It wasn't long before I felt a series of rapid taps, set the hook, and shortly witnessed a catfish spinning on the surface as they're inclined to do. Thinking that it'd been awfully cold for any hardheads still to be around, and never giving the first thought to anything similar inhabiting those waters, I was completely blown away to discover that it was a channel cat -- the first of four that we caught there.

Once Durel and I determined that our saltwater efforts seemed doomed to futility, he suggested that we head over to the mouth of the Avery Canal and try our luck there for more catfish. We did -- and there I boated the largest of the day.I

INTRACOASTAL OPTIONS
The Weeks Bay fish were, at least in part, the result of the very low salinity of Vermilion Bay at the time. However, the Intracoastal Waterway runs between the bay and Weeks Island, and during winter, that waterway is relatively fresh in this area as well as west of the locks at Intracoastal City. It's therefore a good target area, and it feeds the bay with both its fresh water and its fish right through a breach in the bank at the base of the island.

On the other hand, the Avery Canal -- also known as the Delcambre Canal -- receives discharge from both the Intracoastal Waterway and points further inland. While its lower reaches do produce good action on such species as specks and redfish when the salinity of the bay is high -- typically in late summer and autumn -- cats are year-round residents. The stretch of the Avery Canal just below the Delcambre drawbridge is reputed to be a hotspot for reds in season and cats throughout the year.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER
While good catfishing is a definite probability in all of Louisiana's coastal rivers and the estuaries they create, and while the Atchafalaya River and its Wax Lake Outlet are creating some opportunities that are world-class, the Mississippi River delta is the clear frontrunner in terms of catfish productivity.

During late summer and autumn, many of our coastal rivers clear up marvelously well, thanks to the "dry season" up north and the corresponding decrease of run-off into the rivers, the combination of which brings about a decrease in current speed and prevents the suspension of sediments. They fall to the bottom, and clarity increases.

The decrease in current also allows salt water to enter the rivers, making its way upstream along the riverbeds for some distance and intermixing with the fresh water to varying degrees via upwellings and eddies. With the salt water will come a horde of popular species, which join the residents to create a mélange of opportunity: It's possible to catch upwards of seven species of both persuasions on one trip. Indeed, I've caught that many on flies.