Smoked Sharp Tooth Catfish

**Scythe** · 04-04-07

FYI guys, commercial Catfish farming is seen by many investors and governments as the protein solution for Africa and as was said ... the yanks and many nations eat them bigtime.

As for Catfish eating other fish ... standing on top of my inflatable this past weekend fishing a pool, out pops a rotting muddy carcass of around 3 - 3.5Kgs ... this thing was HUGE and in a severe state of decomposition ... anyways as I am standing there trying my best to get away from the stench out comes a catfish big enough to take said muddy 'twixt it's jaws (yes, the entire fish fit inside it's mouth ... SIDEWAYS) turn around and dissapear into the depths.

Gross and amazing at the same time.

I think TJB would have done backlfips trying to cast to that monster.

**gkieser** · 04-04-07

Hmmm...

Now I know why Terry catches so many muddies. Livebait!

**Scythe** · 04-04-07

ROFL ... indeed.

"No really, this 400KG Barbel fell to a #2/0 Babich Barbel Bugger" *whistles*

**bluegill** · 05-04-07

Talking about Barbel eating other fish.....I remember a few years back at Harties there was a "monster barbel" (I guesstimate at between 15-18kg) lying dead in the water with a huge carp stuck in it's mouth. It somehow "bit off more than it could chew"!!

**phly** · 05-04-07

Originally Posted by Herman Jooste

This recipe is one of my favourites. Take a freshly caught barbel of between 2-4 kg. ( Fish of over 4kg's tend to have too much fat.) Cut off the head behind the gills, gut and clean the cavity then skin the fish as you would an animal. Soak the fish in a mixture of 50% milk, 50% water for 12 hours.
Drain and rinse the fish well. Add whatever herbs and spices that blow your hair back.
Prepare a "small" fire in the very bottom of a kettle braai, add the dampened sawdust of choice, place the fish on the normal cooking grill, put the lid on and forget about it for about 20 minutes,( or a 6pack worth

).
Remove from kettle braai and enjoy!!!!!

A HUGE....in fact fundamental ingredient has been ignored in this recipe...The place where the fish have been caught and their diet....

Barbel are the top fish predators in any system..but when other fish or crustaceans are not available, they resort to detritus feeding. Have you ever cut a barbel open that's been eating detritus or cr*p? MAN THEY STINK! This goes through the whole fishes system making them unpallatable..nomatter what you do you get that smell coming through..

It's imperative that you find a system where they are feeding on crustaceans or other fish. The way to do this is to find a place where the water is clean and the bottom is sandy. Or the fishing is good for other species.

Eg. The Kosi Bay system..we caught barbel from the channel there as an experiment and cold smoked the fillet like one would trout. There was no difference in flavour at all. The flesh was pink like salmon/trout due to the diet.

We served this smoked barbel, together with smoked trout at a friend's 40th birthday and nobody new the difference...what's more, the partygoers continued to eat it after being told what is was.. This could be attributed to alcohol intake as will probably be proposed..but they started eating it sober and there was no problem.

The diet is imperitive..can't stress that enough.
They've been growing barbel aka sharptooth catfish commercially in the states too as a food fish and have been successful. They even escaped into the swamps in Florida haha.

**Methos** · 05-04-07

Check this one out

http://images.google.co.za/images?gb...etball&spell=1

Now how do you tie a basketball fly ?

Cheers

**FIGJAM** · 05-04-07

Thats what I call a ball biter, blower, barbel popper, float, slam dunk, port side, Vaal dam robot and lots more

**Herman Jooste** · 05-04-07

Originally Posted by FIGJAM

That sounds brilliant.. I'm loving it.. What recipe would you use with electric eel and what cultiver would you recommend?

Electric Eel.

Wear thick rubber gloves and rubber soled boots.DO NOT handle the fish when still wet from the water

. Using a wooden paddle flip the fish far enough up the bank to be within jumper cable reach of your vehichle. Attach one jumper cable to the nose, the other to the tail and recharge the car's battery untill the eel is motionless for at least 30 minutes.

Gill, gut and skin the eel. Cut 2 long fillets either side of the cartlidge and put though a mincer, twice. Add seasoning and spices to taste and put through a 'wors filler. NB, sausage skins should be the intestines of a Kudu, plastic is not good enough.

Eel sausage can be cooked by whatever method is preferred, but casseroling with tomato and green pepper for 40minutes is the method of choice.

This meal is best enjoyed with a flagon of good peach mampoer.