I LOVE fried catfish with alot of spicy seasoning.
I'm from Maryland and I moved to Florida in 1990 to 1991 for almost 2 years. Everyone down there ate catfish but I was afraid to eat it cuz I thought it would taste gamey.
But I tried it then and it's GREAT. I eat it all the time now. Love it batter dipped/fried with fries or mashed potattoes.
catfish just has a great taste to it, I only like it fried in flour or breadcrumbs, does not have the taste of bass which is a bit gamley or Bluegill/perch.
I lived in Arkansas,lousianna,missouri and missispippi for a bit and always loved it when they had cook outs with fried catfish/shirp/chicken and crawdads( those mini lobsters)