OHIO RIVER
Although the Wabash River is popular with catfish anglers from all around the state, the mighty Ohio River is definitely the premier catfish water in Indiana. Flowing all along our southern border, the Ohio is home to staggering numbers of all three major species of catfish. And there aren't just plenty of small catfish -- there are some real monsters out there, too!

Biologist Tom Stefanavage also works on the Ohio River, and last year, he and one of his crews were able to get out on the river to do a little electrofishing near the Newburgh dam.

"We did pretty well," he said, "but not as good as we did in 2007. We still saw a lot of blue catfish, ranging in size from a half pound up to about 40 pounds. There were probably some 50-pounders out there, too."

Schools of blue catfish tend to congregate in the deep water around the dams and along deep channels, and once you find one fish, you are likely to find others.

"Blue catfish are a big-river fish," said Stefanavage. "They tend to travel around a lot and don't really establish a home range. They also like to move around as a group and stay a little higher in the water column."

Big flathead catfish also abound on the Ohio, but they don't behave like the schooling blue cats. "It's my impression that the bigger flatheads are homebodies," Stefanavage said. "Individuals do establish a home range; a deep hole somewhere with nice structure on the bottom, and that particular flathead is going to stay around that area."

Average flatheads can weigh anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds, but big ones exceeding 40 pounds are not unusual.

Even though most tournament catfish anglers don't target the smaller channel catfish on the Ohio, the river is just loaded with them. Channels typically weigh anywhere from 2 to 5 pounds, but bigger ones are always possible.

"Channel catfish up to 5 pounds are a dime a dozen on the Ohio," said Stefanavage. "There are millions of them out there!"

When asked where he would recommend fishermen concentrate their efforts on the Ohio, he pointed to the river's dams.

"The best water quality for the fish is immediately below the dams. When the Corps is releasing water, you've got a lot of turbulence and oxygen going into the water. The dams are always killing a lot of shad, so it's easy for the catfish to find food there, too," he said.

"We have a fantastic catfish fishery on the Ohio River," continued Stefanavage. "It seems like there are more catfish tournaments out there every year, and people are really learning how to catch them."