Photo by Ron Sinfelt

The lowly catfish is the Rodney Dangerfield of the fish world -- it gets no respect. Bass get all the glory.

Don't believe it? Then why isn't there a Catfish Pro Shop where you can go to buy stinkbait and ready-made limb lines? Or a C.A.T.F.I.S.H. Masters?

But Hoop Hooper doesn't let that bother him. He'd rather fish for catfish any day -- or more precisely, any night -- of the week. To his great relief, there are plenty of places in the mid-state where you can fish for them.

"I used to bass fish some," Hooper admits. "But I got disgusted with all the city boys with their fancy bass boats running over me and crowding out all the good fishing holes. So I mostly fish for catfish at night. They fight just as good, and they're a lot better to eat -- even the big ones.

"It's just a myth that only the small ones taste good," he continues. "Just cut filets off the big ones with an electric knife -- you don't even have to gut and skin them. Fry them up with some jalapeño hush puppies and add some homemade cole slaw -- man, there ain't no better eating than that."

Les Ager, head of fisheries management for the west-central Georgia region for the Wildlife Resources Division, said there are a number of good fishing spots for catfish in Middle Georgia. Picking one just depends on what type of catfish you are after.

"If you are looking for big flatheads, trophy-sized fish, then High Falls Lake and the Ocmulgee River just south of Macon are good places to try," Ager said. "If what you want is a good mess of channel catfish for a fish fry, then Lake Sinclair is probably the best place close to Macon to fish. And Lake Tobesofkee, in west Bibb County, is also a good place for channel catfish."

We'll take a closer look at these choices, and list a few more, but first a description of the types of catfish and how to catch them is in order.

Channel catfish get their name because their natural habitat is the flowing waters of the state's river and stream channels. But they are also versatile fish that adapt well to living in large impoundments and smaller ponds. They are relatively easy and cheap to produce in great numbers in fish hatcheries, so they have been widely stocked throughout Middle Georgia in the ponds of private landowners, and by the WRD in larger impoundments. Channel catfish are also what you eat if you go to a restaurant. They are raised commercially in farm ponds throughout the state.

They are predators and scavengers, feeding on all sorts of live prey and on dead morsels that float on top of the water or fall to the bottom. They love commercial catfish feed, which looks like dry dog food.

Channel cats have a deeply forked tail and rounded anal fin. Small and medium-sized ones usually have small dark spots on their bodies, but the spots may be faint or disappear entirely on larger ones. The average size caught by anglers ranges from 1/2 pound to 5 pounds, but they can grow much bigger. The Georgia record is less than 50 pounds.

These fish sometimes hit moving artificial lures, which is why bass and crappie anglers occasionally hook channel cats. But channel cats much prefer organic prey that has a smell, thus their affinity for commercial or homemade stinkbaits, chicken livers, worms, mullet guts or cut fish.

The larger channel catfish prefer live bait, so they are more likely to hit shiners or small bream.