not sure if our salt cats are the same as you guy's cats but here in salt we have 2 !! one we call a hard head the other we call a sail cat due to the long fins , i have personally had those fried several times over the years but i must say the lady's that did the cooking could cut up the trailer tire & bread it slap it in the fry pan with all the god only knows what breading they had & hush puppy's along with some cold beer & when i was done it was nap time ,answer ya they was dang good as best i remember but like my wife say's ""ralphie will eat anything ""lol
stix

 

Yeah, this is what I meant. Gafftop Sailfish is what they are.

Thanks for the input.

 

Like everyone else here who throws live or dead bait, I've caught some big Gafftops. I caught one yesterday and came really close in taking it home. I just didn't have a bag to put him in and didn't want to dirty up my cooler.

I like eating fried or grilled catfish. Does anyone here eat gafftop? And if so, how close do they taste to freshwater catfish?

On a side note, I try to eat only American farm raised catfish or catfish from American waters. I am sure I have eaten foreign catfish from here or there, but try to stay away from overseas processed fish and shrimp.

Gaftop to me taste like fresh water cats. I think they r good. But that’s me. I have eaten a few. Try one and see what you think.

 

Gsafftop is delicious. Firm white meat. One of my favorites for making ceviche

 

This!

 

Gafftop are live bait eaters and not scavengers like a hard head. The problem is their slime. Super cold ice water takes it off if you want to keep them. Years ago my dad had a fish fry. As a joke they threw in gafftop and gar with the other fish. The other fish being trout, redfish, and drum. The gafftop and gar were the first to go! This was before my time and people were probably not as picky as now. He has always found it funny though.

 

Gafftop are live bait eaters and not scavengers like a hard head...

^^^And this is probably why they taste good. Freshwater flatheads catfish eat live bait and they're good to eat too.

I caught 3 large tubby gafftops couple of weeks ago while aggressively working a mirrodine xl. They whacked it good.

 

Messy to clean but taste good. Much like freshwater catfish. When I was younger my grandfather would drag them behind the boat in a croaker sack to clean the slime off.

 

Yep my dad told me they always used potato sacks!!

 

I have eaten plenty in my lifetime and no complaints. The meat is firm and white just need

to bleed them or cut the blood line out or both.

I used to fish for them off the pier and would still have slime somewhere even after a shower...lol

 

Gafftop are great eating in my opinion, If you can get past the slime when you catch them. Every time I’ve kept them they have tasted super clean and have really good meat.

 

We fish for em if were havin a big fry comn up just like freshwater cat as far as texture but not greasy like freshwater cat at all, just bleed em and after you fillet them out tha fillets in a good ice bath to firm them up and u can cut tha blood line out easy, we never let em touch tha boat they go straight in a old shrimp lug, lots of ways to fish for em caught alot of nice ones around tha wells in bolivar on cut green eels or drifting tha bay with pogies hell we've mowed em down on topwaters

 

I'd eat them if I had a separate cooler. I'm not putting that nasty slime on my trout and beer cans.

 

Get all that nasty fish slime in your cooler once and that'll be the last time you ever keep them. As a kid I used to fish seawolf park a lot and one of the resident locals would keep them and fry them up for us all and it was delicious. I remember he would bleed them, throw them in an oyster sack, and then in the cooler and ice them down really good. He would filet them up and cut out all the blood line and they were some very nice filets but they were small in proportion to the fish.
I catch them on occasion but don't keep them. If I would keep them make sure it's not the small ones since the rib cage is big and you lose a lot of meat. Good luck!

 

I've used a pressure washer to blast the slime off before filleting. Worked great.

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It tastes like chicken!

 

Yes, Gafftop Sail Catfish are good to eat. Remove any bloody meat before frying. I've also added a bit of curry powder and fresh ginger to the wet fillets before cooking.
As for the slime, if you catch them from the surf, roll them around the dry sand and rinse them off before putting in your cooler, otherwise wipe them down with some burlap.

 

Gaftop are the cleanest best eating catfish on the planet. They clean and filet just as easy as trout using same method. For eats i would take gaftop over trout most any day.
The slime is no big deal at all. Throw em in the ice chest with everything else it is no big deal at all.

 

Since this a gafftop eating thread, I'm curious if the advisories put out by the state give anyone else second thoughts? The vast majority of them, as I read them, give trout and reds a pass but caution against catfish (gafftops I presume). Not sure why they would be anymore susceptible to dioxin than the other predators but has made me reconsider throwing them in the cooler - even though I do find them fine eating.

 

I didn't know there were any?

I may go out this summer and catch w few and have a fish fry for the office. They are simple enough to catch.

 

Helluva topwater blow up too.. I'll eat them.

 

Topwater bite!



Yeah, a really big one will get you momentarily excited when they bust a topwater. Had one do that last time out.

I have eaten them before but haven't messed with them for years. I don't keep nearly as many fish as I used to.

 

We always ate them, usually fried.

Served with boiled okra as a side dish.

 

Soak them in coconut milk then bread with coconut flakes and fry or bake...yum

 

Posting a warning for hardheads is logical but seems hardly necessary!! I don't think I have ever run into anyone who has tried eating hardheads...... But, knowing that I'll toss some slimers in the cooler - they are very good eating.

 

Whatever they got is still better than what the fast food places are dishin out! Please everybody keep some ...

 

When fishing for them in Star I cleaned the ones that we weighed in.
They need to be big because if not you really don't end up with much.
Trim off red meat and they are good fried. I am not sure I would target them just for eating though.

 

Caught a handful on Friday on an Opening Night Lil John. Fun fight, but not what I was fishing for.

 

They will take a shrimp fly, too. I throw gafftop back just because they slime up everything.

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Best way to prep a gaftop/catfish for filleting is to ice them for a while to firm up the slim, then pressure wash them. I use one of those cheap electric units sold at box stores. Lower pressure unit.

Don't be surprised if the color comes off them too.

Rob

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The biggest problem with snot sharks, besides the slime, is they are 1/3 head and 1/3 tail. You have to have a big one to get much of a fillet.

They aren't worth the hassle to me. I am glad other folks enjoy them. I'll leave all of my share out there for you. Help yourself to 'em.

 

The biggest problem with snot sharks, besides the slime, is they are 1/3 head and 1/3 tail. You have to have a big one to get much of a fillet.

They aren't worth the hassle to me. I am glad other folks enjoy them. I'll leave all of my share out there for you. Help yourself to 'em.

x2