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I have a recipe I would like to try that includes instant polenta as part of the breading (coating) for some fish.  I can't find anything in my little town that is called that.  I can find polenta (dry - Bob's Red Mill and the stuff in the tube that is flavored), corn meal, corn grits, corn flour --- and also  -  medium stone ground - course stone ground (grits).    Any thoughts on an appropriate substitution?

I have used cornmeal to bread fish, or I should say part flour and part cornmeal and it works well. I find it interesting that you couldn't find instant polenta. I was trying to find regular polenta the  other day and all I could find was instant! (And the polenta in the tube).

once I had polenta breaded fish in a restaurant and it didn't work; the coarse ground corn didn't absorb moisture so you tasted the granular corn rather than the fish.  Since polenta is one of many grinds of dent corn you can use a fine or even a medium ground cornmeal.  You're only cook the fish 10 minutes per inch so the smaller particle would make a crusty and tasty crust.  Think a pan fried trout cooked over a campfire that is located near a stream.

I've used the Bob's Red Mill polenta to coat fish and it works well. It's great on black cod where the crunchiness of the polenta accentuates the silkiness of the fish. Dip the fish in milk or an egg white and water mixture, then in the polenta.

Could instant polenta be pre-cooked ?

I think it is pre-cooked, just like instant grits or instant cream of wheat.  That's why it cooks so quickly.  If you can't find any where you live, you can probably order it on Amazon.  You can use polenta as a base (like rice) for other dishes -- one of my favorites is from Marcella Hazan, a hunter's style stew of pork, porcini and juniper berries.  Very yummy, especially in winter!  But you can also fry cooked, congealed polenta -- either in slices or in sticks like french fries!  It's bland, but versatile!