howdy ya i am a bass fisherman and my buddy i have 60 pound flathead in the cooler right now and we have no idea how to fillet a big flathead so if ya can help me out that would be great! i dont wanna mess up anything haha

Are you for real, or just baggin on catfishers?

Try P.M.ing Albertking. He can help.

Same as you do the smaller ones. Skin it, break the backbone, filet it along the ribcage and back bone just before the tail.

hang it up and cut the tail off to bleed it out first.

don't throw away the belly meat ... that's the best part of a flathead but you fillet them just like any other fish ... fillet them along the backbone and down along the side of the rib cage then just a little below the ribs cut along the ribs to take the belly meat off it and then fillet the skin off if you didn't skin it with pliers and be sure to cut all the red meat off the meat along with the fat ... the fat looks like a transluscent substance just along the outside of the belly meat and along the redmeat lateral line ... just cut all that off and then cut all the fillets and belly meat so that nothing is over 1" thick so that it'll cook evenly ... heat your oil up to 350 to 375 and bread it with your favorite breading ... I like flour only on mine but some like corn meal ... some like corn meal and flour mixed ... but that's all ya gotta do ... put the belly meat seperate from the fillets and try a nugget of the fillet meat and then one from the belly meat and you'll see the little bit of difference in the texture and taste but that's the most important part of cleaning a flathead is to get all the red meat off them and fat.

The same way you filet Bass..LoL just playing...I throw the greenback back into the water when they make the mistake of bitting my line....do as Tiny said you can use store bought fish fry batter Lousianna makes a good one...

You are a better man than I Terry becasue I eat every legal black bass I catch.

My first response is, why would you harvest such a big catfish? I harvested close to 30lb'r a while back and I can't imagine cleaning a 60lb'r! But like another angler said, just like you fillet your bass. Some great advice about the belly meat, mmm...mmm!

If you didn't field clean it right away, I wonder how long they can keep in the freezer?

hummmmmmmm ... cuz that's what they caught?????



i skin & gut mine hanging & take a pair of limb loppers & cut the head off ... i take the carcuss in the house where it's cool ... to cut the belly meat off i start on the inside of the gut pocket ... you can tell where the meat starts on the inside of the ribs ... start cuttin' there & just follow the ribs & when you get to the end of the rib bones you have cut all the way thru & the belly meat is off in one piece ... on the other side start down by the top fin & when you hit the ribs cut right along on top of them to the end of the rib bones ... the rest is is just along the back bone to the tail or where the tail usta be ... get a good sharp knife & just bascily follow the bones & shave the meat off ... i don't use an electric knife for big'uns

did you catch it on accident while bass fishing? If you did, that's funny. Bet you thought you had a new world record

Hang it from a tree and bleed it out then skin it and steak it out.

I'd have to second most of Albert's description.

All that cutting the tail off and bleeding is a waist of time and a mess. The blood your going to bleed out is not coming out of the meat your getting. Most of that blood is draining from larger veins that run through the spine and stomach cavity. You can do two exactly the same...one bled out, one not...and you'll never be able to tell the difference.

If you want to get all the blood out, just soak your fileted pieces in cold water as you go. I do that with every species of fish I clean...from bluegill, to crappie, to hybrids, to redfish, to cats...you name it. It's the only way to go.

I do agree with taking off the red meat and fatty parts though.

Make sure you go with a good filet knife. Don't even try to use an electric knife except for taking the skin off the cuts of meat.

As for the comments about eating a large trophy fish like that...it's your fish, do what you want with it. Personaly, I think I'd have to put one that big back in the lake.

You'll also notice a distinct grain in the meat. When you take those big 4-6" thick cuts of meat and cut them down into thinner pieces, make sure you cut ACROSS the grain and not with the grain. Just like with beef, cutting across the grain will make it much more tender and flaky.

I like to cut strips about 1" x 1" x 6-8" long. They cook quick that way.

When you get to that belly meat, you can use the electric knife to fillet the outside skin off. But you can also use it to fillet that skin-like membrane off the inside. It's what seperates that belly meat from the stomach cavity. That meat is wonderful! The absolute best fried fish you'll ever eat. I even take belly meat off cats as small as 8-10lbs and get lots of meat.

I do it the same way Tiny does.

SLABXPRESS

Quote "I'd have to second most of Albert's description.

All that cutting the tail off and bleeding is a waist of time and a mess. The blood your going to bleed out is not coming out of the meat your getting. Most of that blood is draining from larger veins that run through the spine and stomach cavity. You can do two exactly the same...one bled out, one not...and you'll never be able to tell the difference "

Everybody is intitled to an opinion, Ours just differ!

let it go back and go to the store and buy some smaller ones to fry!!!!

Choice--------The power, right, or liberty to choose; option

No Pics ?
If you iced it down alive, you will not need to bleed it.
Just like humans , the blood will be shunted to the vital organs. We used to float tube all weekend, placing the
bass in ice as we moved from lake to lake. When we would
fillet them on sunday , there was hardly a drop of blood in the
meat.



MO

Why go to the store and buy farm-raised catfish when they just caught a wild catfish and it was already in the ice chest...a little hard to release it. Wild ones are much more fun and exciting to catch than picking up a package of store bought fish.

There are pics of this fish in the pic posting forum. just saw it. its a good fish