The final tailwaters stretch for Simms is farther down the river, where he fishes much deeper holes of water.

"I seldom go more than a few miles down the river," he said. "But there are some places where the bottom depth will be fairly consistent, then drop into a deeper hole and come back up. These are prime places for catfish, especially really big catfish."

When Simms figures the fishing action will be more consistent on the lake, he makes his switch. The fishing style here is quite different, since he is now working the mainstream body of the lake.

"My preferred area on the lake is from the dam uplake about 16 miles to Soddy Creek," he said. "There are plenty of bottom contour changes in that stretch of lake for me to fish. I'll usually work the main river channel in depths from 25 feet deep all the way down to 70 feet of water. Plus, there are times when I'll fish the large area around the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant."

Simms said he will focus on any type of bottom contour in the river that breaks the current flow. He said examples include deep holes, creek or ditch junctions with the river channel, as well as any kind of hump or high spot.

"Sometimes, big boulders on the bottom are prime places to find big blues," he said. "What I key on is anything that breaks the current flow so the fish have a defined place to ambush prey."

When fishing the main river portion of the lake, Simms will still usually drift-fish. However, because of the depths and the "feel" required for this type fishing, he will use a three-way swivel rig with about 3 ounces of weight on the bottom of the rig.

"When fishing in the deeper water in the lake, feeling the bottom is important to my presentation," he said. "Using a heavy weight helps my clients maintain that necessary feel as the current drifts us along. The leader line with the hook is usually from 18 to 36 inches above the weight. When considering the average size catfish we hook, that range seems to work best. I have not really determined any need to get more specific than that. The bait needs to be near the bottom but does not have to be right on it."

The basic technique is to keep the bottom sinker thumping the bottom as the boat drifts over the targeted structure.

"As we work around an area, the bottom will be a constant depth for a while, then from one bump to the next it will drop a couple feet or more. That's when you are likely to get a bite from a big catfish."

There are good areas all along the lake, even uplake from Soddy Creek, Simms said. He just doesn't have a need to go any farther than that. One section that many fishermen focus on is the Harrison Bluff area.

"I really like this place for summertime fishing," he said. "First, there's deep water. Plus, there are a lot of obstructions on the bottom that will hold catfish in good numbers and big sizes. Again, the primary problem I see some anglers have here is they don't pay attention to the three P's."

A final spot that Simms fishes is the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant area.