blue vs. channel for taste...

I started keeping some of the catfish i catch in the last few months and cooking them blackened cajun style- used to catch and release all so somewhat new to this - seems to me that the blues taste much better than the channel cats - just curious if this is common knowledge or just my preference (or the specific fish i caught) - all on cedar creek lake - not a huge difference, but if this is the norm i am going to release all channels - any experienced thoughts appreciated!!

I hear this from others also--
When I do eat fish, I fry them and honestly I can't tell the difference--
The meat does look a bit different though, and I bet if you cook them another way you will tell a difference--
Just my 2 cents-

I really can't tell the difference. Maybe if I had them side by side I could.

What I've found is the meat isn't as oily on the blues and a little firmer.
The channels and this depends a lot on what lake you catch them from, but the channel meat tends to have that yellowish meat which is fat and a lot of people trim that off for obvious reasons.
I do prefer the smaller blues over the channels, but once the blues reach close to 10 pounds they can be a bit bland and the meat tends to be a bit coureser.
I've caught channels out of clear water lakes and you just can't beat the flavor of those cats.
That's just my opinion but it's what works for me!

Plus #1.

That's pretty close to my findings. I prefer toe Blues up to 10 lbs or so, I release the larger ones. I find the texture of the Blues is more to my liking than channels. The Channels in the lakes I fish have the whole filet looking like a nuclear yellow mass of flesh, but they taste fine.

My guess is it has to with their diet. Blues eat mostly freshly dead or live fish, mullosks and crustaceans (maybe some insects for the smaller ones) but channels will eat absolutely anything they can put in their mouth. I have literally seen channels with a stomach full of mud. I was told it was from eating random things off the bottom.

As others mentioned, when deep fried, I can't really tell the difference but cooked any other way, I will always choose blues. The meat is just cleaner.

I know this is about blues vs channels but a flathead beats them all.
My preference for taste is a 12 to 14" channel fried whole in yellow cornmeal, salt and nothing else. After that I prefer channels over blues simply for the meat texture.
Even a lowly little polywob bullhead is pretty good eating IMO if caught from clear water and better fare than a big blue.
A big channel is better than a big blue but smaller ones of both species are best for my taste buds.

If it's big enough to get on the hook is it big enough to go in the skillet?

I can't tell the difference , but favorite freshwater is crappie and saltwater flounder.

The body of water has a lot to do with how the fish taste along with how they are cleaned. I prefer blues over everything which includes crappie, flathead, and channels. Here again different people have different likes and dislikes. What one thinks is best others may think of it as so-so.

I like channels better. To me blues are like the tilapia you buy or get in a restaurant, only flavor is what you add. Channels taste like fish, but my experience is somewhat limited.

Hit the nail on the head!!

nail it Jackie.

thanks to all that replied - good information - i think i am going to stick with the blues unless frying them

+1

I don't prefer one to the other. I can tell the difference between channel/blue and yella but that's about it, i don't prefer one over the other.

They yellow on channel cats is not fat.

Flathead, Blue, Channel.

Agreed! If you cut that off, you are only wasting meat.

I think the biggest difference is in the preparation. Most of us don't have the ability to perfectly reproduce a dish every time, no matter what it is. For starters, who exactly measures their ingredients when mixing cornmeal, salt, and other spices? I think most of us just eyeball it, even if it's pretty close every time. The other thing is, getting the oil to the exact same temp every time without under or over shooting, and accounting for the drop in temperature between batches. I think that makes more difference for liking one meal more than another than the species of catfish.

FlatHead belly meat,Blue about 3-12 LBS,Channel from 13" to 16-18"

http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/pond_to_plate/documents/Lovell1984YellowFillet.pdf

Are you posting that article to support its fat? In the article it says it is a yellow pigmentation, that it doesn't change the taste, and its not fat. It is simply a different color.

Whatever it is, it does not impact the flavor one bit. It scares people, so they cut it off, and that's just a waste.

I think the article suggests pigmentation DOES collect in the fatty tissues of the flesh, but that doesn't mean the part that is pigmented is more fatty than the rest of the flesh. It's just where the pigmentation has collected.

Besides that, fish fats are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are super good for you. You want to eat them. Wild caught have more Omega 3 than farm raised as well.

Catfish have way more fat in the guts than in the meat. Ain't many of us eat the guts. The fat in the guts is usually white.

I like blues much better over channels myself.

The channels have that "muddy" flavor not so in the blues.

Channels and Blues about 5-10lbs are the best to me. I prefer blue cat though cause the meat cleans up a lot better cause I've had people see a channels meat and change their mind

Taste,I only fish one place Wright Patman lake but you can have different tasting fish in that one lake.In the lake away from where Sulphur River dumps into the lake the meat of the channel and some blues are darker and taste different than at the mouth of where the river feeds the lake.If you have some good corrent in the river the channel cats caught out of it will almost white meat and lake channels will have a pink tint to the meat.

Channel-Cat. 2-4lb.
Channelcat. 14''. Gutted, skinned. with tail on.
Roll in 1/2 flour. 1/2 yellow corn meal. Cast-Iron.
Skillet with 'bout. 1''. LARD.
Fry Whole.
Best eating in the Catfish World right there.

quit it you are making me hungry!!

I like both channels and blues. Blues have whiter meat, but I don't think the channel yellow meat affects the flavor. Flatheads are by far the best in my mind.

only catfish i had was from cajun restaurant serving po-poy. fried and was good. i would assume that would be channel. I would like to try blue or flathead someday.

I am thinking when fried, they all kinda similar. i had a whole red snapper fried once, it was good. but, wasn't sure if i was really tasting red snapper or something else.

The catfish you ate were most likely farm raised channelcat and they do not compare to wild blues and channels.

Channel cats taste like mud and some are worse than others blue catfish is a more desirable meat. I ate both today and that muddy crud from the channel cat I can still taste it. IBTL

I am with you the 12-15in channels are one of the best ones to eat I try to tell the guy i take out that they are a very clean tasting fish I think it has to do with the water they come out of I wont eat the farm raised cat fish they have a muddy taste to them do to the water being very dirty. I have seen a few catfish farms and the water is pretty nasty. I dont have not found this to be true with wild caught channels at all. even my wife and mother in law who are Thai can tell the difference that they will eat any thing that swims more or less. they prefer the smaller cats over the larger ones not saying they wont take them and cook them up but they prefer the 12-15in fish so do my kids a lot of the larger channels i catch they will give to friends and keep the smaller ones that yellow meat has not different taste then the rest of the fish I know a lot of people wont eat it but it tast just fine the boys and I went out and caught kept about 40 fish we were tossing all the somber ones back and only keeping the 2-5lb fish that is when i noticed my wife would give some to her friends she told me not to keep so many of the larger ones so now if its legal i keep it when i take people out during the week some dont want any thing less then 15in so every thing under I keep

Catfish co-ops (the good ones) have an expert who checks suppliers fish for flavor and appearance. Some ponds produce fish that just can't be sold, the taste just isn't right. These suppliers are typically farm ponds all within 25 miles and virtually all sell channel cats.

So absolutely the body of water makes a huge difference.



Edit: changed coops to co-ops

Agree

I personally don't eat blues or channels...Imo the only catfish worth eating are flathead. And my size preference is about 20#-45# no bigger. No smaller. The smaller taste too fishy and gamey to me. Where as the bigger ones...well. they are trophies...the average adult flathead is around 40# give or take...but that size range of flathead with all the dark meat cut out out and blood and mud streak gone. Cut into thin strips. Rolled in a bowl of mustard then covered in a seasoned bowl or cornmeal and flour. Then deep fried.....I've had dozens of people who swear they won't eat fish or even just catfish absolutely love it...the mustard gets any of that unpleasant strong fish taste if there is any which is rare. And it also gives it that little extra kick...mmmmm. just thinkin about it I'm gonna have to go thaw me out a bag for tonight. Lol

This is a good example of why everybody has a different preference for taste. Like the debate over Ford VS Chevy this will never stop.
A true connoisseur of catfish will never put a bunch off flavored up meal stuff on their fish to hide the taste. Yellow cornmeal and salt and nothing else for the purest and elite catfish eaters. BTW, why would anybody ruin good flathead fillets with mustard? Back at cha

I dont know how true this is but for those that say channels are fattier then Blues according to a neutrinal value on a chefs web site 6 oz of channels cat fillet has 231 cals from fat Blues 278 per 6 oz no flat head was not on there and i cant fined the web site gain i look for 30ins

Well. I must not be a true connoisseur of catfish by your standard. Lol. But also. I only keep 2-3 flathead a year. 5 at most...and when I cook them. It's normally for a big fish fry or cookout. And not alot of people eat fish or like it...so I came up with my own recipe for deep frying that Everybody can enjoy together...I've experimented with alot of different ingredients and whatnot with little success til I learned of a Cajun way of frying catfish and that was coating the fillet strips in mustard or dijon mustard instead of soaking the fillets in milk and eggs..and then I simply roll the fillets in cornmeal and flour with seasoned salt and creole seasoning....and I I don't understand how mustard would ruin the way flathead taste? Lol. But anyways. I prefer it cooked that way. And it works out great since when I make fish I am making for a group of more than 15 people..some of whom don't even like fish at all like I said...and even they love it..so you can dog on me for using mustard and seasoning lol. But I've never had anything but great compliments on my recipe

My Blue Heeler would love it. Heck she even eats raw japalenos and loves cucumbers too.

I like a 2 lb channel cat.


MO

Better questions sb best recipe for channels? And best recipe for blues? Having said that I prefer blue catfish, more meat, white, better texture suitable for verity of cooking styles...

My favorite recipe for channels is grilling or smoking them whole until skin fold away disappeared and meat becomes a little crispy, eat them with lemon squeeze, and salt and pepper.

But "Twok blue catfish taste like butter" said a real life chef who cook fish in many ways except deep frying. He and I used to fish for stripers in the same spot but I kept catfish he doesn't... until I convinced him to try blue catfish... well the rest is history.