KING CAT TOURNAMENT

Catch Cats Like King

EDITOR'S NOTE: Phil King of Corinth, Mississippi, is one of the nation's leading catfishermen and is a member of the Cabela's Pro Fishing Team. Specializing primarily in big cats, whether he's fishing for himself or guiding other anglers to cats, he's won as many if not more catfish derbies as any angler in the country. He's constantly looking for new and better methods for finding and taking catfish. He placed in the top 10 in the 2002 King Cat/Boatel Tournament held on the Tennessee River's Pickwick Lake in May.

QUESTION: What do you use for bait?
ANSWER: I use night crawlers, crickets or small slivers of cut bait. Night crawlers probably work the best. The fish just seem to prefer the night crawlers. We use minnows and the night crawlers and have caught fish on both, but the night crawlers work more regularly.

QUESTION: When a catfish takes the bait, does it hit the bait wide open, or do you have to let the catfish take the bait for a little bit?
ANSWER: Sometimes catfish have tender bites, and they will bob the bobber a little bit. Then they just take it out of sight. They will go from whatever depth they start swimming straight toward the boat back out 20 or 30 feet.

QUESTION: They move back out to the deep water, so you don't have a problem with breaking off the line in the structure, right?
ANSWER: Normally you don't break your line, but there are a few places where catfish will hang. They will get behind some big boulders and break your line.

QUESTION: Do these catfish school?
ANSWER: Generally you just catch one or two by the same hole. Sometimes a male and female will pair up by the hole. You just keep casting in the rock. Pull the bait out a couple of times. If you don't get a bite, throw it 4 or 6 feet over the hole. If they are there, they'll hit it probably within 30 seconds or less.

QUESTION: On a good day how many cats can you catch?
ANSWER: We catch approximately 40 catfish on a good day.

QUESTION: Do they like current, or do they stay out of current?
ANSWER: We fished one spot this morning that had current, and we didn't get a fish there. We had to get out of the main lake away from the current and get back in the secondary coves to catch most of our fish this morning.

QUESTION: So they'll hold in the coves rather than in the main lake?
ANSWER: They'll be on the main lake as long as there is not a really strong current. But when the current is really strong, you need to get back into the coves.

QUESTION: Is this a numbers game on these fish? You catch high numbers, but not many big fish?
ANSWER: You'll catch numbers of fish here. You'll either catch catfish or bluegill. We've caught every species of bass. We've caught smallmouth, largemouth, white bass and a couple of drums. You'll catch something continuously. Anything will eat night crawlers.

QUESTION: How do you bait night crawlers? Do you break them or fish them whole?
ANSWER: I fish just one per hook, and I thread it on until it's completely on the hook.

QUESTION: Do you hide the hook with the a night crawler?
ANSWER: I don't care about hiding the hook. I just want to get it all pinned up on there so if a small bream or something starts sucking on it, I don't lose it right away.

QUESTION: How many night crawlers do you fish a day?
ANSWER: I fish with 100 to 200 a day. I carry 10 to 15 boxes, depending on how many people to guide, I have out there. If I have four or five people, then I carry 15 boxes with us.

QUESTION: In an average day of fishing, what can you really expect to catch?
ANSWER: I'll probably catch 40 or 50 channel cats, but I'll catch another 50 to 75 of the other species I mentioned. I get a lot of action. Big groups and families have a lot of fun fishing this way.

To contact Phil King about guiding for catfish at Pickwick, call (662) 286-8644, or email him at pking@tsixroads.com. To learn more about fishing below the dam at Pickwick, contact the Hardin County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at info@tourhardincounty.org, call 731-925-8181 or 800-552-3866, or visit www.tourhardincounty.org. Pickwick Landing State Park offers fishing, boating, hiking, camping, swimming and golf. Lodging includes the lakeside inn with over 100 rooms, cabins that sleep eight and a campground that contains 48 sites with grill and electric/water hookup at each site. A restaurant at the park offers delicious southern cuisine. Call 731-689-3135 or 800-250-8615 to learn more.