I should add that gafftops are altogether a much better tasting fish than hardheads which are likely responsible for the reputation of marine catfish on the table. Hardheads are just plain fishy tasting and the only remedy is strong sauce: horseradish, Tobasco, mustard, etc. Gafftops actually have a positive flavor if properly cooled cleaned and trimmed.
Proper prep of gafftops begins by buying plenty of ice and making sure the fish get placed in the ice/water slurry at the bottom so the sloshing around motion removes the slime so that it cannot be transferred to the fillets on the cleaning table. This also cools the fish very quickly to prevent bacterial action. We do this not only with gafftops, but with all the fish we catch. Remember that if a fish is warm, bacterial action begins as soon as it dies, and the key to great table fare is very rapid cooling, and nothing cools fish faster than immediate submersing in ice water.
Once on the cleaning table, you must be sure not to puncture the gut. Keep all the knife action outside of the rib cage. I like to score the skin to outline the area that will get pulled off with the pliers. After pulling off the skin, the fillet gets removed directly from the back and working on the outside of the rib cage at all times. More careful trimming removes the bits of skin, red meat, and fatty portions.
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