Normally when i pan-fry fish I use a breading of some sort… but over the summer I tried something different.
Drop 1/8 stick butter into a frying pan and brown, then add 1 coarsely chopped onion. Saute till the edges of the onion just start to show some brown. Then push the onions aside and add a bit more butter and drop a couple catfish fillets in the pan. I have a 12″ cast-iron pan and I can do both fillets from a 3# catfish at a time. I prefer to start with the skin-side down too, so the fish doesn’t curl as bad.
Push the onions back over the top of the fish and set a timer for 4 minutes. DO NOT TOUCH THE FISH! 
@ 4 minutes, push the onions aside again and flip the fish, hit it with a heavy sprinkle of italian herbs (aka “Italian seasoning” — dried basil, marjoram, thyme and oregano), push those onions back on top of the fish and leave for another 4 minutes.
I usually do one fillet for me and one for my wife, each right from the pan to the plate, with half the onions on each. She prefers if I fish the lateral line out before I serve it, and I like to scrape off the yucky brown fatty bits (and I pull the lateral line out while I’m at it).
This recipe can be expanded to fit whatever size fish/pan you have, but one normal-sized onion is perfect for one 2-3# catfish.
The best part is that once you’re done, the house does NOT smell like someone was cooking fish, it smells like someone was cooking something really freaking tasty!
