[Augie]

I love a good mess of sucker fish. It is one of the best-tasting fish that swims in fresh water. We catch them in our Ozark streams on hook and line or by gigging. Scrape the scales off, remove the filet, then score from the flesh side down to the skin about 1/4" apart. Batter and deep fry. The scoring chops up the fine bones and they get soft when cooked so no getting stuck in your craw when you eat them.

The asian carp are tasty, but they're a serious nuisance to prepare for cooking, so I usually just bury them in my victory garden. They make great fertilizer.

Missouri Dept of Conservation has some good tips on how to prepare rough fish here:

Cooking Fish

[taterjay]

I am a prairie guy but married a gal from the Ozarks. I think her dad is the all time gigging master. We have caught, scaled, scored, cooked and eaten many suckers through the years. Yes, when they are pressured and canned the bones are softened and dissolved. We typically fry up patties, but father in law would open a jar and put the meat on a cracker. There is the Sucker Day in Nixa, MO. in mid May.