Maybe there are subspecies in different regions of the country with different feeding behaviors, but here nobody would touch catfish other than poor people and most often black poor people. Trash fish just like carp, that’s what I always heard, until farm-raised catfish started entering the market.
Personally I wouldn’t give a plug nickle for any farm raised catfish. Knowing how to clean a catfish, what to keep and what to throw away makes all the difference in the taste. never keep any of the belly flap beneath the rib cage and it is a must to fillet out the blood line down the middle of the fillet. When I do a fish fry using catfish, everyone is amazed at how good it is.