This may be the TWRA's best destination for anglers who want to catch a mixed bag. While blue and channel catfish are the featured species, old-timers tell stories about flatheads, too. Hensley also verified that anglers occasionally weigh in albino blue catfish, and she's even hooked into one that she estimated at 3 1/2 to 4 feet long.

Summertime hotspots in this clear, 100-acre lake include the deep holes on either side of the lake's levee, Hensley said. She also points newcomers to a creek that divides a bed of lily pads directly across the lake from her store. Creek channels that average 8 to 16 feet deep and the creek near the boat ramp are also productive. There's plenty of shoreline access for bank-anglers, too, Hensley said.

Carroll Lake lies along State Highway 22 in northern Carroll County, about four miles east of McKenzie. To reach it from Interstate 40, get on Highway 22 at exit 108 and follow it for 20 miles. For more information, call the lake concession store at (731) 352-3133.

GIBSON COUNTY LAKE
This newest TWRA Family Fishing Lake is unique because it's large enough to accommodate recreational boating and those who want to focus on fishing. Anglers have a 200-acre, fishing-only zone and share the other 360 acres with swimmers, personal watercraft and other recreational boaters. Opened to the public in 2003 and already full of catchable-sized fish, Gibson County Lake is about five miles east of Trenton off Vaughn's Grove Road in the east-central portion of its namesake county.

"It's a good, clear lake with lots of old trees and deeper structure" that make it easy for novice boaters to navigate, said Kathy Gordon, who operates the lakeside concession. "In the summertime, the fishing will be heavy with 2- to 6-pound catfish."

Local anglers do best with turkey liver, "which holds on to the hook better than chicken liver, and the fish don't pull it off as easy," Gordon explained. Some of the best areas for blue and channel cats include the first main-lake point to the left of the boat ramp and the deep water near the levee. Watch for the large, prominent stump there, too: Hungry catfish congregate near it. For more information, call the lakeside store at (731) 855-2990.

DAVY CROCKETT LAKE
Once known as Humboldt Lake, Davy Crockett Lake proves that good things come in small packages. At 87 acres, it's one of the smallest TWRA Family Fishing destinations, but it produces outsized blue, channel and flathead catfish and has served western Tennessee families for more than 50 years.

You can expect to catch whiskerfish in the 3- to 30-pound range here, according to John Curtis, who works at the nearby Humboldt Hatchery, where the TWRA raises catfish for stocking in all the lakes reviewed here. A 68-pound blue cat set the lake record, and Curtis reasons that this small fishery produces so many huge catfish because they gorge on plentiful bluegills.

During August weekdays, drifting turkey livers under jugs is the most popular tactic on Davy Crockett, Curtis reported. (Jug-fishing is prohibited on some summer weekends and holidays, however.) Along the lake's most prominent feature -- a large peninsula that divides the water into two long arms -- you'll find steep banks and the deep water that catfish crave.