Catfishing in the shade at Lake Tawakoni

Catching catfish at Lake Tawakoni is usually not a problem for savvy anglers, especially in the summertime. This is when eater size channel catfish are attracted to holes baited with soured grain like hogs to a trough but catching them in comfort this time of the year can be a challenge. I don’t need to remind any of you how hot it gets fishing from a stationary boat with the sun beaming down!

 Through the years, I have spent many hours catfishing during the summer months, tied up to a dead tree or on anchor in deep water with only a wide brimmed hat and sun screen for protection from the sun. During our trip last week, Hanson and I enjoyed catching limits of good eating “channels” from the comfort of deep shade.

 Hanson has a moto, “fish smart, not hard” and after a couple decades of guiding clients strictly for catfish, he has figured out exactly how to do just that! We fished under the new Two Mile Bridge that spans an arm of Tawakoni. The long span of concrete obviously provides plenty of shade from one end of the bridge to the other and the many bridge columns attract everything from baitfish to game fish that move in for the easy pickings.  I did a rough calculation and found that the new bridge  provides about ten acres of shade! What more could a summer angler wish for? Lots of catfish? Not a problem, on our outing they began biting the instant we dropped our punch bait into the water and continued until we caught our limit. 

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