May 04, 2015
By Keith Sutton
It's a tough job picking a select group of states that provide the best opportunities for hooking whiskerfish because there are so many good ones from which to choose.
Some are happiest when they can catch and release a trophy blue cat or flathead. Others just want to catch catfish — big or small; channel, blue or flathead;Â many catfish fans consider an ideal fishing trip one where they can fill a stringer with eating-size channel cats; it doesn't really matter. It's the fun of catching them that counts.
The ideal solution, it seems, would be including states that together offer a wide variety of catfishing opportunities. Some encompass rivers or lakes well known for producing trophy-sized fish: 20-plus-pound channel cats, flatheads topping 50 and blues that may weigh 75 pounds or more.
Others have earned well-deserved reputations for fast action, with the likelihood that savvy anglers can hook and lands dozens of smaller but fun-to-catch pole benders in waters ranging from little ponds and city lakes to huge reservoirs and rivers.
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Fortunately, most allow anglers to take their pick: going geared up for monsters or choosing instead to target smaller, more plentiful cats destined for the fish fryer.
If your favorite state doesn't appear on my list, don't consider it an affront. While the title says "10 Best Catfishing States," that doesn't mean that other states don't offer great opportunities for catching these popular sportfish.
It is, though, a top 10 list, so 10 it must be. And without doubt, the following states serve up blue-ribbon catfishing opportunities that should keep any angler happy, regardless of their goals.
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Alabama Alabama tops the list of must-visit states for many big-cat aficionados. In recent years, waters like Wheeler, Wilson and Pickwick lakes"http://www.gameandfishmag.com/fishing/catfish/how-to-catch-catfish-secrets-of-landing-monster-blues-flatheads/" target="_blank">Big flatheads and channel cats are abundant in many waters, too. Other hotspots include Eufaula, Guntersville, Mitchell and Neely Henry lakes, plus the Coosa and Tombigbee rivers. When it's eaters you want, head for"http://www.in-fisherman.com/catfish/top-10-catfish-recipes/" target="_blank">table fish .
Arkansas Arkansas waters are stocked with millions of catfish annually by the state
Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) . As a result, anglers fishing for dinner can drop a line in nine state park lakes, 18 Forest Service lakes, more than 40 AGFC lakes and 16 Corps of Engineers impoundments and expect to go home with a mess of eaters.
Trophy blues and flatheads are abundant, too, particularly in big rivers like the Mississippi where TV fishing personality Bill Dance caught this 83-pound blue in the summer of 2012 (He caught a 110-pounder nearby the same year!) For trophy flatheads, Lake Conway in Faulkner County, brimming with 50- to 80-pounders, is hard to beat.
Blues near or exceeding the century mark have been caught in Lake Ouachita, the White River and the Arkansas River. A 51-pound channel cat, one of the biggest ever recorded, surfaced in 300-acre Lake Wilhelmina in Polk County.
Mississippi Mississippi is home to some giants, as this photo of an 80.5-pound blue caught in the Mississippi River at Tunica by tournament anglers Daryl Masingale and Jeff Dodd will attest.
The mighty Mississippi, a trophy-catfish factory running 410 miles along the state's western border, produced both the state-record blue (95 pounds) and flathead (77.7 pounds), while 182-acre Lake Tom Bailey Lake just east of Meridian gave up the record channel cat, which weighed an astounding 51.8 pounds. You can put your finger on nearly any blue spot on the map and pinpoint hotspots for great action.
Top reservoirs include Ross Barnett, Pickwick, Grenada, Enid, Sardis and Arkabutla. Small lakes that stand out from the rest include Oktibbeha County, Washington, Percy Quin State Park, Roosevelt State Park, Okhissa and Eagle. Among many outstanding rivers are the Big Black, Homochitto, Pascagoula, Pearl, Tenn-Tom and Yazoo.
Missouri Missouri encompasses some of the nation's best catfishing waters, a fact that accounts for it being our number-two catfishing state (behind Texas) with half a million anglers. Top-flight rivers, all with the potential to produce record-class cats, include the Mississippi, Grand, Osage and Missouri.
The latter produced the 64-pound blue pictured here, caught by anglers Reggie and Rick Gebhardt, and a 130-pound former world-record blue.
Hotspots for abundant eating-size cats and occasional trophies include Pony Express, Che-Ru and Jamesport Community lakes in the northwest part of the state; Green City, Unionville City, Hunnewell and Mark Twain lakes in the northeast; Truman and Montrose lakes and the Elk River in the southwest; and Wappapello Lake and the St. Francis River in the southeast.
Nebraska Nebraska,like Illinois, isn't highly touted for its great catfishing opportunities, but virtually all of the state's lakes and rivers harbors healthy populations of blue, flathead and/or channel catfish. Opportunities range from waters promising high numbers of dinner-sized fish (Harlan, Swanson and Branched Oak reservoirs are great) to those offering excellent odds of taking a trophy (the Missouri and Platte rivers are two good examples).
Of special note is a lake considered to be among the best trophy channel cat waters in the country. Merritt Reservoir (2,900 acres) near Valentine churns out 18- to 25-pounders — some bigger — year-round for savvy anglers.
You can catch these giants from the shore or from a boat, and you can go there on any given day and expect to catch lots of them. Other top spots for trophy channel cats include Calamus, Wagon Train, Pawnee, Wildwood and Box Butte reservoirs.
Ohio Anglers have been landing some monster cats in recent years, putting the
Buckeye State in the spotlight as one of the country's top destinations for catfish fans. In the Ohio River, blue cats to 100 pounds or more always are possible, and 50-pound-plus fish have become increasingly common.
The river is a mother lode of nice channel cats and flatheads, too. The state DNR's top five picks for numbers of channel cats are lakes Loramie, Milton, Berlin, Deer Creek and Beaver Creek. For channel cats over 20 inches, the recommendations are lakes LaDue, Mosquito, Milton, Cowan and Atwood.
Giant flatheads swim Ohio waters, too, like the Buckeye giant pictured here that was caught and released by angler Robby Robinson. Hotspots include the Muskingum and Maumee rivers, particularly the Devola, Marietta, Stockport and Beverly pools on the Muskingum.
Tennessee Tennessee is definitely a hotspot for catfish of all sorts, with prime waters spread out across more than 400 miles from Memphis to Chattanooga. Included are some of the country's top blue cat holes like the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, where triple-digit fish always are possible. The 100-pound-plus monster pictured here was caught and released in the Mississippi by Matt Bingham.
Flatheads inhabit the big rivers, too, with topnotch fishing in dam tailwaters on the Cumberland and Tennessee, and in other first-rate honeyholes like the Hiwassee, Obion, Hatchie, Buffalo, Duck and Harpeth rivers. Waters well known for their abundant channel cats are Reelfoot, Old Hickory, J. Percy Priest, Woods and Douglas lakes, plus the 18 small lakes in the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency's Family Fishing Lakes program
Texas 1 million catfish anglers have no problem finding waters where big whiskerfish abound. Trophy channel cat producers include Lake Amistad and the Brazos and Colorado rivers. Lakes Livingston, Tawakoni and Palestine are among the Lone Star State's many blue-ribbon flathead waters, with
Tawakoni gaining notoriety in 2013 when three teams at a
Cabela's King Kat tournament brought in five-fish limits exceeding 200 pounds, including the winners of the event with a tournament record 239.8 pounds. Reservoirs well known for giving up big double-digit blues include Conroe, Sam Rayburn, Lake Fork, Gibbons Creek and Texoma.
Texoma on the Texas/Oklahoma border, one of the largest reservoirs in the country at 89,000 acres, is considered by many to be best of the best because that's where
Cody Mullenix caught Splash (pictured here), a 121.5-pound, former world record blue cat
Illinois Illinois doesn't get the attention it deserves as a top destination for catfishing. But great fishing abounds in waters statewide, from the Mississippi River in the west to the Ohio in the east.
These two particular rivers don't get the pressure seen on most Deep South waters, so they're hotbeds for trophy-sized blues, flatheads and channel cats. Other topnotch rivers for trophies and eating-size fish include the Kaskaskia, Illinois, Fox and Rock.
For excellent yet often overlooked flat-water action, try Carlye, Rend, Canton, Springfield, South Spring and Governor Bond lakes. The latter, near Greenville, produced this 54-pound flathead for local angler Joshua Adkins.
South Carolina South Carolina has been a top catfishing destination for decades, thanks primarily to the storied fishing on the Santee-Cooper Lakes, Marion and Moultrie.
Some say these legendary waters have seen their heyday, but
trophy-class blues and flatheads continue being caught there, like the 72-pound blue pictured here, caught by anglers Chad and Kevin Davis, and a 94-pound blue caught in the Santee-Cooper Diversion canal in April 2015. Marion and Moultrie aren't the only good Palmetto State catfish waters, however.
During the past two year, places like Lake Monticello, Lake Murray, Lake Wateree and Lake Hartwell produced catfish of definitive trophy proportions, including 97- and 82-pound blues landed in Monticello. If a cooler full of eaters with a chance at an occasional trophy is your goal, you can take your pick of dozens of places, including Clarks Hill, Greenwood, Jocassee, Murray Wateree and Wylie lakes and the Congaree, Santee, Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers.
