Tales of the Cat

Yum. butter and lemon,sprinkle of parsley,dash of salt. Some use malt vinager.Some tartar sauce.Some,a really hot ol' Lodge,and some salt,cayenne,sage,and thyme.

On the wood-fired (or charcoal) grill, cajun rubbed, served with Tabasco. Nothing more, nothing less.

oooh,oooh,(the sound of Rupert Ritzik)rolled in Ritz craker crumbs and eggwhites,or melk(Chicago pernounce e 8shun) (sic)fried over an open fire in a pan (hub cap from a Woodie,if you're that lucky)

Good  morning,  insomniacs!  May  I  use  tartar  sauce  on  any  recipes  that  are  distasteful?

What a most riveting topic.  I was hoping for a mention of this most delectable (Ictaluridae) family of fish.  Just the mention of Ictaluridae brings fond remembrances of my most impressionable growing years and of course of my Uncle Thaddeus Mattingly Luce. Uncle Thaddeus was a highly decorated catfish farmer in the grand town of Leland, Mississippi. Spending many a summer there I learned the value of hard work and of friendship. One fine day while I was out casting a line into one of the ponds I, to my surprise, caught a catfish, my first, and as I reeled this odd looking beast to shore I was approached by one of the farm hands who informed me that in order to keep a fish he had to be at least 18 inches (my uncle's rules).  To my dismay I wasn't' sure if this fish was of the legal length so I pulled out my Carpenter's Bone Ruler (No.2590) and was indeed pleased that my fish was over 18 inches in fact it was 21 inches.  This catch turned into quite a feast for me and my family.  One other fine memory was the time my uncle said to me "would you like to come and see how a man catches these bullheads" with that I watched him as he stripped off his Yarn-dyed Herringbone Work Shirt ( Blue Herringbone----of course) and jumped into one of the ponds.  It was then that my uncle disappeared under the water and when he surfaced he had a large catfish attached to his forearm---outstanding I cried from the shores.  My uncle called this fishing style "thumbing' however, I believe that today the people who participate in this style of fishing call it noodling.  Fond remembrances of Uncle Thaddeus Mattingly and his roughed lifestyle. 

And another thing - there are two kinds of catfish: city & country.
The city ones are plain evil and huge from all the pollution.
Country catfish are more genteel and taste far better.
--country catfish include farm-raised along with wild

good morning !  it is fish day!  every friday is fish day, isn't it?
 
dv, i've never heard the term, wild catfish, until today.  there's pond and then there's not.  pond catfish, around here anyway, has a distinctive taste, no matter the dressing up or down.  i'll use the "wild" term on my friends, and watch. 
 
little hushpuppies, and slaw, gren pickled maters, fresh onions....yum.

All that comes to mind is the line from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe...
 
"So long and thanks for all the fish"
 
In other news, I'm steeling myself for this afternoon.  The buyer of my motorcycle is coming to pick it up.  Had another crying jag last night and again this morning...I keep telling myself I'm just being a baby, but this is much harder than I anticipated.  Gotta drive out to my parents house before work and use my dad's air compressor to top off the tires, then I'll top off the tank and drive it one last day...not sure if that's going to make it easier or harder to give up but its all I can think to do.  If you don't hear from me for a while I'll be in the garage pining.

Got me.....I actually looked up Ictalurus punctatus; getting slow in this advanced age.  Since I really like most fish, it's a hard choice.  Grouper is usually it though and if I can get it grilled.........perfect.  My husband is pretty much of a carnivore, so fish is usually what I eat out. I'll be trying Daniel's way -- sounds yummmmmmmy.

cuukoo~ I can't believe I forgot about Hush Puppies! Thank you so much for reminding me. Can't wait until the weather cools a bit so I can go back into my kitchen and make them.
 
nachista~ Just think, when your husband's done with school, you can get another bike! I know it's hard to say good-bye to a friend, but think of all the fun memories you have of your bike and all the fun memories you'll make with the new one. You should definitely take on last photo of you on it.
btw- 42.

I remember being shown by  my Dad,probly around my 8th year,how you 'skin' a channel cat. It was still breathing,out of the water,for several hours,when HE NAILED IT TO A BOARD!    RIGHT THROUGH ITS HEAD!   (Boy,as as aside, I am watching CSPAN,an interview with the guy that wrote the book 1959-HAVE TO READ THAT BOOK)  Back to my fish story: Dad slit thru the thick skin behind the gills,'ear to ear' and pulled it back with a pliers!It was not easy...      Lightly breaded and fryed, that was an epochal moment, sweet,meaty,delicious,and its sacrafice to feed us.   AH,life in the foodchain,and respect for that place at the top  
 

I virtually never order salmon in restaurants.  When done well, salmon is the most heavenly fish in the world.  But it is an easy fish to screw up (unlike catfish which is nearly impossible to screw up) and, when you do, it is bland and boring.
 
But no restaurant has ever served a salmon that was as good as the honey-basil baked salmon that I make at home.
 
On the flip side (pardon the grilling pun), every time I try to make scallops, they come out rubbery while, in restaurants, they are my favorite seafood.
 
Now I will spend the day basking in my recollection of the miso-encrusted Chilean sea bass I had at Sushi Samba.

Off topic again:     www.pooktre.com      ; whadaya think about that?

    RoadYacht...wow...
my poor little espaliered apple trees are nothing compared to those things...

   
 
 
 
 
 And I believe Dong has shown himself.
Hello Dong!

Looks like I'm in good company ~ Sunday nite I went out to eat at a seafood place & the waitress reccomended the Catfish, I was like I really don't think so.  The friend I was with asked if I had ever had it before & I said I have & because they are bottom feeders they have kind of a muddy taste to them. I had the stuffed flounder instead...
 
Growing up with family that lived along the Mississippi River catching a cat fish/bullhead while fishing was the norm. My mom happens to LOVE them. My father however is not a fan. yet we always kept about 3 of them for dinner. As kids we alwasy had to try a piece of it just so we were exposed to it. It's not a taste that I happened to like & maybe on Sunday that memory came into play when I didn't order it.  I don't know maybe it's time to try it again, if they are Farm Raised ones.....  
 
 

  
 
 
 DreadPirateRoberts   scallops re very easy to overcook. If you cook them until the centers are just before firming up and remove from the heat, they will be just right.

Stoney, cuukoo and all of you fresh water fisherfolk. I'm just not a fan of fresh water fish, having been born and reared practically in salty waters.

I find the taste to be rather bland or muddy as in the case of wild catfish (next we'll be calling them free range).

I do love sturgeon eggs however and the eggs of American paddlefish.

RoadYacht...I don't like to watch the cleaning of live catfish either. I also can't stand to hear crabs and lobsters banging on the lid of the steamer pot. I prefer to pith the poor creatures before subjecting them to the cooking process.

If I keep this line of conversation up, I'll return to my vegetarian ways!

Almost time for a change of season fast anyway.

Here in WI ~ Friday Fish Fryes are the norm year around,not just during Lent. The Pub were I am working at has these HUGE butterfly falays of perch on Friday nites. Now being a girl who grew up in a fishing/camping family it takes quite a bit for me to LOVE a resturants version of Perch. Well at Sconnie's I LOVE IT!! I don't know what the cooks do to prepare it but it's VERY GOOD. I highly reccommend it to everyone who asks.  Also it's one of the few places tht still serves the actual fish they are promoting. There's been a huge deal about places serving cod, perch, & the halibut but its really this stuff called "white Fish" and it's AWFUL.. most people can tell that it's NOT what they were told.. The reason the "White Fish" is cheaper to buy.. So now most folks are looking for a good honest place to eat fish around here. It's kind of sad really...   

RINGS: There are only a few ways that White Fish should be prepared, to be tasty and satisfying ... That seems to be a particular talent given to my Tribe ... but not many people come around asking ... See if you can find a Deli wherever you are, that has the words, GLATT KOSHER in the front window ... Go in and order the White Fish, and once you are amazed, call the Cook out and ask him how he did it ... He'll be glad to tell you ... Properly done, White Fish can be one of the most delicate taste experiences you have ever had, and it  IS  inexpensive ....... 

     Ivan
 
 
I do love smoked white fish....it's been a very long time though.
 
Speaking of the tribe....i think we "invented' fried fish did we not?
 
http://www.jhom.com/topics/fish/gefilte.html
 

Jalopkin~ and let's not forget we do pickled herring & lox (smoked salmon) quite well. And don't even get me started on Gifilte!

   
 
 
 
 
Daniel.....Love the pickeled Herring and lox....hate the'filthy fish' as I call it.

And don't forget horseradish

  
 
 
 
  hasn't there been a debate over the years  concerning "real"( sturgeon) caviar and if it's Kosher?

Miss Blue~ Kosher Sturgeon: I think it depends who you ask; with the naked eye, the fish has no scales and therefore can't be kosher, but some experts say if one views the fish with a stereoscope, tiny scales can be seen.
Personally, I don't eat the stuff--too salty. Ironically, I do love certain roes.

  
 
 
 
This  thing could end up being just a be a "Fish Storm "but maybe not. Gonna get some extra supplies this weekend, even some canned tuna and salmon just in case.
 
 
 
 
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200990_model.html#a_topad
 
 
 
 
 
shad roe is a tradition around these parts.
 

     Daniel and Ivan"Conservative Judaism is the only one of the three major branches that is of American
origin. Its founding may be dated to 1886, with the establishment of the Jewish
Theological Seminary (JTS) by a group led by Rabbis Sabato Morais and Marcus
Jastrow of Philadelphia and Henry Pereira Mendes of New York. This group was
responding to what it felt were the rationalist, antihalakhic excesses of the Reform
movement. The three rabbis were shocked at the now-infamous 1883 banquet
honoring the first graduating class of the Hebrew Union College (Reform rabbinical
seminary). At this banquet, shrimp and other treif (nonkosher) foods were served,
precipitating an angry walkout by a number of rabbis present and ultimately the
decision to found an alternative seminary." As the story goes, the reform rabbis reasoned that shrimp and oysters etc were Kosher; that they had modified scales and gills. Again, our old friend POV

Doc  Nolan:   Thanks  so  much  for  the heads-up  on  "Deep  Survival"  by  Lawrence  Gonzales,  the  online  preview  pages  enticed  me  to order  a  gently-used  copy.

    
 
 
 
 I wonder if catfish were on the table at the infamous 1883 banquet?
 
 
 
 
ijames
I remember  an catfish fish fry similar to the one you described. My Dad turned green after everyone saying "pass the cat" around the table. hahaha

Well, considering how lapsed I am, I think those walkouts would have me executed as a heretic. If you're curious as to the reasons for my separation, please pm me.

why ask if shad do it...     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5MTyzqeIzM       ; For you, Miss Blue

 
 
 
 
Willie Trask
 
 thanks but
please try again....bad link

Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

In Spain, the best upper sets do it

Lithuanians and Letts do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

The Dutch in old Amsterdam do it
Not to mention the Fins
Folks in Siam do it - think of Siamese twins

Some Argentines, without means, do it
People say in Boston even beans do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Romantic sponges, they say, do it
Oysters down in oyster bay do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish, do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it - Waiter bring me
"shad roe"

In shallow shoals English soles do it
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love


--here you go, Ms. Blue.  The way Ella sings it.  I think the best I'll be able to contribute to this topic will be these Cole Porter lyrics.  Or from "Summertime" and Gershwin, where "fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high."
 
Catfish just doesn't do it for me.  But I love reading about how you all get it to do it for you.
Or something like that.

   Thanks Park4
 
 
I suspected that tune but you can never be sure with sly willie1
 
 
 
 
Love summertime....i sing it often this time of year. One of the few tunes i do well.
 
 
 
 
 
 
What species of cat is swimin above? It looks an awful lot like the ones I see swimin around in tropical fish tanks.
 
 
 
 
 Ever have a run in with one of those electric catfish?  I think they are confined to Africa. But I remember hearing of channel cat capable of emitting a charge as well.Anyone know?

  
The catfish that we have enjoyed would almost certainly have been farmed and it was darned good.

It will not shake the throne of fresh, stream caught Brook Trout. Grown thick and fast on insect larvae and mayflies its flesh is as red as a summer sunset, more succulent than salmon and easily separated from its bones.

In its crystal, spring fed home waters, it is sought by anglers in waders who know that to dip an unprotected inseam into 55° liquid, is to emit high Cs until Tuesday. 

My fish experience is limited.  I think I tried catfish when I was a kid, but it has been a very long time. 
 
Around here, the choices of fish is quite limited.  We have Red Lobster or Long John Silvers.  Neither of which my stomach will allow without a full-on revolt an hour later. 
 
I do like fish.  But I save up for when I do (on EXTREMELY rare occasions) find myself near a coast.  Then . . . well, lets just say, keep your fingers off of my plate if you want to keep them.

It has been so many years now. Almost five decades, since I last heard my Mother say "just for the halibut" as she placed dinner on the kitchen table in my family's South-Side Chicago apartment; every Friday evening.  

It was as close to being a pre-meal prayer as we ever got except for a few clumsy attempts at Thanksgiving when we would have company, such as my older siblings with their families over for dinner.

"Just for the halibut" was my mom's tradition. It began thirty years prior to that last time when my parents first moved into the apartment. It continued on as they raised six children over the years in that same apartment. I was the youngest by five years and the only one who was born in a hospital.

She said it every Friday with a twinkle in her eye as if it was the first time, every time; and none of us could refrain from smiling as if it were the first time we ever heard it. We could never try to not smile, it was sweet surrender. She always gave of herself so much and asked for so little.

It was a simple meal yet my mouth waters for it just thinking about it. Broiled halibut steaks, potatoes mashed by hand, and canned stewed tomatoes.

This Friday tradition disappeared when we moved out of the apartment and into the home she always dreamed of out in the "country". I don't know why.... Perhaps because it was such a huge change for us.... leaving the echoes of all those memories in that little apartment.

I've never run across it on any menu and I wouldn't order it if I did because it could never be duplicated. My Mom had a secret ingredient you won't find in any recipe book; her unconditional love of her family.

how's this for dinner park4?
 
http://www.tcm.com/2009/summer/index.jsp?id=sidney_poitier
 

Beautifully stated, Peter Lake.....your posting sounds very much like an homage to my mother, as well, whose self-taught expertise in the kitchen was only surpassed by her love and dedication for her family. 

 
 
 
Peter Lake
 
 
 
 
good to see you.
I was worried you were kidnapped.
 
hahaha
 
 
 
 
 
cuukoo and Park4
 
 
 
with all the rain headed our way, looks like a TCM weekend for us too. have a great one!

Miss Blue ~ get your dancing shoes on for TCM Sunday ~ It's 24 hr.s of ELVIS ~ YES he does LIVE!!!!

peter lake......beautiful!

MISS BLUE:   The begining of Rabbinical Judaism, with the decision about the Babies for the Jewish women who were Rape victims of the Romans (the original Italian Lovers ???) by Rabbi Gershon, in 1100AD, was the begining of Kashrut Law becoming a Ping-Pong Ball, because we got every other Rabbi's personal opinion ... and it has caused Factions, Sectarianism, and division among the Tribe ever since ... The pathetic thing is, that the majority of the Kashrut Laws were given to us by Moshe, and not by G_D, because Moshe thought that buncha Yids too stupid to be able to remember and keep all those new Rules and observances ... After all, look how well we did with 613 Mitzvot ....... Rather than relaying all that Ha'Shem had said, and teaching us how to observe, Moshe just rewrote the Script and told us we couldn't have it, whatever it was ... Made it easier for the Shochet, and easier for Moshe, rather than his having to hand out Tickets like a Traffic Cop ...
 
Good Shabbos !!!
 
Enjoy Your Weekend, Everybody .......
 
IVAN

cuukoo!  That's today?  on TCM.  Dear friend, you are that.  I've been wanting something for this afternoon, other than a tall tall iced tea, and Sidney Poitier will do just fine.  Along with Kate the Great and Spencer.  The conversations between the two sets of parents in that movie are so good, so real, and I can't wait to see it.
 
 
And NICE link.  I was up all night last night watching Gloria Grahame, yesterday was her day on their Summer Under the Stars tribute.  I didn't even know who she was, but now I sure do.  All night long...
 
Thank you dear lady!
So it's dinner with Sidney Poitier and Hepburn, then?
Who could say no to that?
 
..me...

Sorry, all, about the defective link- this never happens to me. Can we just cuddle a while?                                      Catfish get really really big (Cf THE WAMPUS CAT in early Owners manuals) and the internet has brought visual confirmation to those old tales. It is easy to tell a photoshopped fish because of the proportion of the eye(s).  I will have to wait a few more hours before trying another link, but I am sure you can find some good ones if you try.                                        What is the difference between a plaintiff's lawyer and a catfish? One is a lowly, scumsucking bottom feeder and the other, well, the other is just a fish.

  Peter Lake,

Halibut steaks, and I haven't seen them in decades, were a weekend meal at our house because the big guys were there to get the brick backyard grill going.

The fire was arranged with an eye to getting that skin and fat layer nice and brown without overcooking the not very thick flesh.

Little boiled potatoes were served with melted butter, wilted thinly sliced green onions and lemon juice which went over the fish as well.

In summer, home grown tomatoes and sweet corn made it insanely better.

I'm witchyou... it is all gold and not to be messed with.

 

Red snapper.  I think I like that, but we can't get it here in the sticks. That grocer, he's the only game in town, so he's got us by the ping pongs when it comes to what fish we can choose from -- the last time we bought something called "fish" (the label said cod, I think) when I got it home I saw that it was from China. I live in Wisconsin and less than a mile from a deep lake, and buying fish for dinner in reality means getting takeout Chinese. It ain't right.

Does anyone recall the famous Elvis "catfish incident"? It took place in Norfolk, Va on July 20, 1975.

Apparently, Elvis in some sort of drug induced state insulted his 11,000 fans in the audience that night by complaining they were breathing on him. He then complained to his black female backups, the Sweet Inspirations, that they must have been eating catfish because he could smell it on them. Two of the ladies walked off stage as a result. The offended ladies returned to the stage the next night after a public apology by The King.

    
 
 
 
 
Rings90....I'll be dancing with ya.

i don't, but i'm guessing it'd be better than reeking of cigar smoke, i suppose.  jmo

4:19 in reference to bottom feeders.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA_zS6-dO7Q
 
 

 
 Park4 this is why I don't eat farm raised fish....
 
 
cuukoo.I don't get it.
 

Elvis actually had a long standing romance with one of the singers. His behavior became more and more bizarre up until his death. Drugs, Drugs, Drugs.

  
 
 
 
 
 well thanks cuukoo....
I'm gonna carch the 4:40 outa here. I've got more tomatoes to freeze.

blue. i apologize, it must've been the de agave, left over from the last couple of days.

Cobia, I love cobia. However catfish, hush puppies and sweet tea on a Florida Friday night is a thing to remember.

 
 
Oh good grief
In my haste
i remembered to ct
But forgot to paste
 
 
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/world/asia/15fish.html
 
 
 
 
 
hello geri
 
 
 

Oh ms. blue, that link!  Filthy water filthy everything.  Why oh why do we import fish from here?
 
 
We've got lakes and rivers and fishing poles and flys and minnows and worms and hooks and lines and sinkers and even nets to catch them in...
 
 
thanks Miss Blue.
thanks lots.
 
China.
They're killing us slowly and stealthily and not by bombs or bullets.
 
 
Fish by fish.
Import by import.
That's how they're doing it.
 
 
 
 
 
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUulGkLu4I
 
 

cuukoo, omg that is funny.  Is that for real?  They look just like mom...

I'm very comfortable saying that my palate is too uninformed to ascertain the difference between trout or catfish or cod or most any finny fish.  Trying to be trendy, I eat salmon sporadically, but even that little bit reminds me, every time, that I don't like it.  Offer me boil-em-eat-em shrimp, though, and I'm there in a second!
 
(I'm the same way about beer and wine -- uninformed and couldn't tell a cab from a bud.  Long live Diet Coke!)
 
(Needless to say, my Cajun relatives have all given up on me where catfish is concerned!)

Willie  Trask:   As  soon  as  I  stop  laughing,  I  will  make  you  pay  the  price  for  that  lawyer  joke...lol
 
Cuukoo1:  Did  I  detect  a  note  of  familiarity  in  someone's  greetings?

http://www.last.fm/music/Carly+Simon/_/Fisherman%27s+Song
 
 
I'm not sure if that link will work but if it does, it's a lovely tune by the lovely Carly Simon called "The Fisherman's Song."  The lyrics:
 
 
In a pine forest cooler than the rest of the island
Lives a young fisherman with eyes like the sea
He built his own boat and made his own cabin
but he's broken the hearts of the likes like me

Now you must understand he made me a promise
there were secrets we shared we planted a tree
We lived in a cabin, I fished along side of him
I fell under the spell of his sorcery

When he cast me adrift at the end of the summer
It was not for another but his own privacy
I fell apart like a rose, but the scent of my longing
Remains and it weeps like an old willow tree

At night when it's still, with a yellow moon rising
When his candle is snuffed and he's deep in a dream
I move like a cat, and crawl into his window
And lie down beside him in a golden moonbeam

The smell of his skin is just like the summer
When our love was as fresh as the grass in the fields
And ever so softly I kiss his eyelids
Before slipping away, my secret concealed

Though I'm in it alone, I'm still in it, In love
And love can be lonely like a sweet melody
But just maybe he feels like a whisper inside him
Like an angel beside him, keeping him company

 
That Carly Simon is one lucky girl; she manages to find the most fascinating men. 

I forgot to add: Judy Collins accompanies Simon on "The Fisherman's Song."

park4, my son sent me that link.....i thought it was precious...and it being friday, everyone has to smile, even just a little, when you watch that..
 
bert....twas not me....beautiful name though...curious too!
 
 

The  Lovin'  Spoonful  did  "Fishin'  Blues"  circa  1965.....

Who  was  it  that  did  "You're  so  Vain?"  Carly  Simon?  That  gal  would  definitely  NOT  agree  that  "interesting"  was  the  proper  name  to  describe  "her  men"......

I'm surprised no one has brought up noodling for catfish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOxt6r7HSNg

Talk about natural selection at work....and I'm not talking about the fish!

Somehow, offering one's self up as bait just seems plain wrong.

OK,  it's  Saturday  night,  the  week  virtually  acquired  a  life  of  it's  own,  and  would  never  just  die  a  natural  death.......
 
Dzrtldy:  Thanks  4  your  supportive  email,  yes  I  am  taking  better  care  of  myself.   Havana  Martini  Club,  clear  a  path  to  the  dance  floor,  here  I  come.....  lol

blue.....that's some fine looking catfish there!!!!

The Air and Water Show in Chicago is going to be live streamed here:
 
 
http://www.wbbm-780.com/airandwater/
 
 
 
So...if you want to see some Blue Angels etc. do death defying things in planes, that's where to be. 
 
Coverage starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. the weather is supposed to be hot and perfect for actual daredevils and Walter Mitty types too.
 
 

Walter  Mitty  =  clandestine  hero

Ahhhh. Hot summer night. Went out to eat with Lady Red at the little asian place down the street. Sitting here now with a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie, made by the Mennonites, that strangely enough, contains red dye #40. Sipping slowly on a gin & limeaid with sea salt and listening to the roar of the fans.

I'm back from the battle in the big city and I have to tell you I could have stayed home and been deep sea fishing for all the good the trip did my pocketbook.
 
You all know I love fish and almost anything from the sea so I won't start a list.
 
All of your food references sounded so good and I haven't eaten yet so I'll just say we seared some tuna the other night put some toasted sesame seeds on it and I cooked up some fresh ginger with white vinegar and sugar. Couldn't find store bought pickeled ginger. It, the ginger, was great with the tuna.
 
The meal was a last minute deal after a discussion on searing tuna. My friend is a very good cook and we made a run to the store for the stuff we needed. He, his wife and I gobbled it up.
 
Glad to be home and back with you all.
 
Gotta eat.
 
RY: great tree art.

The secret of fishing for catfish.... You go out in a (large) group and fish into the evening, and then into the night....  One by one, the wooses quit, and crawl into bed (more accurately, pickup bed, or sometimes, sleeping bag).  As the 'fishermen' quit, the number of catfish increases ever more slowly, but the catfish per capita jumps rapidly..... About 1 a.m. you start cleaning, filleting, breading, and frying the catfish in a skillet.  (By this time there are never more than three guys still up.).  And you gorge on your 'late dinner', crawling off to sleep with a full stomach.  As the proverb goes: "All good things come to he who waits".....  Even if the early bird gets the worm, I'd rather stay up late and eat catfish fresh-fried at 1 a.m.

Americans (generally) don't hold a candle to either the Japanese or the Spanish when it comes to fish... It's hard to know where to begin, but if you want to discover the wonders of the sea, either nation can provide a culinary PhD in short order....  One of the greatest feasts from my youth was a festival of the provinces (defunct) held in the Casa del Campo park just outside of Madrid.  One of the Basque provinces (Guipuzco?) put out enormous parillas (grills) the size of garage doors over enormous charcoal fires -- and grilled hundreds and hundreds (thousands?) of fresh sardines.  Oh... my.... goodness.... And the smell of those fish amid the pine trees... oh... my .... goodness.