guess it's a matter of opinion on fileting it.. i mean i know it can be done... but it really is a pain in the ass on smaller fish... we (me and my grandpa) never really caught big fish around here... there were a few times, liek the catfish pictured above... a 15lb or so redfish and 12 poundish stripped drum... but mostly we only catch 1-3lb catfish and kroakers.... and he always said it was too much work to filet such a small fish, so it's how i got used to it...

of course later on i tried, and did agree.. lol it's too much work for me atleast