Summertime Catfishin'

Imagine a cast iron skillet suspended over a wood cook fire along a remote creek bank

- Luke Clayton

Cornmeal  coated catfish fillets sizzle in hot grease. There's something very special about that for me. I grew up on a little poultry farm in rural northeast Texas in the late 1950s. Every nine weeks, when the chickens sold, my dad and I loaded the old Model 50 International truck with trot lines, cane poles and camping gear and headed to a little lake in southeastern Oklahoma. There, we camped a couple of nights, caught and cooked catfish, and reveled in the time we had to spend in the outdoors. To this day, I can taste those catfish, recall those glorious summer days.

Much has changed since then, especially my knowledge of techniques for targeting catfish. As an outdoor writer for the past 40 years, I've fished with many catfish pros. I'd like to share a few of the tips I've learned from these folks, and maybe help you fill that skillet with tasty fillets this summer.

One big nose Fishing techniques for channel, blue and flathead catfish vary somewhat, but the one thing all catfish have in common is their ability to detect scent from a great distance. A veteran catfish guide, a buddy, describes catfish as being "one big nose." A fisheries biologist also tells me catfish can detect one part blood in several billion parts of water.

Catfish anglers are well known for having their favorite smelly baits and homemade concoctions. All catfish can be caught on bait as basic as a nightcrawler or piece of hotdog - sometimes but don't expect to load the boat with jumbosized blues or flatheads as long as a boat paddle with such offerings. One big nose is why freshly caught, oily, bloody baits like shad or skipjack cut open to release scent are so effective.

Let's focus on the individual species and some of the most productive methods of catching them.