Trash Fish Dining

[MathGeek]

Gafftops are about like channel catfish, and we'll work pretty hard to catch a mess of channel cats in the 4-7 lb range. When the gafftops are biting well, it's easy to put 8-12 of 'em in the cooler, so we don't throw them back. The two important keys in preparation is 1) Cool them quickly and let the slime wear off by sloshing around in a good ice/water mix 2) Cut out all the skin, red meat, and silvery stuff that sticks even after skinning.

Hardheads can also be ok, but the fillets are smaller so it is harder to really trim out all of the red meat and silvery tissue that skinning leaves behind. These are best fried and used in po-boys with enough horseradish, mustard, and tobasco to cover up the fishy taste.