Expert catfishing advice

Andy Smith of Greene County has fished the Pascagoula for more than 30 years and has some advice for those fishing the river for the first time.

“First, I prefer fishing trot-lines and use cut bait just about all the time,” Smith said. “Deer hearts, frozen in blood is my top choice. The line of baits sends a blood scent down the river and attracts the catfish. If I run low on the hearts I’ll use cut mullet, shad, or bream.”

Smith has found a 1/0 hook to his liking and weights the 50-drop trot line itself rather than weighting each individual hook set. Weights range from discarded disc hub bearings to old brake rotors.

“I pick up pieces of chain on the road, but if the game warden sees the chain in the boat he is going to be thinking I have a “phoning” (illegal fishing method) operation going,” Smith said, adding that it can delay his fishing. “He’ll search the boat and then I go back to fishing.”

Smith said he prefers the river on a slow rise or slow fall, and spring and fall are better than summer as the best time to set lines. With a dozen children and grandchildren living in close proximity, Smith’s fishing weekends often turn into a week or more.

“We use the fish from the river as a major source of food and grow much of the other food we eat,” Smith said. “We freeze and can our own vegetables, hunt and naturally fish. If we have another (Hurricane) Katrina, we may not live in the lap of luxury, but we won’t go hungry.”

Smith pointed out that he, like other fishermen around the state are doing, cuts the tails off the catfish they catch to eat, allowing the fish to bleed out. That greatly reduces the red meat just under the skin. If there is any yellow meat, or fat along the back, it is removed too.

“A couple of times a year, when the tides are high in August, September or October we go to Vancleave and camp and spend a few days fishing for specks, reds and flounder down-river,” Smith said. “The fun there is in all the things we catch.

“Some of them, like the hardheads, I keep to salt down and use for bait later, back up the river. We never get skunked, but the fishing is definitely better early in the morning and late in the evening.”

The Pascagoula River is a pristine ecosystem, a vibrant fishery, and a reactional paradise. It has a good population of alligators, so if you decide to camp on a sandbar keep an eye on children and pets.