It was late March when a fishing buddy called to tell me the
white bass were making their spawning run up the tributaries of
a local lake. The swollen head on this big channel cat indicates
it is a male ready to guard a nest full of eggs. When the fish
is guarding its eggs, it may not feed for days, making it tough
to catch. "They're swimming up the creeks and piling onto the
shoals," he said. "We need to get out there soon if we're going
to catch some." The next evening we each caught more than 50 fat
white bass apiece. In April, the crappie started bedding on my
favorite lake. Catching 30 or more daily was a cinch. Largemouth
bass also were spawning, and a lure worked in shoreline shallows
produced one on nearly every other cast. May was bluegill time;
scores of these fat panfish could be taken from a single bed.
Spawning season is peak time to catch many gamefish, but when
catfish are considered, it's a different story. The spawning
habits of catfish differ greatly from those of other gamefish,
and fishing