catfish

Greg Parker guided his flat-bottomed boat toward a spot near the northern shore of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. […]

Greg Parker guided his flat-bottomed boat toward a spot near the northern shore of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. In the boat were no rods and reels, no bait buckets or tackle boxes — just a large cooler with some ice, a bag of gloves, a roll of duct tape and a few other tools of the hand-grabbers trade.

Parker cut the motor, removed his life vest and allowed the boat to glide to a near stop before he rolled over the gunwale, hardly making a splash. In his hand was a catch stick, used by poultry workers to collect chickens. […]

If there is an upside to the onset of Mississippi’s brutal summer heat, it is that catfish seem to enjoy it. They get more active, and that can lead to their demise. As happens every year in mid to late May, the whiskered fish have turned on and are dominating the fishing reports throughout the Magnolia State. […]