Big blue cats in the riverine upper end of Watts Bar generally bite best when good current is running through the river. Photo by Jeff Samsel.

The cat's already out of the bag, so there's no use holding anything back. Some of the best catfishing found in the Volunteer State (and the nation for that matter) is downright handy to folks who live in and around Knoxville and Nashville. Whether you seek fast action or a legitimate chance to catch a true trophy catfish, opportunity is never far away. Let's take a closer look.

KNOXVILLE
Fort Loudoun
Knoxville residents definitely don't need to travel far to find good catfishing opportunities. Fort Loudoun, which runs right through Knoxville, offers some of the state's finest big-cat prospects. Anyone who questions that needs only to look at the Class B (methods other than rod and reel) state records list. Commercial anglers pulled a 130-pound blue catfish from Fort Loudoun in 1975. Loudoun also produced a former state-record blue for rod-and-reel catches. Although that record has since been toppled, it adds to the evidence of the quality of fish this lake is capable of producing.

A downside of catfish angling in Fort Loudoun is that no catfish over 2 pounds should be consumed because of PCB and mercury contamination, and the contamination is significant enough that commercial fishing is prohibited. However, for anglers who want the opportunity to catch big blues, flatheads and channel cats and who are not concerned about bringing fish home, Fort Loudoun offers terrific prospects.

The uppermost reservoir along the Tennessee River, Fort Loudoun impounds 55 miles of the main river from the confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers, where the Tennessee River officially forms, to Loudoun Dam. The riverine upper end runs through downtown Knoxville. Excellent prospects for catfish also extend up both major tributaries.

Heavyweight blues are the most abundant of the "big cats" in Fort Loudoun. However, flatheads also grow to super sizes. Channel catfish, meanwhile, thrive throughout the lake and produce fast action for anglers who aren't necessarily worried about catching giants.

During the summer, most serious catfishing on Fort Loudoun takes place after the sun goes down. Flatheads and blues move out of their deep-water haunts at night, and they feed much more readily than they do during the day. Plenty of cats can be caught by day, but summer nights yield better prospects for putting trophy flatheads and blues in the boat.

Flatheads and blues are big-river species by nature and they relate to the Tennessee River channel throughout the lake. Flatheads closely associate themselves with structure and cover and will hang along sharp channel ledges and bluff walls, especially where there is timber right along the break. Big blues, in contrast, are more apt to follow the food, and the best concentrations typically will be beneath or among big schools of shad. Anglers can find both species with electronics by searching holes along river bends and inundated channel confluences. The cats often will hold in the deepest parts of the holes by day and move onto adjacent flats to feed at night.

Anglers who are specifically targeting trophy cats should bait up with big chunks of skipjack or gizzard shad for blues and live fish for flatheads. However, down-sized pieces of the same baitfish, "shad guts" and cut threadfin shad generally will produce fast action from channel cats and blues up to about 15 pounds in many areas where the big blues feed.