"Take care of your catch immediately, either putting fish on ice or keeping them alive until cleaning," he said. "Then after cleaning, either freeze fillets in a container of water or keep them in a bowl of water until time to prepare and cook."
Williams is also a proponent of releasing catfish weighing over 8 pounds. He says these adult fish are important to sustaining catfish populations, and fish under that size are the best tasting ones anyway. He concluded by saying, "you can't catch any size if you don't go, so take advantage of the spring catfish activity and get on the water today."
JEFF WILLIAMS' NOTES ON PREPARING CATFISH FOR COOKING
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BEST EATING SIZE
- If intending to fry or bake whole, with the skin on, fish in the .75 - 1.5 pound range
- If intending to fillet, and cook in a variety of ways, fish in the 2-6 pound range
- Take pictures of catfish weighing over 8 pounds, then release the fish
CARING FOR CATCH
- Put fish on ice immediately after catching or keep alive until cleaning
- Freeze fillets in containers filled with water
BATTER OPTIONS
- Lots of commercial batters on the market, with various seasoning choices
- For do-it-yourselfers, go with Corn Flour instead of Corn Meal. Salt and Pepper to taste
BEFORE YOU BATTER FILLETS
- Pat fillets with a towel or paper towel to remove excess moisture
- Doing so allows the batter to stick to the fillet instead of the water on the fillet
- Then roll fillet in batter
DEEP-FRYING
- Grease must be hot, maintaining a temperature of around 350 degrees
- Don't overload the cooker with fillets. Cooking too many at a time will cool the grease, slow the cooking process and cause the fillets to absorb more grease
- Cook hot and fast for the best results of holding batter and maximizing flavor
