It’s no mystery why some of the best catfishing of the year often takes place in a tailwater area, beginning around April in the South and lasting well through June in the North. It’s gluttony. And it’s love. In that order. For a fat cat’s penchant for chow is hardly affected by the lusty advances of even the loveliest catfish of the opposite persuasion—at least not until the very end, when nature cannot be ignored. Even then, though, even when a bully big male cat is guarding his brood in a hole in a cutbank, food’s welcomed with a bite and a burp when it rolls close by.

Tailwaters may be large or small, turbulent or gently flowing, shallow or deep, dangerous or safe, depending on the size of the river and the subsequent size, construction, and purpose of the dam. All tailwaters are dangerous in high water. The water immediately below the turbines of large hydro stations, though, where water boils for all the world like cauldrons from hell, holds a special terror. Lowhead dams, too, are always dangerous, particularly so because many of them don’t look as if they are. But get sucked into the turbulence below and you can kiss your life goodbye, even if you’re wearing five life jackets.

Cats move upriver during high-water periods in spring. If, for example, a river’s free of ice by March, the water temperature is poking into the 50°F range by mid April and cats are on the move. Hole by hole, run by run, shallow section by shallow section, cats move until they hit barriers. A barrier may be a particularly shallow portion of river. It may be a tremendous buildup of fallen timber stretching across a river. Eventually though, it usually is a dam.

A cat consolidation of sorts is going on, the opposite of what happens by late summer. Say a river’s 50 miles long. By late summer, catfish relate to the deepest holes in the river; but those holes often are evenly spread throughout all 50 miles of river. Once late spring arrives, though, once cats have had a chance to move, most of them are somewhere in the upper third of the river.

Cats don’t all group in tailwaters. But a lot of them at least make it there and stay for a while to feed before gradually moving back downriver to spawning areas, perhaps the same areas where they’ve spawned before. At any one time, then, once plenty of water is moving during spring, the catfish population in a tailwater area is constantly being replenished by catfish arriving from downriver. And again, because of the supreme feeding conditions in most tailwaters, most cats stay at least for a while.

The amount of fishing pressure makes a difference in the number of available fish in smaller tailwaters. Once cats reach a tailwater, the consolidation continues as they are moved by current into prime feeding areas. There may be few such locations in smaller tailwaters, a dozen in larger ones. Rarely, though, are there many prime spots, and you need to recognize them. We’ll get to that.

Once the fish stationed in those areas are caught, it takes awhile for the spots to be replenished. During peak prespawn movements in spring, this may take several days. When the water's low in summer, it takes a major rain to replenish spots with catfish. Periods between good fishing may last more than a month.

Once you learn to read current, you know exactly where fish might be. Then you need to probe those spots to see what kind of structure lies below. That usually determines how many cats can be there. Once you’re anchored right, you’ll catch most of the cats feeding there, which during June is most of the cats most of the time.

Baits and Tackle

Tailrace catfish feed on both live and dead baitfish. Smaller fish species are disoriented by the turbulent waters below dams, making them easy prey. When baitfish pass through dam turbines they’re often chopped into palatable slabs that catfish feed on.

During spring, therefore, it’s rarely necessary to use anything but chunks of cutbait of a size appropriate for the cats being pursued. In small rivers, the best choice may be as simple as a freshly killed 4-inch baitfish. Cutting off the tail helps to keep the bait from spinning in current. Slash the sides of the a time or two to get those succulent juices flowing. Slip the hook through once near the tail end, leaving the hook point exposed to ensure a good hookset. Use a #4 or #2 hook like the Eagle Claw 84 or the Mustad 92671—simple, affordable, sturdy hooks. There are lots of snags, so buying boxes of a hundred saves money. Cats up to about 10 pounds take a piece of cutbait (suckers and shad work great), something about 1 inch x 1 inch x 1/2 inch thick. Increase those dimensions by half an inch at most for bigger catfish. Going any larger makes it difficult to fish it properly in current.

Leave the hook point exposed by slipping it once through the corner of the skin of the cutbait. A 2/0 hook is just right for fish from 6 to 10 pounds or so. For bigger fish, go with a 3/0 hook. Sharpen hooks with a file and reduce the barb to make sure the hook sets easily. Eventually, when the largest flatheads switch to livebaits, you’ll need heavier rigging.

Weight your bait with a bell sinker, preferably the kind called a bass-casting sinker, which usually has a swivel on top. Egg sinkers don’t work well because they don’t stay in place on bottom and you can end up with twice as many snags. There’s no way to completely eliminate snags, though, so make your own sinkers, or at least buy in bulk. Keeping on hand a supply of weights from 1 to 8 ounces covers most tailwater situations.

One of the biggest mistakes catmen make is worrying about the length of leader between the hook and sinker. This is needless worry because no leader is necessary. Let the sinker slide right up against the hook. The resulting rig looks, casts, and fishes almost like a leadhead jig—exactly what you want. Too much leader causes a loss of feel, lack of control, and subsequently snags. If the swivel eye on top of the sinker is so big that the eye of your hook sticks, use a bead to cushion this connection.

Use current to move this rig along the bottom. If your rig’s just heavy enough and you hold your line just tight enough to stay in constant contact with current, your rig moves through prime current spots so you can feel everything down there. Lift the rig over rocks and slide it through sand and gravel pockets. Snags are minimized, while presentation is maximized.

The most important part of this process, though, is the acquired ability to judge more than bottom content, which is secondary to current in determining where fish are. You can use this rig to read current conditions. Specifically, first look for and then feel for current tunnels.

Current Tunnels

Current edges are formed: Where flows moving in opposing directions meet, and where flows moving at different speeds and consisting of different volumes of water meet. Current tunnels are formed near bottom along these edges or at the rear or tailout of holes gouged by the turbulence of the tailwater, creating areas of relative calm in turbulent water. Catfish use these tunnels as a current refuge. They can move easily through them, and feed more efficiently. Food that washes into these areas moves slowly through, making it easily accessible to the catfish holding there.

Current tunnels may be either flat, relatively indistinct in shape, or oval and much like a tunnel. The flat tunnels usually form where flows moving in opposite directions meet. The circular tunnels form where flows are moving the same direction at different speeds and with different volumes of water. Most tunnels are no more than 15 to 20 feet long.

The obvious spot for circular tunnels is immediately below the dam. If a pillar separates one lock from another, and if only one of them is running water, the pillar creates a current edge where a large volume of water crushes and runs over a lesser volume of water moving in the same direction.

In most major dam areas, so much water is running or it’s so deep that it’s impossible to safely fish close to the dam. Lowhead dams don’t, for the most part, have many pillars, and getting too close is dangerous. And stay away from areas of massive turbulence. Anchoring is unsafe in some situations, too. Ask folks who know about local conditions. And when in doubt, don’t anchor. Always have a knife on hand to cut the anchor line in an emergency.

To fish through a current tunnel, anchor in the slower water on one side of the most turbulent flow, as close as possible to the head of the current edge. Cast your bait to the head of the current edge, usually just behind a pillar, and tighten your line to the bait. The objective is to locate the head of the current tunnel and to keep your bait anchored there, or at least move your bait through it as slowly as possible.

A good sense of feel with your rig allows you to identify the location and length of current tunnels. Cast to the crease at the head of the current break. The rig sinks through stronger current, eventually hitting bottom where it’s surrounded by slower-moving water with faster water coursing above it. Holding your rod tip at about 2 o’clock, tighten your line to your rig lying on bottom. Your sinker should be just heavy enough so turbulent water sweeping against most of your line drags your bait slowly along the bottom. Hit a current tunnel and your bait stops, at least momentarily. Sometimes the rig anchors where it first hits the tunnel. Other times, when the boat isn’t in perfect position, the bait is dragged along the edge of the tunnel or swept out of it. With experience, you’ll be able to judge what’s happening.

Hit the head of the tunnel, keep your bait there for two minutes, and you’ll feel the solid cawonk! of a cat. Drop your rod tip a foot or two toward the fish as it begins to move away, and then set. Big cats don’t miss when a bait’s in a tunnel. And little cats don’t dare fin where monsters tread.

Chances are, several good fish are working each tunnel. They move forward through it until they reach the head, then sweep back to the area near the tail end and work forward again. Picture the tail of a tunnel waggling around like the bottom of the cone of a tornado. The farther back in a tunnel your bait is, the more turbulent the water and the more difficult for cats to find your bait.

Pancake tunnels are most common. They lie along current breaks where currents moving in opposite directions meet. These can be fished from a boat or from shore, using the same presentation described above. A float may also be helpful in moving a bait along or through these flatter and longer tunnels. Catfish aren’t so likely to always lie at the head of these tunnels, so it takes longer for fish to find your bait. It shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes in a spot, though. Fish along areas and move on—or at least try a different portion of a current area.

Hold the rod tip high to minimize the amount of line in the water. Again, don’t ever keep your bait in the same spot for long. Let it settle, let it drag, get it to hold. Wait no more than five minutes. Move the bait again to be sure you’re searching for cats, and to be sure it hasn’t tumbled into a crevice where fish can’t find it. In large and turbulent tailwaters like those found behind TVA dams and behind the locks on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, few rigs hold bottom better than the breakaway design, which usually consists of a light dropline and sinker that snags bottom as it drifts along. A cat takes the bait and the drop rigging breaks, freeing the catfish to fight without weight on the line.

Another approach is to use a boat to run up into the fast water. Stop along a current crease and when the boat starts drifting at the same speed as the current, drop your bait vertically to the bottom. Use your motor to keep the boat moving just fast enough to keep your bait vertical. Again, you’re moving the bait along in the slower water on bottom.

Some of the hottest territory is the tailout of the hole gouged immediately below the dam. When your bait hits this area, it slows even more as it enters the tunnel that runs along the drop-off lip coming up from the deep water in the hole. This tunnel runs the length of the rear of the hole, but there’s no way to fish it perpendicular to current. You can only drag baits through it by drifting downriver. Once your bait’s swept up onto the flat at the end of the tailout hole, reel up, motor back to the end of the turbulence, and begin again.

These basic principles apply to situations found in every tailwater, but other tactics are bound to develop, given the peculiarities of each location. Always be willing to try what’s working locally, but don’t be afraid to buck the status quo.