On our last trip we got into a lot of gafftop catfish, many people say they are trash fish while some love them. I decided that since we were catching them, I would keep one and cook it up. Enjoy:

Most anglers would agree that gafftops are pretty fair eatin'. It's the hardhead that is considered a trash fish.

Snot rockets eat ok, once you get past cleaning them.
They are a mess.
So, they go back in the pond.

Debunked. thanks for taking one for the team. I'll still not eat them unless I get desperate, but good to know they're edible.
Tim

Have been eating them for years. Like them breaded and fried or blacken and served up as Fish Tacos with vinegar coleslaw and chipolte mayo sauce. I rinse the heck out of them with water and then do filet. I split the middle and remove red strip left and right. For blackening I put them in zip lock bag with lemon and butter and let them sit for 1/2 hour, then they get seasoning and cast iorn pan at about 400 for about 2 to 3 minutes a side.

It takes me a minute to properly fillet a trout.
Less than two on a decent sized red
Two and a half to get four nice fillets off a flounder.

I'm still dinking with a snot rocket fifteen minutes later. Ain't nobody got time for that....

Here's how to do it quickly:

Here's how to do it quickly:

Well that certainly did look easy.
Every gafftop I've tried to clean slimed up the table, the knife, me, the dog in three seconds. Did he take a brillo pad to that fish before he cut into it?

The trick with gafftop slime is to put them into an ice chest with a good slush of ice and water as soon as you catch them. Get them down into the slush. The motion of the boat and the ride home will remove most of the slime by sloshing around in the ice water mix. A quick rinse with the hose is all that's needed after that. Putting them on top of the ice or in dry ice chests (like frozen milk jugs) makes for more difficult slime situations, as does using stringers.

That sounds real good.

I eat them and find them great.

I would agree with you now.