James Patterson of Mississippi River Guide Service displays a nice flathead taken on the Mississippi River at Memphis, one of the nation's top destinations for big cats. Photo by Keith Sutton.

I felt like Huck Finn. I was bare-footed. A straw hat sat atop my head. A big paddle wheeler, the Delta Queen, was passing by on its way up the Mississippi River. And a catfish was nibbling on my line.

It was a hot summer night. A friend and I were fishing from a sandbar on a lonely stretch of West Tennessee's Mississippi River. A crescent moon painted a ribbon of silver light across the Father of Waters' broad, dark surface. We watched for an hour as the big cruise boat crept upstream, lit up like a courthouse square on Christmas Eve. From somewhere within her depths came the brassy sound of Dixieland jazz.

"There he is!"

We were both laid back comfortably on the warm, moist sand. But suddenly my partner stood, grabbed his pole from its forked-stick prop and yanked back on it hard. His rod tip immediately made a nosedive, signaling the presence of something sizeable at the other end of his line. "Got him!" he said.

His rod arched. His drag sung, Zzzzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

"Maybe he's got you," I noted.

The fish fought valiantly. But so did my friend. After a five-minute battle, he beached the fat channel cat, which croaked incessantly at the injustice of it all. Ten pounds it weighed, maybe more. It was just one of several 3- to 15-pounders we'd take home that night.

We caught mostly channel cats that evening, but also some nice blues and flatheads. All three species are abundant in the fertile waters of the Mississippi, and all reach substantial sizes. Fact of the matter is the Mississippi River probably produces more giant catfish year in and year out than any body of water in the United States. And the stretch of river running along the Tennessee border produces some of the biggest of those catfish.

The Mississippi is just one of many great destinations for summer catfishing in western Tennessee, however. Several other rivers and lakes serve up superb hot-weather angling for fat whiskerfish as well, and using the information that follows, you can plan a cat-catching excursion to these hotspots this season.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER
The Tennessee portion of the Mississippi River flows 167 miles along the state's western border. Blues over 100 pounds are always a possibility here, and as more and more catfishermen ply these waters with rod and reel, the probability that a new world record will be caught here increases substantially. In the minds of many, there's no doubt that a 150-pound blue lurks somewhere in the Mississippi. The only question is: Will it ever be caught?

The Mississippi harbors tons of giant flatheads, too. Fifteen- to 30-pounders are common as fleas on a coonhound. Forty- to 70-pounders are probably caught somewhere on the river every day during summer. And once again, the likelihood of someone catching a world-record-class fish is a distinct possibility.

Channel catfish are extraordinarily abundant in the Mississippi as well, and catching 50 or more during a few hours of fishing is simple for savvy anglers. Most range from 1 to 5 pounds, but specimens exceeding 10 pounds will usually anchor the stringers of serious fishermen. (Cont.)

Mississippi River cats -- blues, channels and flatheads -- typically position themselves at strategic places to feed and rest, usually near structure that breaks the current. Focus your fishing efforts around such structures, which include wing dams, rock, gravel and sandbars, deep holes and cover in outside bends, bottom holes or depressions, bottom humps and deep holes at tributary junctions. A fish-finder helps pinpoint prime fishing areas.

Cut baits made from shad and skipjack herring are hard baits to beat when it's big blue cats you're after. When fishing for flatheads, use live fish baits exclusively: shad, skipjack herring, bluegills, small carp and suckers. If you want a mess of eating-sized channel cats, any of your favorite baits will work, from night crawlers and catalpa worms to your own special brew of homemade stink bait.

Plant your bait on the bottom with a heavy sinker (you may need as much as 8 ounces of lead to do this), then flip on your reel's bait clicker and ready yourself for a bite. When cats are actively feeding, it usually won't be long before a nice one bows your rod and the battle begins.

Good boat ramps exist at several areas on the river, including one near the Pyramid in Memphis. You can also find open bank-fishing spots on public lands in several areas, including two in Lauderdale County at the Ed Jones Ramp off Highway 88 on Hales Point-Barr Road and at the Jim Fullen Ramp west of Ashport on Highway 19, and another in Tipton County at Duvall Landing on Coon Valley Road.

If you do fish from a boat, always be safety conscious. Strong current and undertows can get you in a pickle if you aren't careful, and barge traffic is incessant. Keep a safe distance from these big boats, and always wear a life jacket.

Guided fishing is another option, and you can't go wrong booking a trip with longtime Mississippi River cat guide James Patterson of Bartlett. For more info, call (901) 383-8674 or visit www.bigcatfishing.com.