Mornin' Jim,
I've been catching and eating gafftop for well over fifty years. Started down here on the TX coast with my Granddad, who taught me to "think like a fish." I've read many posts in lots of forums about peoples' aversion to these "slimiest of critters," but really, they're cleaned like any other cat, as far as I know. Can't be sure, 'cause I've never fished for or cleaned any FW fish, including cats. I just skin 'em and fillet 'em off the boat, then when I get home, cut out the lateral blood line and further cut into chunks. Grandma always just rolled them in cornmeal and fried, I do that at times or sometimes dip in egg then in a flour/cornmeal mixture and fry. Although I've never caught and prepared FW cats myself, I've eaten a lot of it, and it's very much like the gafftop that I prepare. It's a firm flesh, but if anything a little less firm than FW cats, but mild in flavor. If you don't take out the lateral blood line, that part cooks up dark, and slightly fishy in flavor. In Texas, we have a minimum 14" size limit, to help protect the species. But since they are still plentiful, there is no bag limit yet. I've caught them in the murky shallow bays around the coastal bend, in the Corpus Christi channel, and out in the clearer waters of the gulf, just off the jetties, and have never noticed any difference in quality or taste. Anyway, down here folks have been catching and eating gafftop forever, I guess. My littlest granddaughter (one of two after whom I named my boat) upon tasting gafftop for the first time, said, "good chicken!" Now, all that being said, I prefer fresh caught speck, flounder, tripletail, or small red, over any cat, but in the past, not having a boat, I found myself usually going after the easier and more likely caught gafftop. Now that I finally have my boat, and subsequently more access to different waters, that may well change.
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