knife (electric or manual).

Thanks to Speck for asking that question. I myself have wonderd about the samething, skin or not before you filet a catfish. I filet all other fish I catch mostly with an eletric knife if possible, think it is so much faster and get more meat off the bone! Thanks for everyones input alot of info!

Fileting is my favorite way to clean a catfish. I start behind the gills. I start in front of the top fin and angle down trying to miss the ribs. Blade placement differs a little by species. With practice you will figure it out as to where to start. Saves alot of wear and tear on the filet knife esp if you are cleaning a big trotline run. * My biggest tip would be for blue cats etc, I butterfly the filet cutting out the blood line, Makes a huge difference in taste. Flathead usually don't need this ,they are the best tasteing catfish in my opinion. Never had a spoonbill though.