bull heads

[spadam98]

Ok so i have kind of a dumb ? I took my little brother by waitts lake tonight to fish for about an hour at the public launch not really thinking we catch much we did get 1 sunfish and 1 bull head which brings me to my next question when i was trying to get the hook out my brother jerked his pole and the bullhead stabed me with his spines im assuming and it f-in hurt i have a welt and it stings I heard they are poisonous is this true? any help would be greatly apperciated

thank you
brian

[Joe Heater]

Brian,

I haven't caught one in about 20 years but I caught a lot of them as a kid and have been stung plenty of times. I am still here. They do hurt from what I remember but it is nothing to be worried about.

Joe

[spadam98]

ok thank you
yeah i have caught quite a few out of fish lake but never been stung by one so thought better safe to ask
so if you catch good sized one are they as good as say channel cats or blues

[EastsideRedneck]

When catching catfish of any breed it is always wise to have a pair of gloves on hand, or at a minimum be sure to keep one hand firmly over the dorsal. That fin can be quite sharp and hurt like a you know what if you get poked by it as you found out. It should stop hurting by the time you read this post. I assume you cleaned it out with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol when you got home. I used to keep witch-hazel in my tacklebox for these situations (good for quick relief of itchy bug bites as well.)

[littleriver]

I've been stung a few times myself by bullheads over the years..

my biggest problem with bullheads was figuring out a way to make them taste good..


here's the best I ever came up with..


flilet the suckers (don't do that skinning and baking kind of stuff) and drag them through
a mixture of egg and milk and then through some seasoned cornmeal..

pop them in some oil that has been heated to exactly 350F and it takes about 5 or 10 minutes
to cook... you're looking for something in the 120F to 140F range in regard to internal meat temp
when it's done but you're probably already experienced at recognizing the golden brown on the outside that
says it's ready to eat......

these things are good... even my kids will eat them and they won't eat fish unless it's served at a place like Anthony's and costs at least $30 a plate...

[muskyhunter]

Hey littleriver,
Bullheads....yikes....best part of cleaning them was nailing their heads to a board and tearing off the skin...thats how I learned way back when I was a kid. Hopefully i do not look demented by writing that..true story though..Never fileted them. Even better though was watching the bodies move in the salt water after the cleaning..crazy! Never fried em' either. Pops always smoked them with Hickory. Tasted pretty good though..That was a long time ago though..ah memories! Bullheads also were good Musky food..They bit off the part from behind the dorsal fin. Pretty cool... Take care!

[EastsideRedneck]

Little River- You shoud try adding a dash of cayenne and spanish paprika w/ the cornmeal. Whenever we go camping/fishing we bring a huge bag full of that mixture to pan-fry everything we catch. It works great on bass and panfish as well as catfish! Be sure to make some hush-puppies to go with the fish for the perfect Southern combo.