Photo by Ron Sinfelt

To most folks, catfish don't inspire much admiration. They're great on a dinner plate with a side of hushpuppies, for sure. And no one could dispute the fact that they're among the fightingest fish in fresh water. But there's really nothing special about a catfish, right?

Well, guess again, friend. Catfish are among the most extraordinary animals on earth. More than 2,200 species swim the waters of the world (about 8 percent of the total number of fishes). They're found on every continent except Antarctica and comprise what many fish scientists consider the most diverse group of fishes on earth.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about catfish is their astounding sensory abilities. No fish have more finely honed senses of taste, touch, smell and hearing to keep them attuned to their environment. In fact, the sensory abilities of catfish are like something out of Ripley's Believe It or Not.

TASTE
A catfish just 6 inches long has more than a quarter-million taste buds on its body. On a giant blue cat or flathead . . . well, who knows? No one wants to count.

The mouth and gill rakers are packed with taste buds, and the sensory organs cover the outside of the catfish as well - the whiskers, fins, back, belly, sides and even the tail. If you were a catfish, you could taste a slice of pizza just by sitting on it.

"Catfish are swimming tongues," says Dr. John Caprio of Louisiana State University. "You can't touch any place on a catfish without touching thousands of taste buds. To use an analogy, it's as if the tip of your tongue grew out and covered your body."

Caprio, a neurophysiologist, has studied what fish taste and smell since 1971. His research has given him extraordinary insights into catfish feeding behavior, insights that can help you understand what makes catfish bite.

SMELL
"The catfish's sense of smell is equally keen," says Caprio. "Catfish can smell some compounds at one part to 10 billion parts of water."

Water flows over folds of highly sensitive tissue inside the catfish's nostrils, allowing the fish to detect certain substances in its environment. The number of these folds seems related to sharpness of smell. Channel cats have more than 140. Rainbow trout have only 18, and largemouth bass have just eight to 13.

Many catfish anglers believe smelly baits are best for catfish, but Caprio disputes this.

"Most anglers think horrible-smelling baits work best," he notes. "But that's crazy. What stinks to you doesn't stink to fish. You're smelling chemicals volatilized to the air, but animals living in water can't detect them. They detect chemical compounds in the water. What you're smelling, fish can't smell."