But I wasn't fly-fishing on one particular day of infamy. John, a brother-in-law from Missouri, and I were fishing gold Johnson Sprite spoons for reds along the flats and their adjacent dropoff on the east bank of Grand Pass a mile or so below Venice. The water was a gorgeous green, the reds had been thick recently, and I'd even caught some nice specks on a surface lure a few days earlier.

The action was a bit slow until we came on a dark spot in the water that appeared to be a potential bass stump. I tossed my spoon a bit past the structure on its upcurrent side. As the spoon drew near, the "stump" turned and ate it! After that, the action sped up for a while.

I was glad that I'd learned my lesson about gaffs those years before: No way could my brother-in-law and I have suppressed my bay-boat's side far enough to slide that fish aboard. It weighed just over 28 pounds, and I've not caught a larger one.

CONSISTENT PRODUCERS
Much more consistent producers are big fresh shrimp. Cut chunks of mullet and pogy also work, but they don't last very long after an undesirable creature starts gnawing on them; neither do chicken livers or canned stink baits. But as I mentioned earlier: If you can't catch any cats on a thumb-sized chunk of eel, change spots, not baits, because the catfish just aren't around.

Eels can often be caught on earthworms impaled on a hook about the size of that you'd use for bluegills worked deep alongside docking areas and slips in the same river systems you intend to fish for cats.

No matter how you intend to fish for them -- or if you choose not to -- just remember that many cats inhabit our coastal waters, and they can get a lot bigger than the redfish you usually catch. And I must reiterate: If you don't already have one, keep a small gaff in your boat. One day, you might need it more than you could ever have imagined!