Anglers who bring or rent boats should find a sunken treetop, anchor almost right over it, and then drop a line right into the branches, Turner recommended. “You’ll need heavy line,” he cautioned, “because if you get a bite, you’re going to have to wrench him out of there.” Many boat fishermen use a weedless setup for this heavy cover.

The state lake system in general and those lakes’ catfish in particular are perfect for a family fishing outing with the children. “Generous patience” is Turner’s best recommendation for what to bring for families fishing with kids.

“Whenever you talk about fishing with kids, you need to talk about patience,” he emphasized. “Our lakes are good spots to take kids. They’re open, they’re clean and there are places for them to run and let off some steam.

“Our fishing piers are very amenable to fishing with kids. It puts anglers in close proximity to a concentration of fish.”

Casting a line or two from the bank is also a good choice for kids, because it gives them room to move around. If the fish aren’t biting, they can wander around, catch a lizard and generally act like kids.

The fun part of fishing for kids is, of course, catching fish! Turner recommended throwing out one pole for bluegills and another baited for catfish. Kids like to see the bobber go under and have a fish on the line, no matter what size or species it is.

“Most kids aren’t going to be happy sitting for two or three hours to catch two fish,” Turner said. “They want to go fishing and catch eight or 10 bluegill and one good catfish.”

Catfish can put up quite a fight, and catching one bigger fish is really an event for most kids.

Once kids reach the age of 10 or 12 (especially if they’ve spent some time fishing), go ahead and concentrate on catching larger cats. Until then, just focus on catching fish -- the more the better.

After nearly 60 years of continuous operation, the state fishing lakes are still a great destination for beginners, families and experienced anglers alike. The DWFF offers an excellent brochure that gives details on each of the lakes, including directions to the facility, the lake manager’s phone number and special features of each area. You can request one of these brochures or other information by calling (334) 242-3471.

All of this information is also available on the DCNR Web site at www.outdooralabama.com. From there, click on the Fishing link, then click on the State Fishing Lakes link to access a wealth of information on the lake system.

As noted above, be sure to call ahead before embarking on your trip to ensure that the lake’s open, and to find out what’s biting. Other than that, it’s time to load up the truck and check out some of Alabama’s best catfishing spots!