During a recent chat with my neighbor, Mike, and his father-in-law, Ken, we talked about catfish. Ken's a beef farmer, owns a septic tank business and is a hard working fellow. Somehow, he found the time to do some catfishing and landed a few.

Being a farmer, Ken isn't afraid of a challenge and isn't likely to waste any food resource. However, he went on to tell me that he had a heck of a time cleaning those catfish.

He also told me that he and his wife, Mary, thought the catfish was delicious — even after all that work.

Knowing people, something tells me that most will not go through the test of patience that Ken endured, so I thought that I would share a few ideas to help you with a fish fry.

Catching catfish can be as easy as putting a worm out in a farm pond. From chicken liers to livebait, many catfish are caught on a variety of baits. There isn't much that a catfish won't try to eat.

There are commercial baits that claim they will bring a fish to your net every time. Those baits can be very smelly, so beware of handling them without gloves or hand wash.

Pennsylvania catfish are known technically as the bullhead catfishes. There are 13 species in the state and can range from a few inches to 4 feet long.

For our purposes, only these species will be our focus for sport fishing: the channel catfish, the bullheads (brown, black and yellow) and the flathead catfish. All of these species are common in the waters in and around Butler County.

The channel cat is the most sought-after catfish at Lake Arthur and generally is a handsome fish that will hit bait and lures. The channel cat can weigh 15 pounds or more, is slate gray and has black spots with a distinctive forked tail.

Catching them is one thing, but what do you do with them if you want some great table fare?

You have to skin them and fillet them, and it's not a job that most people relish. They also are available at most grocery stores ready to prepare.

But if you are adventurous, here are easy step-by-step instructions that can help you.

• First, cut lightly through the skin in a ring below the head area.

• Remove the dorsal fin (back) and the ventral fin (stomach) and cut toward the head.

• Make a slight cut in the skin at the head near the ring cut and, using pliers, pull the skin toward the tail.

• Using a sharp knife, work the fillets away from the backbone slicing carefully.

• Trim and wash fillets in cool water, drain them and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Catfish can be prepared hundreds of ways and recipes are numerous for fried, baked, grilled, broiled and sautéed variations. The top choice is fried, and I'll share an easy recipe from the U.S. Catfish Institute.

2 tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro2 tablespoons of canola oil1 tablespoons of minced fresh ginger1 clove of minced garlic.Catfish fillets (four nice ones),1 cup of flour1 cup of vegetable oil for fryingSalt and pepper to tastePlace the fillets in a shallow bowl, pour the mixed marinade over the fish and refrigerate overnight. (Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or you'll have a pungent spice odor hanging out in your fridge.)Remove fillets from the marinade and drain excess before coating with flour.In a medium-high skillet, heat the vegetable oil and fry the fish 3 minutes on each side until golden brown and fish flakes easily.