Bloody(?) stripe inside next to fish backbone.

[StacyR]

Filleting a catfish is easy peasy if you know how. Once you've bled them out, lay them down on their side on the cutting board. Feel for the ribs, and make your starting incision just behind the rib cage down to the backbone. Turn the knife toward the fish's tail and run it along the spine. Then do the same on the other side.

Then lay the fish belly side down and feel the head for the end of the skull. They have a really hard head, so it's easy to find. Starting in back of the skull, slice downwards along the spine, and angle the knife so you skate it on top of the ribs.

You should end up with two long thin fillets, and two triangular shaped chunky ones, all with the skin still on. Just take a fork and pierce the fillets, then run your knife between the skin and meat.

I can fillet a cat this way in under two minutes with an electric knife.
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