From sluggish oxbows to turbulent tailwaters, blue, flathead and channel catfish provide thrilling summertime fishing action on Illinois rivers north to south. Photo courtesy of Mark Fike.

Catfishermen find great action this summer on the many rivers and streams in the land of Lincoln. Pursued from shorelines or boats, channels cats are joined by blues and flatheads, and every one of them is a great fighting fish. The food they make isn't bad either!

LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
Although catfish are found the length of this river, the best variety and numbers seem to come from the section between Lock & Dam 22 at Hannibal, Missouri, upstream to Cairo, according to fisheries biologist Butch Atwood of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Along the way, three separate pools stand in the river behind dams 24, 25 and 26. From Alton down to Cairo, the waterway is "open" river and seems to be preferred by all three species of catfish. In fact, the world-record blue catfish came out of this stretch, near the mouth of the Missouri River. The 124-pound brute was caught in May 2005 by angler Tim Pruitt of Alton.

Along this stretch, much of the best catfish action takes place in the tailwater of Mel Price Lock and Dam at Alton. Wing dams along that stretch scour holes in the river bottom, where the catfish -- some of the biggest in the area -- lie in wait of a bite to eat.

The somewhat small gang of local anglers typically use cut bait, such as shad, which is particularly effective for channel cats in the 5- to 10-pound range. The head of a skipjack herring (there's a good population of these large baitfish in the open river) is a good choice for catching blue catfish. But flatheads prefer live bait, often taking small sunfish fished on the bottom of the scour holes. Baits are skewered on circle hooks from size 2/0 to 8/0. The bait is held on the bottom by up to 2 ounces of weight.

Boating access to the lower Mississippi River is detailed on maps obtained from the IDNR in the free booklets, Fishing the Upper Mississippi River and Fishing the Middle Mississippi River. A couple of the better ones are the ramp at Lewis & Clark State Park (about mile 195 on the river) and the ramp at Grand Tower (about mile 80 on the river).

For tackle, bait and local fishing information in the Alton area, contact Bluff City Tackle in Alton, phone: (618) 465-6175 or online at www.bluffcitytackle.com. For area travel information and accommodations, contact the Tourism Bureau of Southwestern Illinois in Fairview Heights, phone: (800) 442-1488 or online at www.thetourismbureau.org.

OHIO RIVER
IDNR fisheries biologist Les Frankland is the expert on the catfish populations of the Ohio River. His first recommendation is for anglers to gear up for cats at Smithland Pool, before venturing to Pool 52 and Pool 53 or the open river at its lower end at Fort Defiance, where it joins the Mississippi River.

Smithland is the largest navigation pool on the Ohio River, running some 72 miles from Uniontown, Kentucky, down to the dam. It covers some 27,000 surface acres of water and features small embayments along its way, where small tributaries were impounded when the dam was built.

Frankland says many local anglers put in on the river at Mound City landing and boat to areas around the riverside grain elevators. Two of the best sites, he points out, are found at Mound City and Old Shawneetown. In fact, any place where grain is spilled into the river while loading onto barges attracts fish.