SOUTH

Lake Calaveras handily panders to the vices of San Antonio catfish mavens. It is one of the most heavily stocked lakes in the state. Loading up on Calaveras channels and blues is fairly easy. Flatheads take a bit more effort, but when you catch one chances are it'll be a doozy.

The numerous sloughs and minor creeks in the western arm are best in spring and fall. Look to the deep water of the main channel in summer and winter.Just a few miles away another catfish haven, Lake Braunig, offers a respite for landlocked anglers. Bank fishing is quite popular on this small, 1,350-acre impoundment. A power plant lake, its fertile waters are warm year-round, creating an extended growing season for both forage and game fish.

Local anglers often employ heavy surf-type equipment to lob offerings well out from shore (which makes all the more sense when you consider that the lake is also stocked with redfish). Cut and live baits are recommended.

To the north, Canyon Lake is arguably the most scenic of Texas waters. As the name implies, it is flanked by steep, rocky bluffs and ridges, with the waters fingering off into a network of canyons and deep cuts. The clear, alkaline waters reach depths of 125 feet.

Look in the canyons and cuts for forage-chasing flatheads and blues, and near channels and ledges for channel cats.

EAST

It is well worth the hour-and-half drive north from Houston to sample the phenomenal catfishing on Lake Livingston. It may be only the second-largest lake located wholly within Texas' borders, but Livingston takes a back seat to no other when it comes to producing channel cats. Most who have fished this expansive, 52-mile-long reservoir say it is the absolute best. There are enough channel cats to warrant a special limit of 50 per day.

If you yearn for something more prodigious in the waistline, how does 114 pounds grab you? That's the Livingston all-tackle record for flathead, a mark that has stood since 1976. Locals say bigger ones have been lost at the boat.

The blue cat record is an equally impressive 78 pounds even, set in 1981. Both are trotline catches, but you stand a good chance of tackling a Sumo wrestler-type on rod and reel if you fish the dam tailrace. Boat access to the tailrace area is blocked by cables, but casting a bait up against the dam from shore is not only possible, but highly productive; some mighty big ones have been caught that way. (This kind of fishing requires equipment with special qualities suited to deliver baits over great distances, and also tough enough to handle whatever you get into. See the magazine for details.)

Live bait such as shad or perch induces an element of suspense to this type of angling -- like Forrest Gump said, "You never know what you're gonna get." Maybe a flathead, maybe a blue or striper, or maybe even a super-largemouth.

Sam Rayburn, the largest lake within Texas' borders, is a well known bass hangout, but it has its share of cats, too. The area generally south of State Highway 147 is reliable for both channel cats and flatheads.

The tailrace below Lake Somerville is another prime area for bank fishing.

Ditto for Lake Steinhagen, where water is released almost continuously year-round, providing currents conducive to channel cat dancing.

If you did not see your favorite whiskerfish haunt listed, please don't write me any letters. Even magazine writers are entitled to keep a few secrets.