Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts (Post 6571655)

Yeah, I agree with that too. Definitely not something I'd consume more than once every month or two.

Originally Posted by Radar Chief (Post 6572099)

Toxin levels, like mercury.
All fish have some level of toxins in the meat but catfish typically have higher levels because they hang out on the bottom with the sediment and you’re not supposed to eat too much of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll chow on some fried catfish but it shouldn’t necessarily be an every day meal.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats. (Post 6572120)

according to the American Heart Association, Catfish is lower in mercury content than canned tuna, halibut, or cod. And on par with most other seafood and fish.

http://www.americanheart.org/present...tifier=3013797

Originally Posted by Radar Chief (Post 6572176)

Interesting that they don’t specify what type of catfish.

http://www.kdheks.gov/news/web_archi.../01042010a.htm

Tissue samples currently are taken from bottom-feeding fish and from predatory fish, where available. Mercury tends to accumulate in predatory fish to a greater extent than in bottom-feeding fish. Earlier fish tissue contaminant monitoring efforts had focused on bottom-feeding fish owing to the presence of pesticides and other organic chemicals (DDT, dieldrin, chlordane, PCBs, etc.). Average mercury concentrations in Kansas fishes remain lower than nationwide averages. KDHE protocol requires use of the average tissue mercury level when conducting water body specific risk assessments.

Channel cats, white and yellow cats, bull head cats can be predatory but are mostly scavengers. Blues are more of a predator but flat heads in particular are pure predator, if you’re fishing with anything dead you’re not fishing for flat heads.
I think it’s assumable they’re talking about channel cats as that’s what most farm raised catfish that are served in restaurants are.

Originally Posted by NewPhin (Post 6571443)

Shit yes, I eat it.

Originally Posted by NewPhin (Post 6571543)

I know it. It's a real shame. There's something about the fish houses that goes with teetotaling. Even up here in liberal Northwest Arkansas that is wet, the catfishes houses are all dry.

We heard rumor of one out in the country that was supposedly BYOB. We went to check it out on a Friday night. Being hesitant to just bust up in there with our beer (past experience told us this was a bad idea), we left it in the car and scoped the joint out. Walking in, the cake in the buffet was decorated.... with a bible verse. AT that point, we figured out we'd been misled and we'd found yet another dry catfish house.

I've yet to find a catfish house that serves beer. It's really strange.

Originally Posted by Red Beans (Post 6572224)

Shrimpan's Inn in Pineville MO used to be BYOB. They've since moved to Bella Vista and done away with that rule. Done away with the ambiance too. That place was awesome. Have a great meal overlooking Little Sugar Creek completed with your own cooler stashed right next to your table.

Originally Posted by NewPhin (Post 6572234)

My mother-in-law and all her Bella Vista cronies used to drive up there to Shrimpman's for a treat. BV is like the graveyard for eateries (with the exception being Gusano's), so we'll see if it lasts up there. Retirees don't like to pay for their food.

Originally Posted by Red Beans (Post 6572246)

Yeah, Bella Vista is very limited on restaurants. I've eaten at the Metfield clubhouse before and it's actually reasonably priced food and pretty damn good. Lots of blue hairs though, but hell it's Bella Vista. If you want a great greasy spoon hit up the Pineville Grill on the square there in Pineville. Great B & G. Perfect place to hit up for breakfast before a fishing trip.

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 6572263)

Holy crap, I never thought I'd see the day where Pineville, MO was mentioned in a thread. I have friends that live just a few miles from there, I didn't even know there was a restaurant anywhere in that town.

Originally Posted by Red Beans (Post 6572274)

A good friend of mine owns a cabin on the river there. We've spent the last two winters renovating the place. It used to be his grandparents and we've been going there since we were in high school. It's home to a few of us. Always cold beer and we've got a fleet of canoes down there. We'll be there almost every weekend over the summer.

Originally Posted by Red Beans (Post 6572274)

A good friend of mine owns a cabin on the river there. We've spent the last two winters renovating the place. It used to be his grandparents and we've been going there since we were in high school. It's home to a few of us. Always cold beer and we've got a fleet of canoes down there. We'll be there almost every weekend over the summer.

Originally Posted by NewPhin (Post 6572311)

Spectacular smallmouth fishing in that area. Of course, the aluminum and bikini hatch is a little insane on the Elk during the summer. The Big Sugar is where it's at.

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 6572309)

On the Elk River? I've been on many canoe trips down that river back in the day. Did you ever go to the RC car race track off the H highway? I know the guy that owns that place, it was kind of big deal for a while back in the early 90s but he's since shut it down. He had a go kart track there for one year too as well.

Originally Posted by Laz (Post 6571435)

nope ... can't stand the "lake" flavor of fresh fish.


all the fish i eat have to be that process stuff that doesn't actually taste like fish anymore. :D

Originally Posted by Red Beans (Post 6572348)

Oh the Elk, always see the sign for the track but I've never been. Thought long and hard about it after a few 8 hour float trips though:BLVD:

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 6572361)

Like I said, it's long been shut down, but you can still see both of the tracks on Google maps. I'll have to look you up if I make my way down there this summer.

Originally Posted by FAX (Post 6571477)

I hold catfish in extremely low esteem.

When I was a young boy, I was friends with this poor kid whose dad was kind of a crazy drunk and lived in a shack out by the river. Once, he took us out on the river in a rowboat, tied a rope around our waists, handed us each a hay hook, and took turns throwing us overboard. The idea was to grope around the underwater river bank until you came to a hole. Then, you jammed your hay hook around inside the hole and yanked on the rope. When the old guy saw the rope yank, he would haul us in ... preferably with a catfish stuck to your hay hook. Ever since then, you couldn't pay me to eat a catfish. No way. In fact, those emotional scars are so deep, I even have a problem with rowboats. I'd just as soon douse a rowboat with gasoline and burn it to ash as look at one.

FAX

Originally Posted by NewPhin (Post 6571454)

Does the Midwest have catfish houses? They're a social institution in the south.

Originally Posted by Reaper16 (Post 6571520)

Crappie > all

Originally Posted by banyon (Post 6573578)

Not in Kansas. Not enough viable fresh water and too cold (i think) for the farms.

I wonder though Newphin, if you've ever eaten at Ron's Catfish Buffet in Jonesboro. I'm not really a big cullinary devotee or anything, but that place is the best. People drive from hours away sometimes to get there. Their cajun breading is my favorite. Best I've ever eaten anywhere.

http://ronscatfish.com/

Originally Posted by Stewie (Post 6573786)

There are Jumpin' Catfish restaurants in the KC area. Never been, probably won't go. I've only eaten catfish I've caught.

http://www.jumpincatfish.com/

Originally Posted by max sleeper (Post 6573772)

walleye>crappie>all ;)

Originally Posted by Stewie (Post 6573786)

There are Jumpin' Catfish restaurants in the KC area. Never been, probably won't go. I've only eaten catfish I've caught.

http://www.jumpincatfish.com/

Originally Posted by Demonpenz (Post 6572293)

I bet Mohillbilly grabs 100 pound blue cat picks it up and gives it a ****ing back breaker.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats. (Post 6573838)

never had the catfish there, but I did have frog legs and mountain oysters.

Originally Posted by Iowanian (Post 6573663)

Hell yes I eat catfish...and bass and crappie and bluegill.

I'd wager that most of the catfish you eat at the catfish houses and other restaurants come from fish farms...they're not grubbing sludge off the bottom of a dirty river.

Originally Posted by Iowanian (Post 6573663)

I know some guys who will run lines in the river, and they'll put the fish in a cattle tank for a couple of days to "flush them" before eating them.

Originally Posted by Iowanian (Post 6573663)

I wish this damn ice would melt....

Originally Posted by Extra Point (Post 6573861)

Walleye is best, no doubt. Throw in a can of evaporated milk after frying in 2 tbsp of olive oil, throw in a bag of frozen veggie mix, like carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower, crack some pepper and dash some salt in it, let the veggies thaw and cook a bit, and you're done. Just like shore lunch near Minake, ONT.

Crappie is good, if you catch a mess of them enough to fry.

It's all a matter of how you prepare it and cook it. For grilling trout, an old gentleman recommended tabasco in the belly after cleaning, and just grilling it. That's about the best recipe I've found, so far. Catfish and bass are good, cooked in that fashion, too. The simplest things, one can write a book about, or just say it, and be done.

'nuf said.

Originally Posted by dirk digler (Post 6571654)

My dad and I had a great crappie fishing hole in Truman Lake. We would just drop our line and get hits every minute or two. Crappie is good eating but it has alot of bones.