limey wrote:

> We like catfish, because it's sweet and mild. I always buy the farmed
> variety and have often wondered - how does that compare to the "wild"
kind,
> often called mudcats? We used to catch those in a local pond, but always
> gave them away to other fishermen. They were delighted, so we probably
did
> something wrong.


Not really. Since non - farmed raised catfish are scavengers they will eat
*anything* and will thus often taste muddy (same with carp). I grew up by
the Mississippi River and the fish markets by the river would put the cats
they caught into big tanks for a few days to "sweeten" them up, e.g. they
would feed them cornmeal or whatever and also constantly change the water in
order to help purge them of some of their "impurities"...only then would
they be offered for sale.

Farm - raised are far cleaner and better tasting, thus their
popularity...before farm - raised became widely available catfish were often
looked upon as "trash" fish, and often for good reason.

Go he

http://www.catfishinstitute.com/

--
Best
Greg