Lake Campbell catfish make fine meal

Raised in Maryland and schooled in Virginia, I’ve got enough “south” in me to appreciate a southern fried catfish dinner. My tribute to the catfish will probably have die-hard walleye anglers laughing all the way to the fish cleaning station, but I think catfish — meaning channel catfish, are a quality catch in more ways than one.

What is a quality channel catfish? In fishery science jargon, a quality channel catfish is about 16-inches-long. When fisheries scientists got computers, they developed new statistical tools to describe fish populations that were meaningful to the scientist and the angler.

Angler opinion surveys resulted in five length classes for each species. For channel catfish, the length classes are named as follows: stock length (about 11 inches), quality length (16 inches), preferred length (24 inches), memorable length (28 inches) and trophy length (36 inches).

The Department of Game, Fish and Parks monitors fish populations in seven Brookings County Lakes: Brush, Campbell, Goldsmith, Highway 81, Interstate, Oakwood and Sinai. They use standardized nets and sampling protocols to get honest survey data, and then crunch the numbers by fish length class (and other metrics).

Their reports show that channel catfish are abundant in Lake Campbell, but much less abundant in other Brookings County lakes. The biologists relate fish length to fish weight to get a plumpness measure.

Lake Campbell fish are sufficiently plump, meaning that they have plenty to eat. In Lake Campbell, 67% of the channel catfish were in the quality-length class (about 16 inches-long). Like economists, the fish biologists like to see a strong middle class.

My own survey results of the Lake Campbell catfish population agree with those of the state agency, but here’s how I sample the channel catfish. I dig some worms from the flower garden beside the lake. I put a worm on a hook that is suspended just above the bottom by a bobber.

Sometimes I catch one or two channel catfish in an hour, sometimes the action is much better — how about eight fish in a half-hour on one still morning. The last 22 fish that I have caught are all channel catfish. Twenty-one were quality-length fish, whereas one was preferred (24-in-long). The quality-length fish was probably 4-years-old whereas the 24-inch preferred fish was probably 8-years-old. Fishery biologists age catfish by counting growth rings on the bony spines.
Channel catfish are a quality catch because they catch themselves (usually) and are strong fighters.

When the bobber goes down, the fish is usually hooked. And, they talk to you — here’s how. Some fish make sounds by rubbing bones against each other (called stridulation), or by vibrating the air bladder. Channel catfish croak. I think they are saying “put me back in the lake.”

Channel catfish make a quality fish meal. Okay, I know some people are prejudiced against catfish, wrongly thinking that they are ugly and eat stuff they find in the mud. Actually, fish diet studies show that quality-length channel catfish are opportunistic, omnivorous feeders, meaning that they eat fish, insects, crayfish, and sometimes plant matter, much like other fish do. As for ugliness, that’s a judgement call in the eye of the beholder.

Channel catfish have small eyes so you might expect that they are equipped with other senses to help find food. They are. Their eight whiskers (barbels) are covered with tastebuds, and taste buds are also scattered over their scaleless skin.

The catfish has been called “a swimming tongue.” Like other fish, they have the sense of “distant touch.” This system of pressure sensitive organs is found along the lateral line. They can “feel” the wiggle of a prey fish in the distance. Fish can hear with a wonderful system of ear bones connected to a sound amplification chamber –—the air bladder. Enough of this anatomy lesson, what about that muddy flavor?

Here are some phish-phacts that are important to my claim that channel catfish make a quality fish dinner.

Blue-green algae and bacteria are in all lakes (some more than others, especially in warmest months). The blue-greens produce a compound called geosmin, which is absorbed through a fish’s skin and gills.

Geosmin is the source of the muddy flavor. There is more geosmin in muddy green waters, more in summer than in spring, and more in older, bigger fish.

The geosmin is fat soluble so it is mostly in the fish’s fatty tissue. Fish have a little red muscle and a lot of white muscle. Much of the fat (and off-flavor) is in the red muscles, which are visible on the midline of a fillet. The muddy flavor goes away with the carcass when you skin the fish and remove the red muscle.

Another good quality; channel catfish don’t have many bones and are easy to fillet. There are no intramuscular bones like the pin bones in walleye and the “Y-shaped” bones of pike.

This information is about making a quality, southern fried catfish meal, y’allll. The first requirements of a good recipe are treatment of the catch, fish size, and water quality.

There are entertaining TV cooking shows from down South, but here are the basic, no-fail, simple instructions from the Lake Campbell Test Kitchen of Catfish Culinary Art.

A traditional southern recipe starts with soaking the fillets in salt water (brine) or buttermilk for maybe an hour. The food scientists don’t think that the push and pull of water and ions (osmosis) really means that much, but the cooks say “soak’em” so I do; can’t hurt.

Y’all listen up — the batter must have corn meal; it is critical to the southern fried way, which is a flavorful, ultra-crispy coating. Mix cornmeal (1 1/2 cups), flour (1/2 cup) and seasonings. Seasonings usually include garlic, paprika, pepper, celery, onion, and lemon pepper (say a teaspoon of each). I depend on 2 tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning to have all the spicy flavor I want.

Hot (365 degrees) oil is another must. Moisten the fillet in buttermilk.

Dredge the fillet in the corn meal mixture and let rest for 5 minutes.

Carefully place the battered fillet in the hot oil to cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Now, that’s how to get a quality meal from quality-length channel catfish.
Down south, the side dishes might be okra, coleslaw, collard greens, fried green tomatoes, baked beans, and hush puppies. Ahh! hush puppies! But that’s a recipe for another time.