05-16-2012, 11:16 AM
[cool][#0000ff]It is not always true that bigger fish are not good eating. It will vary by species, water chemistry, diet of the fish and other factors...not the least is method of preparation.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If the big fish you caught in KY were channel cats, I can understand the bad experience. Channels are definitely better when smaller. But both blue cats and flatheads are quite good even in jumbo sizes. You just need to bleed them out and then fillet them...and cut the fillets into "fish and chips" size pieces. I particularly like the meaty "belly strip" on a big flathead. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught and eaten both flatheads and blues in several parts of the country. Biggest I have eaten was probably a 50 pound flathead...and it was great. Just like eating fried butter...with a nice crust. While living in Arizona I caught grundles of flatheads from under 10 pounds to over 30 pounds. Most of them I caught on light to medium tackle while fishing for bass or crappies...on lures. They eat mostly live foods...crawdads, fish, worms, etc. And they prefer clean and moving water. So the fish I caught were all from a great environment and they were all great on the table.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Flatheads and blues grow bigger faster. If you catch them from clean flowing water, where they have a good diet, they grow fast and get much bigger at an early age than the same size channel cat. So a bigger fish is not always old.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's a pic of a 27# flathead I caught below Horseshoe Dam near Phoenix. Got it on a small jig and 6# line, while fishng for crappies. Took a while to convince it to join me in my tube.[/#0000ff]
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[inline "27# FLATHEAD.jpg"]
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[#0000ff]If the big fish you caught in KY were channel cats, I can understand the bad experience. Channels are definitely better when smaller. But both blue cats and flatheads are quite good even in jumbo sizes. You just need to bleed them out and then fillet them...and cut the fillets into "fish and chips" size pieces. I particularly like the meaty "belly strip" on a big flathead. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught and eaten both flatheads and blues in several parts of the country. Biggest I have eaten was probably a 50 pound flathead...and it was great. Just like eating fried butter...with a nice crust. While living in Arizona I caught grundles of flatheads from under 10 pounds to over 30 pounds. Most of them I caught on light to medium tackle while fishing for bass or crappies...on lures. They eat mostly live foods...crawdads, fish, worms, etc. And they prefer clean and moving water. So the fish I caught were all from a great environment and they were all great on the table.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Flatheads and blues grow bigger faster. If you catch them from clean flowing water, where they have a good diet, they grow fast and get much bigger at an early age than the same size channel cat. So a bigger fish is not always old.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Here's a pic of a 27# flathead I caught below Horseshoe Dam near Phoenix. Got it on a small jig and 6# line, while fishng for crappies. Took a while to convince it to join me in my tube.[/#0000ff]
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[inline "27# FLATHEAD.jpg"]
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