Spring is starting to give way to summer and that is a sure recipe for excitement among catfish anglers in the Volunteer State. Although catfish can be caught all year long, they have always held the distinction of being a summertime pursuit. Summer is a good time to catch a mess of catfish, but far from the only time of year catfish bite well. Perhaps their summertime reputation is partly because many other species of fish become much harder to catch when the weather turns muggy or maybe it's simply because more people are out fishing in the summer. Regardless of the reason, every whiskerfish angler in the state knows that great catfishing is at hand right now.

Whether you prefer fishing from boat or bank, there are some tremendous opportunities for catfishing in Tennessee. Not only do the large rivers and reservoirs have great natural populations of catfish, but the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has done a great job of stocking supplemental fish into numerous smaller locations across the state, as well as adroitly managing our natural catfish fisheries.

There are three main species of catfish of interest to Tennessee anglers. The most popular is obviously the channel catfish. It is the most widespread with distribution from small farm ponds to the largest of reservoirs and river systems. It is also the most readily caught, as it will bite a wide variety of bait ranging from a multitude of live offerings to all forms of purchased or homemade stink baits. Channel cats are most frequently caught in what is known as fiddler size, but they can weigh upwards of 30 pounds, as evidenced by our 41-pound state record.

The largest of our whiskerfish is the blue catfish. It is the true giant of the catfish with fish commonly weighing between 40 and 60 pounds. Of course, they can get much larger. Our state-record blue cat weighed 112 pounds and the world record weighed 124 pounds. Blue cats can be caught on similar baits as channel cats, but most of the biggest specimens are duped with live bait or large pieces of cut bait.

The last of our big three is the hardest to catch. Flathead catfish aren't frequently caught on the usual smelly catfish baits as are channel cats. Instead, they are a very adept ambush predator and prefer live bait, such as bluegills or minnows. Their distribution, habitat preferences and feeding habits make them more of challenge than the former two species. However, flatheads can grow quite large and are tremendous fighters when hooked. Our largest ever caught in Tennessee weighed an impressive 85 pounds, 15 ounces.

Regardless of your preference of species or angling method, there are ample locations for great fishing nearby. Following is a look, from east to west, at some of our best catfishing opportunities across the state this year.

EAST REGION
The western end of the state gets a lot of publicity for its great catfishing, but there are some mighty good catfish holes over in the eastern end as well. One of the better locations is at Douglas Lake, between Knoxville and Greeneville. An impoundment of the French Broad River, Douglas is 30,400 acres and pretty fertile for a mountain lake.

The lake holds a really decent population of channel catfish, but anglers can also stumble onto good flatheads and blues as well. Some of the best summer fishing occurs in the lower end of the lake, but good cats can also be caught in the upper end during spring and fall. Even up into the French Broad River can be good at times.