catfish in december

We have been in middle of arctic blast here in Livingston and while enjoying a warm fire the other day, I started to think about what I would eat for lunch.  I went to the freezer, serveyed my options, pulled out a bag of channel catfish filets that Gia and myself caught in the Missouri River this last July.

As the catfishes sizzled in Gia's favorite cast iron skillet, I reflected on how wonderful and often times overlooked this fantastic North American gamefish is. One of my earliest memories of fishing in the hot jungle-like conditions of South Carolina was of being rewarded with feisty and very good to eat channel catfish.  While most people associate catfish with Elvis and southern cuisine, Gia and I have found them everywhere we have travelled, minus Alaska. 

As I enjoyed my lunch of catfish and the snow flew outside, it reminded me of sunny days on southern streams with names like Withlacoochee, all the way to northern streams with names like Milk.