Save the Belly Meat on Your Next Catfish

This video is a little long, and the guy needs to get some new blades for his electric fillet knife, but around the 5:50 mark he brings up a point I think a lot of angler miss: Save that belly meat. On a good-size catfish—one that’s more than five pounds—there’s a big chunk of meat on the belly just below rib plate. I think it tastes better than the actual fillets. It’s sweeter, with more flavor than the mild side meat. The key is cleaning it correctly. There’s often some yellow fat or a strong line of darker meat that needs to be removed, and the inside is lined with silverskin that needs to be trimmed. Both will impart a strong, unpleasant taste.