Catfish may not have the cachet of bass, but as table fare they're unrivaled. And June in the Magnolia State is an equally unrivaled time for catching them. Whether you're using a trotline or a yo-yo, whether you're tightlining them or noodling, catfish are one of the best bets this month. And it doesn't matter whether you're going for blues, channels, or flatheads: Mississippi has whiskered fish to suit any angler's desires.

Bubba Hubbard, assistant director of fisheries for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks says that in June, most bedding is about over, but flathead catfish are still spawning.

"Channel catfish and blues are abundant all around the state, with channel catfish as our mainstay," he explained. "We maintain a population of catfish in our state fishing lakes, and do some supplemental stocking in some of those lakes."

Anglers use a variety of techniques for catching catfish. Typical approaches, of course, include floating any kind of stink bait under a bobber, tightlining on the bottom, and using trotlines. One that's definitely off the wall is hand-grabbing, also known as "noodling," the season for which runs from May 1 through July 15.

John Skains, a MDWFP fisheries biologist, declares this technique to be a lot of fun, and suggests that it just might get more fish to your fryer than will dangling a hook and line in the water. Hand-grabbing technique exploits the catfish's tendency to nest in protected areas within structure.

"People wade around looking for the best sites, such as hollow logs, where catfish spawn," Skains said in describing the activity. "Or they put out structures in the water, such as logs or boxes, for the catfish to spawn. When they reach into the log or the structure, the catfish bites them on the hand, holds on -- and they pull it out. It's addicting!"

Hand-grabbing may seem like it might be a little hard on the hand, but by wearing a protective glove, you can prevent lacerations.

Just how big a fish can a hand-grabber expect to land? Pretty big. "The biggest one I've grabbed was a 52-pound flathead catfish," Skains offered. "But hand-grabbers routinely get up to 60- to 70-pound fish. And that's a handful!"

Wading back to the boat with that size fish can be tough -- but it's worth the effort.

What do hand-grabbers need to be successful? It's fairly basic stuff: Any type of neoprene diving glove is the main gear needed. "It's smart to wear a glove," Skains emphasized. Also, he added, some people also use scuba gear for hand-grabbing.

Hand-grabbers catch different species of catfish, according to which one is spawning at the time. "Usually channel cats come in first to spawn, and are the first catfish to catch during the season," Skains explained. "As they're finishing up, then the blue cats and flathead catfish come into the area, looking for any log or hole or anything they can back up into. That's where the female lays the egg mass and the male fertilizes it. The female will stay with the eggs until they hatch, and guard them and the fry for a short time."

Skains also noted that though Mississippi has bullheads, nobody really targets those for hand-grabbing.

Why does hand-grabbing work so well during this time? It's a matter of fish behavior unrelated to feeding. "Catfish don't feed during the spawn," Skains said. "Fish are defending the nest at this time." The fish grabs on to something that it reads as dangerous to the nest and doesn't let go; the angler just pulls it out.