"Knowing where to catch fish hinges on several factors," he said. "The thermocline has a huge effect on the fish and where you find them. During most normal summers it hovers between 20 to 22 feet deep. This pushes the fish up and eliminates most of the lake. To get started, find a lake map and study it closely. From there focus your efforts on areas in this range. Under these conditions the catfish usually hold in 15 to 17 feet of water. Find likely spots on your map before you hit the water. This way once you have an idea you can use quality electronics to zigzag over the locations looking for a dip, a hump, a creek channel, or anything defining where both fish and bait are."

For 90 percent of his fishing he uses shad for bait. "On blues I try my best to get rid of the entrails of shad," said Brown. "Otherwise you pick up to many small fish. Heads sides, or chunks are all good. But they have to be extremely fresh. Most of my bait is netted and kept alive until I'm ready to cut it. On channel cats, it is just the opposite. Guts work well. If you can just get the guts out of shad or even buy them, they are the best channel bait for me at this time of year. Now there are a lot of commercial baits that work really well, too. Dip baits in particular are great for channel cats. Flatheads require a mix of bait in my opinion. I'll use half live bait and half cut bait. Black perch, creek chubs, or live shad work excellent. But it's a myth that flatheads won't bite cut bait."

TRUMAN LAKE
No worthwhile article about catfish in Missouri would go without mentioning Truman Lake. Not only coveted by our state's anglers, it is also renowned for its catfishing among all who have ever taken the sport serious. Luckily for us, we never have to cross a state line to wet a line there. The Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir is located nearly smack-dab in the center of the state and falls inside the Osage River Basin. Approximately 100 miles southeast of Kansas City, it's easy to find. The town of Warsaw is nearest the dam which only sits a mile and a half southeast of the town.

The lake itself is a 55,600-acre marvel that floods the Osage, Grand, Pomme de Terre, and the Sac River arms. Brown's favorite technique, which is perfectly suited for Truman Reservoir, is drift fishing. It's mainly a blue and channel cat presentation that has astounding results.

"I start drift fishing in the summer months when the south wind blows steadily for several days," explained Brown. "You need a good wind to keep the boat moving and drift properly. I go to the main lake and look for long, straight stretches of water that have varying terrain below. I want the boat to move across this and have my baits encountered by scattered fish.

"I rig the boat with drift socks to slow and control the boat. I'll go far upwind of where the fish will seem likely to hold and get the drift started. I'll use four heavy baitcasters and rig each with a snake weight. Then I'll attach a 3-foot leader with a circle hook at the end and a small float between the weight and special sinker. The hooks are baited with shad heads or fresh filleted shad sides and tossed out behind the boat. I'll let the reels free-spool until the baits are well behind the boats and then lock them down. This method has killer results. The baits pull slowly along the bottom following the lakes contours and meets scattered fish tempting them with moving bait."