JULY
Watts Bar: Blue Catfish
Blue cats grow to mammoth proportions in Watts Bar Reservoir, and in late summer, the lake's biggest cats congregate in deep holes where they find thermal refuge and plenty of baitfish. A key to catching the big blues is getting out on the river when the Tennessee Valley Authority is running water through Fort Loudoun Dam and, ideally, Watts Bar dam. When the water is flowing, the blues bite well. When it's off, they tend to lie low and shut their mouths.

The best bait for big blues, without much question, is fresh-cut skipjack. Cut gizzard shad, threadfin shad or even large bait store minnows will work when no skipjack are available, but skipjack top the list. As for the best part of a skipjack, every big-cat specialist seems to have his own take on that one. Some say heads; others tails; others fillets; and still others guts.

Some anglers anchor near the heads of big holes, which are often found along major swings in the river channel, and cast heavy bottom rigs downstream to settle on the bottom. They put the rods in holders and wait on the cats to find the baits. Others opt to drift, using heavy three-way rigs and fishing vertically so that their weights tick the bottom and baits hover just off the bottom.

AUGUST
Center Hill: Smallmouth Bass
As the pleasure boaters are pulling out for the evening, bass fishermen in the know are just launching their boats on Center Hill. Deep and clear, Center Hill becomes difficult to fish by day through the middle of the summer. The bass move deep and turn pretty fussy while the sun is up.

They still have to eat, however, and at night they get active. Center Hill supports strong populations of all three major black bass species, and any given night's catch is apt to include any or all of the species. Still, it's the lake's fat smallmouth bass that make the after-hours approach really fun.

The best nighttime smallmouth fishing is generally found in the lower half of the lake over the tops of humps and points and off ends of islands. To be consistently productive at night, though, a shallow structural feature needs to be quite close to much deeper water. The fish begin moving shallower on the structure and getting more active during the evening. By the time the sky is black, they are apt to be very shallow. Black Neon YUM Craw Papis, single-blade spinnerbaits and blue or black bucktail jigs work nicely in the dark.

SEPTEMBER
Reelfoot: Largemouth Bass
September brings a hint of a break from summer's hottest days, and with the first glimmer of change comes fast bass-fishing action at Reelfoot Lake. The bass begin moving out of deeper water and herd up in big schools during September. That can lead to dynamite action when you find the schools, but the flipside is that when the fish are schooled up, they can't be scattered along every bank. It's best to get fresh direction from the helpful folks at the resorts.

Downed trees and grassy banks tend to hold a lot of bass during September. Spinnerbaits or square-billed crankbaits fished right through the thick stuff and bounced off the timber work well. The fish also will look up to feed in the fall and have trouble resisting a Strike King Rage Toad swam over vegetation and through other cover.

Reelfoot offers a bass everything it could ever want, with enormous amounts over wood, grass and pads and an abundance of shad and panfish to keep them very well fed. The bass, consequently, are generally stout, with plenty of 3- to 5-pound fish in the mix. Visit www.bluebankresort. com for more information.