Upcoming UK TV Gordon Ramsey

[Richard B]

Probably interesting (or not) to UK folks...

Gordon Ramsey was interviewed on Radio 1 on Friday morning & one of the things he revealled was that in a couple of shows time (It's "the F word" i think on at the moment) he goes noodling for catfish. From what he said i think they're NA ictalurids. Apparently they go diving & block up the exit holes to the 'tunnels' then grab the fish by the head, (thumb through the gills) pull them out, stick the tail end between their legs to stop them thrashing around & you've got your fish - he said they were massive (probably not that big in relation to the wels).

It'll probably only be a brief slot but could be quite interesting, then what'll he do with it? Grill, saute, broil, deep-fry?

[Birger]

In the states it is generally is the flathead catfish,

Pylodictis olivaris

They grow to a length of 155 cm (61 in) and may weigh up to 56 kg (123 lbs).
No, not as big as the Wels but when someone has it by the mouth still a fair size.

The Argungu Fishing Festival in northern Nigeria is perhaps the biggest noodling contest in the world
On the final day of the festival, a competition is held in which thousands of men and women line up along the river and at the sound of a gun shot, all of them jump into the river and have an hour to catch the largest fish. The winner can take home as much as 7,500 US dollars. Competitors are only allowed to use traditional fishing tools and many prefer to catch fish entirely by hand (a practice also popular elsewhere and known as "noodling" in the United States) to demonstrate their prowess.

It would be interesting to see what they would pull up in Nigeria

Birger

[Richard B]

I shudder to think if it turned out to be a 5 foot

Heterobranchus longifilis

or a 3 foot electric cat - ouch!

[andywoolloo]

i like Gordon Ramsey! But what they do to the catfish sounds mean! Put their thumb in his gill and tuck his head between his tail?? Dude!! Ouch!!