Photo by Ron Sinfelt

On a spring morning a few years ago, I was seeking fish. The object of my search: pre-spawn crappie.

Rigged up with a minnow hooked through the back and a large turkey quill float adjusted to position the bait 6 feet below the surface, I dropped the hook into a nest of logs along the channel of the Pearl River in the upper main lake of Ross Barnett Reservoir. No sooner had the line reached its limit than the quill stood upright, and then suddenly disappeared. My elation at the quick bite was dashed a bit when a 2-pound channel catfish came up on the hook. But I wasn't complaining: I'll keep a catfish anytime, and 2-pounders are just the right size to filet.

Within minutes, my wife had another cat on the line, a carbon copy of the one I'd just boated. We rebaited and tried the same place, and before very long we'd again caught a pair of channel cats. We had yet to catch a crappie, but my wife was pleased to be catching fish; after a brief lull, she boated another cat.

An older man who was fishing for crappie some 40 yards away had witnessed the action. "You're fishing too shallow!" he yelled. "You need to be deeper for perch."

He was right, of course -- but the experience of taking catfish by using crappie poles was one we remembered. We did adjust to get down deeper, but as the bait was in free-fall, several more catfish all but climbed onto the hook. The outing ended with almost equal numbers of crappie and catfish taken. We had no problem with the outcome -- nor, when the fried filets, cole slaw, hush puppies and iced tea were placed on the table, did the folks back home!

ROSS BARNETT RESERVOIR
Ross Barnett Reservoir offers terrific catfish opportunities. Worthwhile sites extend from the spillway all the way upstream to the low-head dam. The methods used by catfishermen are many -- free-floating single jugs, connected jugs anchored at one end, yo-yos, trotlines and limblines. Rod-and-reel fishermen, and even those who use traditional cane poles, find the action for the popular whiskered fish to be quite satisfying.

The Spillway
The tailrace waters at Ross Barnett are rich with baitfish -- so game fish are present as well. While the catfish isn't considered a game fish, it's far from being a trash fish. The commercial value of "wild" catfish has fallen significantly since farm-raised fish made their way into the markets of America -- good news for recreational catters. Each day, hundreds of rod-and-reel anglers may be seen lining the riprap along the spillway at "the Rez," their common object being to catch catfish. Blues and channels abound within the foaming water, and every size of cat, from those a few inches in length to 40-plus-pound brutes that require some very serious tackle to land, can be and is caught.

Most fishermen agree: A slowly rising water level creates optimal conditions for fishing the spillway. And shad, either whole or cut, is the bait you want to use, a few throws with a cast net generally resulting in enough bait for an outing. The rock-climbers along the spillway will be found to be using goldfish, minnows, bream, liver, stink baits, earthworms and other concoctions -- and rare are those who walk away with no fish on a stringer.