Channel catfish are less abundant. Harvested fish average 12 to 14 inches. Flatheads are abundant, but few are harvested; anglers rarely target them. Flatheads weighing up to 50 pounds have been caught by trotliners.

Preferred baits include regionally produced soft soaps that can be molded onto a hook, cut shad and commercial cheese baits. Bob’s Cheese Bait, produced locally and made of chicken blood and cheese, is both popular and effective. Many successful anglers use the bait. Live sunfish are the choice for flatheads.

The best areas to fish vary with water level, so the following indicators are worth keeping in mind. Spring and early-summer fishing for average-sized blues and channels is very good in the midst of flooded willow trees and other brush. This is from March through June, depending upon weather. Anglers do best by pushing their boats into the thickest flooded brush and fishing straight down using heavy tackle. Baiting fishing spots with sour corn is a popular method of drawing in the fish. Larger blues are taken with trotlines baited with whole or cut shad set in deep water, especially near underwater structure. Flatheads get harvested from the riverine sections of the upper reservoir in deep holes, mostly near standing timber and from deep water at the dam. Most flatheads are taken on setlines fished overnight.

Information: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1-800-792-1112. Accommodations: Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce, 1-888-600-3115. Guide service: Wallace Gee, (361) 786-2749.

BESSIE HEIGHTS MARSH
Catfishermen often are surprised to learn that catfish -- particularly blue cats -- are abundant in the brackish water of coastal rivers. Those willing to learn the tactics needed to catch catfish in these environs can open up a whole new realm of opportunities.

Barry Mullin of Nederland fishes for blue cats in the brackish waters of coastal southeast Texas. His favorite honeyhole is Bessie Heights Marsh near Bridge City at the mouth of the Neches River. The Neches flows into Sabine Lake, a bay that empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

“This area of the river is the threshold between salt and fresh water,” said Mullin. “There is a huge salt marsh on the east side of the river and some on the west.

“When there’s plenty of rain, the run-off purges all the saltwater out of the river and marsh. This sometimes happens in summer, and nearly always when the cold fronts make their way down in winter. In December, the blue cats begin showing up. The years when it rains a lot in fall, more catfish move down the river than normal.”

Mullin fishes in deep holes in canals feeding the marsh. These holes occur wherever the tide enters the canals from the shallows.

“When the weather is mild, and the shallow water temperature is warmer than the canals, blue cats often move into 2 feet of water or less in the open marsh,” he reported. “I look for places where the tide has cut trenches in the shallow marsh. A trench in shallow water is likely to hold blue cats, especially if it’s near a hump covered with submerged grass. Blue cats are attracted to baitfish that hide in the grass and eat algae growing on the grass and mud.