With its deeply forked tail, the blue catfish looks very much like a channel cat, but lacks the spots commonly seen on the latter. Distinguishing large blues from big channel cats can be very trying, since large channel catfish often lose the spots and the yellowish cast that make them easy to identify at smaller sizes. Happily, one blue catfish feature is easy to spot: The outer margin of the long anal fin is very straight, not rounded as in other catfish species.

Both of the genus Ictalurus, channel and blue cats are closely related. As their name would suggest, channel catfish find rivers and moving water especially attractive. However, they’re very adaptable, and have been successfully stocked into lakes and ponds all across the state. Not picky eaters, channel catfish will hit nearly any bait, alive and kicking or dead and rotting -- it doesn’t matter.

Channel catfish hunt mostly by scent and taste, which explains the success of bait that leaves a strong scent trail for the cats to follow to the hook. Channel cats are nibblers that often play with bait for some time before finally taking it all the way.

Anglers hunting monster channel cats generally prefer a palm-sized bream or shad for a live bait, as the larger bait discourages nibbling strikes from smaller fish.

In the pursuit of eating-size fish (a couple of pounds, roughly), stink bait is hard to beat for drawing strikes. Many different stink bait recipes, store-bought and home-brewed, are in use, but the consensus on effectiveness is firm: If it’ll gag a maggot, it’s apt to catch channel cats like there’s no tomorrow. Chicken entrails, a mix of rotten cheese and blood, shad guts, and a variety of commercially prepared concoctions are all options for channel cat angling.

A channel catfish is readily identified by its deeply forked tail and the small dark spots on its body. The spots may be faint or absent on large fish, though, sometimes making it difficult to determine if your trophy catch is a channel or a blue. A big clue is the reverse of one mentioned above: If your cat with a forked tail also exhibits a rounded anal fin, it’s a channel catfish.

Channel cats have been known to grow into the 100-pound range; the Georgia record stands at 44.75 pounds. “Fiddler”-sized fish are a dime a dozen in nearly any lake or river in Georgia, and fish weighing 10 pounds and more are hardly uncommon.

Owing to their large size and predatory skills, flathead catfish occupy the top of the food chain nearly anywhere they’re found. Any fish foolish enough to get crossed up with a large flathead probably won’t live to regret it!

Flatheads are native to some Gulf Slope drainages in Georgia, but their range has expanded as a result of illegal introductions into other Gulf and Atlantic drainages. These ill-conceived transplantations have seriously affected other native fish species like redbreast sunfish and bullheads.

The flathead catfish is a creature of large streams, rivers, and reservoirs. In flowing waters, deep holes are the chief places to probe for these monsters; in reservoirs, flatheads are usually associated with submerged channels.