Let's talk about fishing!

[BigTerp]

Nice haul on the catfish. Flathead cat is by far my favorite to eat of all the catfish family. The meat is so white and flakey when it's cooked properly. I personally prefer the ones 10 lbs or under. Maybe it's just my perception (several friends agree), but something in the texture of the meat changes when they get much larger than that. But they're all fun to catch and I eat all of them including the blue and channel and or those at 30+ lbs, because even if they aren't my "preferred" size flathead, they still taste pretty darn good. :mrgreen:

Those were my first flathead. Didn't even realize we had them in that stretch of the river. They are considered invasive and the Maryland DNR wants you to keep everyone you catch. I released both of mine. Didn't realize that until I was reading up on it They also don't recommend eating any of the larger ones over 30" because of pollutants and heavy metal contaminants.

 

[JMichael]

I've heard about that problem with chemicals in them, and from what I've read, it appears to get worse the closer you get to the northeastern part of the country due to the heavy industry and more pollutants in the water. The game and fish regularly monitor that around here and there have been times when they've issued warnings for the fish in a certain area, but typically they give a green light to eating any and all sizes here.