If You Can't Beat Them, Eat Them

Type: Tidal
Region: Central
Location: Chesapeake Bay

Maryland is experiencing exploding populations of invasive blue catfish in most every tidal river and the upper bay area. The whole mess started in the James River in Virginia when someone thought it would be a good idea to release them there and thought they’d stay in the river. That certainly did not happen and after spreading through the tidal Potomac River, the catfish navigated the bay waters to spread into every tidal river as far north as the Susquehanna River. They can reach sizes of 100 pounds and eat live fish, white perch, river herring, yellow perch, clams and a host of other valuable species are all on the blue catfish’s menu. They are an eating and reproducing machine.

I must admit that I’ve never been a big fan of catfish since most of my fishing and eating targets have been saltwater species. I felt it was my duty to give blue catfish a try since they are considered the finest eating catfish and my beloved Choptank River is becoming overrun with them. The blue catfish are at my doorstep so no long runs trailering a boat or running offshore and there are a lot of them, there is no minimum size, no creel limit and open to fishing 12 months of the year, all things add up to some inexpensive fun.

I’ve been catching channel catfish for fun and releasing them for years, so I had the right gear and when my first blue catfish showed up on my line, I figured let’s give this thing a try. At first, I just filleted them and skinned the fillet but soon found out the secret to excellent eating blue catfish to my liking was to remove all the red meat and silver skin. I was given a little guidance to put down the fillet knife and use a thick bladed knife, my choice was a chef’s knife when skinning the fillet, which removes the silver skin and red meat in one easy shot. Next the center red meat is cut out and what you wind up with is a pure white fillet. I should mention at this point nothing is wasted in nature and my resident bald eagles and buzzards are very happy with my discarded offerings.

So far, the fillets seem to freeze well when vacuum sealed and of course are a treat fresh. My present favorite cooking method has been cornmeal or panko coatings and fried in peanut oil with hush puppies. The larger catfish fillets need to be pared down to a thickness of ¾”, so they are not so thick, thinner is better for even cooking. Panko crusted, sautéed in butter and finished off in the toaster oven makes a quick and tasty meal and leftovers make delicious tacos and burritos.

If you’re fishing in the Baltimore area, I’d check the MDE fish consumption advisory website (see below) , but I’m confident the catfish from the Susquehanna, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent and lower Potomac are safe to eat, and even in sketchy areas catfish under 10 lbs. tend to be edible from a contaminant standpoint once all the fat and red meat is removed. One to two meals of catfish per month is generally considered safe in most areas except Baltimore County and City. For example, in the Choptank River, MDE advises that folks eat no more than 2 meals of channel catfish meat per month. Check the fish consumption advisory website before consuming any species of catfish in your area. For the MDE fish consumption advisories and advisory map, go to:
mde.maryland.gov/programs/marylander/fishandshellfish/pages/fishconsumptionadvisory.aspx

I have found out that a fair portion of the blue catfish tend to move downriver during the summer and move upriver in the spring and usually are found along channel edges. I invite anyone with tips they’ve learned or favorite recipes to write up an Angler’s Log entry to share with everyone. Until then, good fishing and good eating. To submit an anglers log, please send your catch information to fishingreports.dnr@maryland.gov.