Bullheads

[DR.SPECKLER]

you guys eat them caught 5 last nite gave them to my buddy he says there good thru the ice. looked like they would have some meat on them.

[swampbuckster]

They are tasty. You can leave their skin on too. Alot of meat comes off those fatties. I just filet 'em up like anything else. Just scrape the slime away from the skin or you'll get a bad lake taste to them.

[fisher2hunter]

ive never eatin a bullhead maybe if catch another one ill try it. but i heard they werent good to eat because they are bottom feeders like carp.

[edddieo]

ive never eatin a bullhead maybe if catch another one ill try it. but i heard they werent good to eat because they are bottom feeders like carp.

come on you never ate a bullhead and you call yourself a fisherman roll them in flour fry in butter 

[basskiller46]

ive never eatin a bullhead maybe if catch another one ill try it. but i heard they werent good to eat because they are bottom feeders like carp.

I read this thing from the dnr website that carp are a pretty healthy fish in some lakes

[snot rocket]

bullhead are yummy!!!

             Snot Rocket

[flagup#1]

they are my favorite fish to eat.  Once you learn how to skin them properly you can clean them in less than a minute.  No hidden bones and sweet tasting meat.  If I'm going to eat my catch they are what I target!

[copperjohn]

We used to have a bull head tree in the back yard.  Dad would nail their heads to the tree and pull the skins off with plyers.  Quite the site seeing 20-30 2-5 lb bulls nailed to that old cottonwood.  There were always a few swimmin around in the horse trough to eat the skeeters and they lasted forever.  Tasted pretty much like catfish.  Little eggwash, seasoned cornmeal, hot grease and you've got a great meal.

[WYIfish]

I read this thing from the dnr website that carp are a pretty healthy fish in some lakes

We always fished the Big Manistee every spring for 30 years, eat all the suckers we could catch; can some, fry some of the bony things, smoke the rest. I have more issues with monosodium glutamate and high fructose corn syrup today than any effects of eating too many bottom feeders. I probably got more lead poisoning from swallowing the 7 1/2 lead shot in birds and squirrels.  To a degree, some of the DNR fish scare is to protect from people fishing too much more so than eating to many fish....oops, can't fish tuesday we ate a mess of fish Saturday... :embarassed:
WYIfish          ........because I catch 'um.

[marshrat]

YUM YUM my grand pa Loves to eat them his favorite fish by far I really enjoy eating them too but like all fish I like to catch them more then eat them.

[BlueDuck]

Bullheads are good fried and one of the best fish to smoke...

[slabcrab]

Bullheads?  Awesome eating!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PACKMAN241982]

I have a spot that I have done very well with the bullheads this year thru the ice. There not what im fishing for but im glad to see them on the line. They are damn good eating and even put up some struggle.

[hardh2ofish]

Certainly I eat them, though depending on where they are caught.  Heads caught from our muddy muck bottom reclaim pits taste like mud, but heads we caught from rivers and harder gravelly or rocky bottom lakes were very good to eat.  Back in college we had a river spot below a big rocky rifle where we would catch nice cats but sometimes the bullheads would be in there thick.  Four or five of us could catch a hundred or more.  Score the skin just behind the head and peel off with some fish skinnin pliers then fillet.  Then all you need is a fish cooker and a keg o beer  Late comers were in danger of not gettin any fish  They learned that when the call came in they better come runnin or they were only gonna show up in time to get drunk  Funny thing was they would ask what they were eating, shrug and say 'oh well, this is good stuff!'  We fed em a lot of bullheads and buffalo wed shot bowfishin with no complaints

[DR.SPECKLER]

Going fishing tonite i get any of them i will fry em up.you leave the skin on them or do you pull it off with pliers?

[flagup#1]

Going fishing tonite i get any of them i will fry em up.you leave the skin on them or do you pull it off with pliers?

This is tricky to explain but very easy to do.  I cut across the top of the fish down to the backbone right behind the top fin.  Then I cut the skin along the backbone perpendicular from the first cut for about 1 - 2 inches.  Then bend the fish so that the backbone snaps and starts to come up through the cuts that you made.  You just keep forcing the meat up through the cuts and the skin just peels off.  You can clean bullheads in less than a minute.

[MarkC1958]

This is tricky to explain but very easy to do.  I cut across the top of the fish down to the backbone right behind the top fin.  Then I cut the skin along the backbone perpendicular from the first cut for about 1 - 2 inches.  Then bend the fish so that the backbone snaps and starts to come up through the cuts that you made.  You just keep forcing the meat up through the cuts and the skin just peels off.  You can clean bullheads in less than a minute.

I used to watch my uncle slit around the head and pull the skin with pliers.  Is that still done?

[edddieo]

I used to watch my uncle slit around the head and pull the skin with pliers.  Is that still done?

yes cut a slit around head grab skin with your teeth and pull hard

[MnSportsman]

I used to watch my uncle slit around the head and pull the skin with pliers.  Is that still done?

That's the way I still do it. We skin small cats(< catfish LOL) like that also. Basically...,Gut, slice, put head on nail in a board, give skin a tug, rinse, & there it is..
 Suppers ready!

This would be a good place to post a teaching video on it , if someone has the ability & time to make it...

[DR.SPECKLER]

Caught  3 last night with a few gills nailed um to a board took skin off with pliers got lots of meat off them. Im gonna be eating bullhead tonite!

[Countryboydtx]

taste like catfish.....

[lcrep2000]

Bull heads are very good out of cold water, Bread them like aperch opr wally and munch away.

[Fish_Tko]

I have eaten a few bullheads, but it would be quite a ways down on the list of fish targeted for the table.

i have stuck my hand in many of flathead and channel cat mouths, but i would rather walk on busted glass than insert a finger in the mouth of healthy sized bullhead. wow, can they clamp down.

[Bgreen02]

Best to get the bullheads that are just big enough to keep. They aren't as fat and full of crap. I've eaten a big fat catfish before and then a smaller one and you can notice a difference.

[jimmyclaude]

They are tasty. You can leave their skin on too. Alot of meat comes off those fatties. I just filet 'em up like anything else. Just scrape the slime away from the skin or you'll get a bad lake taste to them.

I have never heard of any one leaving the skin on when cooking. I have eaten more heads than any other fish. Any one else have tried this.
 cold clear water heads are the best... just makes sense if you fish at the sewage treatment plant your catch is probably going to have a certain marinade flavor to it.

[MnSportsman]

....just makes sense if you fish at the sewage treatment plant your catch is probably going to have a certain marinade flavor to it.

LOL

[bigfoot697]

pull the skin off then fillet them from just below the ribs back to the tail. in cleaner lakes, you can eat the fillet from the head back. remember the area around the backbone is where all the nasty parts of this fish are. try and cut all the blood looking part of the fillet out, the meat will taste awhole lot better.

[jimmyclaude]

Thought I would post my catch from a few weeks ago... got four trouts also

[edddieo]

Thought I would post my catch from a few weeks ago... got four trouts also
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nice  is it true you can speer bullheads up around oswego ?

[jayswimmer09]

nice stringer of bullheads!!