Caught a bullhead today while I was fishing. Never caught one before. Got it skinned, now I don't know how to cook it. Do you cook it like bluegill? I dredge my panfish in masa and fry in oil but the meat on this fish looks so different.

Nevermind, I fed it to the cats.

That may have been the recipe of the day.

Bullheads.....DELICIOUS! Perhaps the best eating of freshwater fish. I have enjoyed many, many family fish fries over the years where bullheads were the "fish of the day". We no longer gut & skin; we fillet them with an electric knife just like other panfish. We like them fried....sometimes battered....other times, just dusted with flour/meal.

I have always just done the 'filet and fry' thing with Bullheads. Delicious with hush puppies, coleslaw and beer.

Shame to throw away good catfish! Your cats got a gourmet meal, and you missed out on good eats. Fried works!

Now I know why the cats went to the fridge after finishing the fish, they were waiting for the beer. LOL If I get anymore I will try fixing them for us instead of the cats. It sure had alot of meat on it.

I remember my grandparents eating bullheads but was too young to see how grandma fixed em. Of course they liked headscheese and fried calf brains too so wasn't sure about the bullheads.

We ate them when I was a kid. Skinned them with a pliers, cut the head off, gutted, battered, and deep fried. I usually cut out the red line going from the head to the tail down th middle of the fillet. It had more of a strong fishy taste to it than the rest.

The cooler the water they come from, the better.

Wild cats are going to be stronger flavored than farm raised...but cat's are good eating...they're a fish that lend themselves to a lot of differnt cooking styles. White and flakey, but not fragile...good stuff!

We are WAY over-thinking this, guys. Bullheads are GREAT eating. Just fillet/skin them with an electric knife and fry 'em up.....DELICIOUS!

Hell yes they are good to eat. Fry it!

Boggy Creek Ranger always said the wild-caught are better than the farm raised ones, so I've been pretty much stuck with second best and then Sassy gives one to Felix the Cat...!!! Opportunity lost for good eats...LOL!

Isn't the meat off a bullhead usually yellow looking or is that an Okie thing.

Yall are talking about mudcat right?

Those little short yellowish brown slimy fish with a big head and whiskers?

I have a pond full of them.

Need to get rid of as many as possible.

I heard they are great trotline bait.

Yep it was the short yellowish brown slimy fish with big head and whiskers. I imagine we will catch more of them and I intend to fry them the next time. The meat was pretty much white not yellow at all. Probably the good Michigan water it grew up in.

Thank you all for your replys they are much appreciated. It sure was fun to catch, I was using a light line and he put up a nice little fight. Can't believe I've been fishing for 50 years and never caught one before.

They just did a spot on Michigan Out of Doors doing that very thing..

Yes, if prepare right, bull heads can be delicious.

Three different bullheads in freshwater, IIRC... and not all are equal. Black bullheads are the ones we caught a lot of when I was very young and briefly when living in WAY upstate NY. They were very good.

Yellow and brown are the two others and I have not heard great things about them... Might explain some differences in opinion...

[quote=Sitka deer]Three different bullheads in freshwater, IIRC... and not all are equal. Black bullheads are the ones we caught a lot of when I was very young and briefly when living in WAY upstate NY. They were very good.

Sitka deer - What do you consider WAY upstate NY? When I look out my living room window I'm looking into Canada, you mean that far up?

Bullheads are kind of a springtime regional delicacy up here. When I was a kid all the kids in town went bullhead fishing about every night from ice out until mid-may. Quite often the fathers and uncles went too, a great time. Like a lot of things, not as much now, but still done. A lot of the VFD's, churches, other organizations have springtime bullhead suppers for fund raisers. One near here has been doing it for over seventy years, the social event of the season in that town. If people don't see you there they look for you in the obituaries when they get home.

Just don't screw them up with cornmeal (too sweet!).

cra1948
SUNY Plattsburgh in '72... My mother is from Massena/Malone area, but Canada actually. So possibly farther North, but still not in Canada.

You are from Ogdensburg, aren't you.
art

HUH!!!

Cornmeal too sweet for catfish? I did not know that there was any other way to cook catfish. I still doubt that there is a better way. miles

I guess nobody got my joke, huh?

I did not see it as a joke. I used to work for a man that custom butchered for people and he kept the heads and boned them out and made kielbassa with them. Good stuff. miles

If you catch bullheads early in the year when the water is still cool, they are great. Gut skin and fry in your favorite recipe.

art - My brother graduated SUNY Plattsburg '73. I'm on the river ten miles west of Ogdensburg.

According to some of the stuff I googled up, bullheads arent at the top of the list for good eating catfish. But among catfish, that's kind of like saying sirloin isn't at the top of the list for best beef. Ain't none of it bad, IF it comes from clean water.

Cornmeal too sweet? Dude, in the South, you might season it, but cornmeal is the way you fry up cats.

Jim, northerner here holding out for seasoned flour. Best, John

Bullhead: Fillet. Pan fry in butter. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Yummy