I was wondering about this as a possible future income for myself in the country. I would think it could be done nearly everywhere, but am asking for your input if you have (1) seen it done successfully; (2) are currently doing it; (3) done it, said to heck with it; too much trouble.

Imagine living in an area far removed from large population centers (30 miles plus), and living on some acreage. The nearby area would have widely dispersed population of ranchers, and oil field workers. We also have some long distance truckers going through this route. I wonder if having a catfish pond, and selling processed fillets on the roadside would draw a crowd?

I have a few oil field workers in my family. They tell me that they work LONG hours, and when done have boredom to deal with when off their shift. Come to think of it, ranchers have the same schedule, at least sometimes. Both groups don't have a large choice of restaurants to go to out there; fresh fish fillets that they could cook at home sure would be nice every now again. The nearest place they could fish is at least one hour (60 miles) car trip, assuming you are going to catch something to begin with.

Could this work? I'm looking at a situation where a roadside stand, with fillets stored in coolers loaded with ice. If nothing else, the family sure would have something to eat. Your input please.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), December 11, 2001

Answers

Response to Anyone have a business like this?

I would buy from you! I live in western Oklahoma and do not have a good source of fresh catfish. What ponds we do have are privately owned and we don't have lakes close by to go fishing. I would love to be able to stop at a reliable stand and purchase fresh filets. If I remember correctly, you live in southwest Texas? You probably don't have that many fishing ponds either. I say Go for it! Good luck!

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), December 11, 2001.

Response to Anyone have a business like this?

Guess what your biggest problem would be, this stinking Gov't that thinks it has to control everything, the health Dept. in particular requires an inspection of your plant for butchering and holding for sale.They have restrictions on how much you handle before they care,if you sell them whole they view that differently. Or you could provide them to just family and friends, Check it out, I'm going to start with turkeys while I build my ponds for bass and cats and I had a smoke fish business in S. Cal for a while. These agencies are a real pain. People were looking out for themselves long before we got so civilized it was safe for the the civil servants to jump in and tell us how to do things.

-- raymond l gray (rorlgray@graytv.com), December 11, 2001.

Response to Anyone have a business like this?

A guy in my area has a hatchery and he says it's very hard to make money with cleaned fish. Takes too much time and you can't get enough $$ to justify it. What about letting the folks fish in the pond themselves and clean their own fish? They would get the pleasure of doing the fishing closer to where they are located and you don't have to deal with gov't on the whole meat issue? Just an idea.

-- Stacey (stacey@lakesideinternet.com), December 11, 2001.

Response to Anyone have a business like this?

I believe Stacey has the answer. Charge 'em by the pound (in the round, ie the whole fish) or charge 'em by the hour. Latter could get dicey if you have a true nimrod. Maybe by the hour PLUS the pound would work. Where are you? I may be interested in stopping by, and trading for lobsters and clams! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), December 11, 2001.

Response to Anyone have a business like this?

I have seen this before!! Yep some guy up in PA (i forget exactly where) charges folks a flat rate to get to fish at his stocked pond- its visible from the road (passersby can see folks relaxing and fishin) and seemed to do a darn good business- cars were always there.

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), December 11, 2001.

I sold a truck to a Gentleman who caught catfish in a local river and sold them whole to a couple resturants. When he came to pick up his Tag he had several coolers full of Catfish and gave me some and they were great. I know he was retired and fishing as a supplemental income. He bought a Late model truck from us sohe must be making a few bucks.

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), December 11, 2001.

North of El Campo, Texas, is a catfish farm. They sell over a million pounds of live catfish a year.

Guess if you are thinking small scale operation, you have time to filet the fish.... then it might work, but dunno if it's cost effective on a small scale.

Have you priced fish food, etc? You need to do a business plan.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), December 11, 2001.

J R, there is a place in Marietta, OK (South Central, within 20 miles of the red river) out in the boondocks, so to speak, called McGehee's Catfish Restaurant. People come all the way from OKC to eat there. They started out as a hatchery, then let people come in and fish their stocked pond, but still didn't seem to be making money on the enterprise. They then heard of a restaurant in TX where they were growing and selling farm-raised catfish, and went to try it out.

That was 30 years or so ago, and they are still going strong. You eat fish, fries, hushpuppies, tomato relish and coleslaw, served family style, for about $10.00 a person. If the powers that be are going to be so restrictive on selling filets, you might as well jump in with both feet. You might even call them, you never know if they'll be willing to share a little friendly advice. You'd probably be far enough away from them so as not to be real competition.

Good Luck!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@aol.com), December 11, 2001.

You could always try selling them over the internet as a gormet item and ship them packed with ice. Check out how some of the lobster outfits do it. The extra markup for the gormet tag should compensate for the shipping and then some.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), December 12, 2001.

Let the customers fish and clean their catch and charge 'em by the pound? Hmmmmmm . . . very neat idea, I hadn't considered that option before. Thanks for that idea, Stacey!

Raymond and Christine: yes, my wife also thought about a little 'hole in the wall' restaurant, about six small tables and / or bar. I don't know anything about the restaurant business, but from what I hear from people who do, it is a VERY time consuming plan, definitely not a 9 - 5 job. The beuracracy (sp?), insane inspectors and regulation pretty much have convinced me to let the more ambitious tackle that one. And doggone it, Christine, you made me hungry with the menu description! Like the holiday season isn't getting to me, I think I am beginning to generate my own gravitational field, LOL!

Brad: The 'fishing hole' mentioned in original question is an impoundment of water (Falcon Lake) made from the Rio Grande River, the national border between Mexico / United States. It is about 70 miles up river from the mouth entering the Gulf of Mexico. Yeah, I live WAAAAAAY down there. Still lobster and clams sound good . . . how about salsa or tequila? :o)

I'm going to start looking into this; I live in town now, but sometime in future want to live out there in the boonies. Again, thank all of you for your ideas and comments.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), December 12, 2001.

and I forgot to add: Thanks Ken or Dave for fixing the title to the question (Selling Catfish Fillets); I should be more descriptive of my question in the title.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), December 12, 2001.

You could keep a few days supply alive in tank or large cooler and sell that way. People would know they are fresh and that would help sales. Sell whole fish and clean as a service if customer request it. Perhaps you could raise some crawfish in pond with your catfish.

-- ed (edfrhes@aol.com), December 12, 2001.

Hey j.r., I'm kinda late on some of these post. Just read yours and reminded me of a guy not to far away from me that sell catfish. You go to his house and he has about 3 big ponds right close by that he raises catfish in. He sells to resturants and the public.

The way he has his set up is you can buy them alive, whole with there heads and fins cut off, or fillets. It has been a while since I have visited him but at that time seems like his prices started out at $2.00/lb. for live cats, $2.25 for deheaded, and $2.50 for fillets. But it has been several years since I have been down there so I imagine the prices are quite a bit higher by now.(If he is still in business)

Good luck if you give it a try.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), January 08, 2002.

I had never seen a " Pay Lake " , which is where you pay by the hour to fish , or by the pound for the fish you catch , UNTIL i moved to indiana. They are everywhere. Even a couple of miles from downtown indianapolis. It must be good buisness.

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), February 17, 2002.