Photo by RON SINFELT

Sometimes the best way to stay unnoticed is just to go along quietly, minding your own business -- right in front of everybody. Which is the tactic used by some of Georgia’s biggest sportfish: Hug the bottom and stay under the radar. If anglers only knew what lurks in the dark depths of our North Georgia streams, rivers, and lakes, there’d probably be a run on heavy tackle at the local sporting goods store.

The fish in question here are catfish. Despite an ability to grow to huge sizes and a willingness to bite under nearly any conditions, cats are accorded their due by too few anglers. Sure, catching a 2-pound bass is fun -- but catching a 20-pound catfish is even more fun. And in northwest Georgia -- given the noteworthy catfishing that the region has to offer -- catching that 20-pounder isn’t all that unlikely. Further, a bonus comes with this action: For every big catfish that swims these waters, many other smaller cats, each just right as the main ingredient for a summer fish fry, are waiting to take your offering. No matter how you cut it, big fish or small fish, sport or supper, you can’t go wrong.

So let’s spend a little time exploring the ins and outs of North Georgia catfishing.

THE FISH
Several catfish species are out there for anglers to catch, and knowing the habits of each will both help you determine the most promising location for your next North Georgia catfishing trip and suggest the tactics to deploy there. Although the Georgia list of state-record fish includes six catfish species, anglers only regularly target three: channel, flathead, and blue catfish.

Channel catfish can be found in nearly any body of water, while flatheads and blue catfish are a little more choosy about the habitats that they call home. Since they’re some of the biggest, baddest cats around, blues provide a good place to start.

Caught from Clarks Hill Lake in 1979, the Georgia state-record blue catfish weighed 62 pounds, but substantially larger specimens of the species have been officially attested to elsewhere. The range of the blue catfish in Georgia is limited, but they abound in some areas within that range, providing your best shot at a trophy catch through their sheer numbers at those venues.

Either live or as cut bait, shad are highly appropriate enticements for blue cats, which won’t hesitate to eat a shad. In reality, any hunk of fish flesh -- suckers, bream, freshwater drum, what-have-you -- will work, because blue cats really aren’t particular. And no nibbling on finger foods for this species: When one of them’s ready to eat, it wants to fill its belly in one gulp. Prime places at which to soak bait for blue catfish are on the bottom in deep river bends, below islands, and near creek mouths.