Dad was a charter captain in SW Florida and I never tried eating a sail cat. Not sure I could get past the slime to clean it.
Oh for sure. We went bass fishing in Lake O a few times when I was a kid. I remember that particular event because my dad and my uncle were in about a 15’ aluminum boat drinking beer and laughing their asses off at me in that tiny little boat getting towed around as I reeled that sucker in. I thought I had a record bass down there only to pull up a giant mudfish. We had fun with that one for years
As a youngster growing up I would walk a mile or less too an old phosphate pit and catch “butter catfish”. Don’t know why we called them that except they had a yellowish belly. They were plentiful and easy to catch. When cleaned and cooked that same day they were very good. When visiting Fayetteville Ark a few years back to see our Gators play Arky, we ate at a restaurant there they advertised fresh caught catfish. I asked the waitress if they were actually fresh caught or farm raised. She said “ Honey, I don’t catch ‘em’ or cook em. I just serve em”
Try Middendorf's at Manchac Pass - just north of LaPlace, LA between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas. Their waitresses will give you a better answer than that, and likely better catfish too.
Fun to catch and I'd get a dollar for each from the old man who was TRYING to catch them (or anything else including Alligator Snappers) for dinner while I was bass fishing.
In Louisiana, they call them choupiq. I’ve eaten it at a fish fry. It’s a mild, white meat. Taste fine. If you’ll eat catfish, this is no worse. Just like the saltwater sail cats, they are predators. Not just bottom feeder filter fish. I’ve caught both on top water lures. I don’t fool with cleaning cats or mudfish, but if someone else does the work and fries em up, I’ll eat it. Gar is supposed to be really good too. Some of my buddies in TX used to eat it all the time. Don’t freeze it and don’t rinse it too much. Kind of a lobster consistency and a similar sweet meat from what I’ve been told.
The big alligator gar is what I’m talking about. They cut the backstraps out. No bones. You can do it on really big needlenose too. I don’t know anyone that messes with the little ones.
I've never tried a big one, the ones I ate were all no more the 4-6 lbs....probably why they were bony.
I had a buddy who loved sail cat. I’d catch them and he’d gladly clean and fry them. I had the better end of that deal for sure
Yes, the conversation did get off topic scooterp. But listening to these fellow crackers post about eating gar, mud fish and saltwater catfish sure was interesting. I really wanted to bring up my experience eating gopher, (Florida land tortoise) as a youngster. I was with a friend of mine in Williston and we had it with gravy over rice. It was good! This Simmons kid sounds like a winner to me.
My captain would slap me into next week if I tried to put a cat in the cooler. I’d have to find a new ride.
