After I saw it done on YouTube a few times a few weeks ago I had to give it a try...it was now on my bucket list. Have I been throwing away hundreds of baby duck eaters and feeding them to the turtles a
all these years not knowing they are good eating...I think not..yuck! I ended up catching one a few days ago and filleted it. They have always been a dull green and a lot bigger so I’m guessing this one one must have been a juvenile with its unique coloring? It was maybe 3/4 lbs at most. The fillets smelled like dead rotting shad...like most of the catfish I catch after filleting them. Well I had an idea of doing the same brine mix I tried last winter fro most my deer meat. I read that it removes nasty smells, rotten Tastes, and kills bacteria so I gave it a try. The brine was water, vinegar, and salt mix. I soaked it overnight in the fridge with ice cibes added of course to keep it freezing cold. In the morning I gave it a sniff test. The rotten smell was completely gone but it smelled of strong vinegar even after I washed the fillets off. I did notice the fillets were coming apart like the vinegar was Disintegrating some of it. I then soaked it in milk from that morning till about 5 pm. The fillets still had a very slight smell of vinegar and almost a thick coat of milk that absorbed into the meat. I washed off what was left of the fillet pieces and raised it under cold water till it was clear. I re smelled the fish. It still had a slight vinegar smell and was quite stringy and seemed like it was going to be tough. I dried the pieces off with a paper towel, washed the pieces in egg, and dusted with beer batter shore lunch. I pan fried the pieces for about 4 minutes in oil and gave them a try. The meat tasted good! It had a lemony taste...must have been from the vinegar. Almost tasted like hush puppies (with a zing)when I was a kid. I had two other taste testers that were afraid to try it but gave me thumbs up after eating. It’s not something I would go out of my way to make again but a fish I thought wasn’t edible tasted better than, sheepshead, gar, Striped or white Bass...or mushy crappie for that matter. I have made catfish without the soaking and it literally tasted like dead rotted shad so I will definitely soak my future stinky catfish in brine. I’m sure if I left in milk longer it would have neutralized all the vinegar smell and taste out of it.
I also tried sunfish row. Removed it fresh and dusted it with shore lunch and fried it for about a minute. Tasted like I was eating batter...did nothing for me. A bigger pice had some grainy texture like grits but still no taste.