For consistent action at these reservoirs, target the mussel beds covering much of the bottom on these lakes. Catfish fishing here involves a very different method than that used for any other area. Since many mussel beds have pretty much the same depth throughout, drifting while fishing a bait on the bottom is the prime way to locate catfish here.

Mark Davis of Shakespeare Fishing Tackle, who has fished for catfish all over, including in world-famous Santee Cooper Reservoir, agrees that mussel beds are the ticket for big reservoir blues.

"Mussel beds are key structure that absolutely should not be overlooked," he said. "The mussels themselves are a prime food source, and they are essentially structure that draw in other food sources. So for catfish, it's the best of both worlds."

Many of Louisiana's mussel beds cover maybe a third of an acre and are broken up by other structures. Finding the breakline between the mussels and sand, for example, or a hump leading from bed to bed is important for consistent action. Live crawfish are a good bait, as well as live perch or cut carp. Make sure and drift slow enough so that the bait gets exposed to the fish on the structure and make several passes at each bed for the best results.

Along coastal areas, blue cats congregate around shell middens left long ago by Native Americans. Studies conducted by Sabine National Wildlife Refuge biologists have shown that blues have a high tolerance for salt water, and areas like the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, Blacks Bayou, the Cameron Prairie Refuge, and much of the coastal marsh north of the Intracoastal holds lots of blue cats.

Shell middens are key spots for finding these fish, which respond best by far to cut mullet. I grew up fishing for catfish this way around Black's Bayou and Burton's Ditch in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes and my father, Chester Moore, Sr. taught me to fish these spots for 15 minutes and move to another if the fish are not biting. Any of these middens can be good for blues but the best are those near the mouth of a major drainage or near the juncture of several smaller drainages.

Tides come into play here and the best tide is an outgoing tide where the marsh is draining its contents, which the blues feed on. Hit the middens 1/2 mile into a bayou during the first hour of a falling tide and move toward the mouth after that.

Finally, a sort of oddball but highly effective way of catching big blue cats is wading in on them. I am talking about wade fishing as anglers do along the coast for redfish and speckled trout.

You see, catfish have a very intricate "hearing" system that, if it were better understood, might cause more anglers to don waders to enter the catfish's environment.

In an article issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it was explained that catfish hear with the inner ears, much as humans do. According to the piece, "The sounds are projected through a series of fluid filled sacs lined with hair-like projections. Each sac contains a bone called an otolith. To understand the fish's hearing, picture a sound wave. These waves, moving through the water, pass through the fish's body like it wasn't even there.

"The density of the water and the fish are almost the same. When the sound waves reach the otoliths, they vibrate. The vibrations bend the hair-like projections, and nerves carry the message to the brain. Literally, the fish hears through its side. Catfish hear better than most other fish. The inner ear is connected to the fish's air bladder. The air bladder amplifies the sound, improving sensitivity and hearing range, a kind of built in stereo system. Catfish can detect very high frequency sounds."

Catfish, the article continued, "detect low frequency sounds with their lateral line. Some of the sensory cells in the inner ear and lateral line are turned in different directions. It helps the fish detect the source of the sound, similar to sonar."

For anglers, that means that the aluminum boats that many of us use to pursue catfish might actually inhibit us from catching more and bigger catfish on rod and reels. Getting in the water on the level of the fish and slowly wading along key areas could produce some truly exciting catches. Wading allows anglers to be stealthy and that might be more significant in catching catfish on rod and reel than we realize.

Any spot that has a bottom conducive to wading and a good catfish population is good to wade. My wading has been limited to Toledo Bend reservoir, the Sabine River, the north end of Sabine Lake in the winter and on private waters, however I have learned a few things that I believe would work in all waters.