Catfish have very sharp spines, so those gloves are necessary. If you go down to the Pike Street Market in Seattle you can buy catfish, and they'll offer to skin them for you before you leave. Take them up on their offer--they're professionals and catfish are hard to skin. I bought some to cook for a friend from North Carolina--but she grew up in the mountains and hadn't eaten catfish from down in the lowlands.

It is best when it is fried with bread crumbs or something that gives it that crisp outer crust. I wouldn't eat it very often, you get a lot of grease eating fish that way. But it does taste good. I still steer clear of hushpuppies, though. Never really cared for them.

SRS