Catfish suck at dying.

*WARNING*

Some of the pictures below depict a fish getting gutted. It's a little gross, if you are a sissy.

 

First, let me say that I am no fisherman. It's not that it isn't enjoyable, it's more a matter of me not being any good at it. That said, I caught a bigass catfish. There are a few of them in the pond I caught it in, and they kind of tear stuff up. The grandparents wanted them out, so I thought that between some friends and myself we could get one or two. Well, after the SOBS stole enough of my bait, I guess they started getting bold.

...A bit too bold for their own good. I hooked one, and then realized that my line was way too weak to pull it in. Faaaaaaaaaaaantastic. So, I just let it swim around until it got sort of tired. Then I had Steve shoot it... twice. Lemme tell you, this lil guy was all about holding on to sweet sweet life. The first time he shot it, it really didn't care that much and gave me the fishy finger. The second time it was stunned enough for me to grab it.

So we think, "Cool, it's dead" and move along. I, of course, had to play with it.

The great hunters, with their vanquished foe.

Big mouth...

Anyway, Dave wanted to eat it. I never really cared for catfish, but I figured since I was the one to drag it out of it's home I ought to at least do it the courtesy of consuming its flesh. So, he picks it up and starts walking for the barn to get some tools... and it bites him! I just had my whole hand in it's mouth and it didn't care. We thought it was dead, and it proceeds to try to eat Dave. So it stops moving again, and all is assumed to be well. Dave starts to cut, and guess what? It flips the hell out and actually tosses the knife at Dave. No, I am not joking. It threw the knife at Dave. Cue my grandpa blowing it's head apart with a shotgun. The red and black spot in the grass was priceless.

Getting on to business:

Mind you, it was still moving from time to time...which is strange to have happen after you've killed it several times (and before any of you morons e-mail me, yes I am aware of nerve endings).

We did kinda think chopping off it's head would stop it though.

I love the look on that frog in the background.

Once the head was off, the inevitable happened. I had to poke it.

So, then it was time to skin it... but it was still moving.

Moving or not, it was getting it's skin pulled off.

Skin is actually held on pretty well...but we are stubborn.

Victory. It came off like a dirty sock.

Then we cut some filets off and cleaned up.

Delicious. Kinda makes you wonder what the hell it is you're looking at.

So, we breaded it and fried it. Guess what, catfish still kinda sucks. We did not know that you are supposed to cut it thin, and ended up with several super thick fish chunks. Which if you are trying to hide the flavor of the fish (as one does with catfish) is an issue of surface area. The thin stuff tasted good thanks to the breading, but anything over half an inch thick could make a Bob gag.

 

Now before anyone whines: I don't get off on hurting lil' animals. We took it out of the pond because it was destructive, and we ate it. So don't give me any of that hippie shit. I'm sorry it wouldn't die after we shot it 3 times and cut it's head off, because it was really hard to cut it up with it squiggling. But I don't know any way to kill it anymore than as described above. I think we get bonus points for effort in that category.

 

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