Gafftop Catfish

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Sightwindow

Sailcats: Makes a slimey mess out of everything they touch, line, deck, ice chest, bags, cleaning station. Gotta always be on the look out for the spines, which are foreign to most people unlike fins and teeth. Cleaning is a pain and yield is average at best. I've done it just like I've done sheepshead, but similarly most all the time they go back unharmed (respect for the sea, no needless killing or maiming)

Hardheads: No chance I'm ever that hard-up except maybe in a survival situation.

No one will ever starve to death as long as they hardheads are around.

Cleaning the gafftops is not that hard, I worked through a pile of 13 of them the other day in about 20 minutes. They are skinnier sometimes than channel catfish, but then they don't tend to have the fatty parts which (in my view) can give channel catfish a fishy taste if not trimmed.