KING CAT TOURNAMENT

Phil King's Cat-Catching Tactics

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: Phil, when, why and how do you fish ultra-light line for cats?
ANSWER: I start when the water temperature reaches about 65 degrees, which usually happens in the South around mid-April. And top fishing for channel cats on rocks lasts till about mid-June. After that, they move back out to the deeper water. They'll stay close to the same area, but they'll move off of the 2- to 10-foot waters back out to their 15- to 30-foot ranges after they finish spawning.

QUESTION: What kind of rocks do they hold near?
ANSWER: They hold near fragmented rock -- natural rock with huge cracks where over time the rocks have fallen out of those bluffs leaving behind holes. Those fish back up in those holes. When you're fishing a night crawler and let the night crawler float down in front of their faces, they will come out of those holes to eat.

QUESTION: How big a channel fish do you catch?
ANSWER: If you catch 40 fish, they will average about 3- to 3 1 1/2-pounds each.

QUESTION: What is the biggest one you ever have caught?
ANSWER: My biggest channel fish was 8-1/2 pounds.

QUESTION: Why do you use ultra-light line? What pound test do you use?
ANSWER: I like 12- to 15-pounds-test line.

QUESTION: Why do you use lighter line when your fish this tactic?
ANSWER: Lighter line is just easier to manage on a spinning reel. I use a spinning rod and reel. Coming down the main line, I have a 1/4-ounce lead. I use bobber stoppers so that the bobber will slide up the line. It works well with a spinning reel. Because the bobber stopper is so small, you can reel a bobber stopper through the guides of a rod down onto the reel and cast a long distance.

QUESTION: So you have a slip cork on the line with a bobber stopper set at what depth?
ANSWER: The bobber stopper you can set at any depth, but usually I'll start out at 6 feet early in the morning, and then I may move out to 10 or 12 feet as the sun rises.

QUESTION: Do you have any lead coming down the line?
ANSWER: I have 1/4-ounce lead about 10 to 16 inches above the hook. I use a No. 6 Kahles hook.

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 the Pickwick Lake region, call Hardin County Tourism in Savannah, Tennessee, at (800) 552-3866, or visit the Web site at www.tourhardincity.org.

TOMORROW: CATCH CATS LIKE KING