Late summer's 100-degree temperatures and suffocating humidity are perfect catfishing weather. Late summer's 100-degree temperatures and suffocating humidity are perfect catfishing weather. There's no better remedy for summer's heat than sitting under a shady tree on a creek bank waiting for a catfish to bite. In Oklahoma, the most popular catfish species include the blue, channel and flathead catfish. Channel catfish are the most common species, but blue cats inhabit large rivers and reservoirs throughout the state.
Flatheads are also plentiful in the same waters.
They feed primarily by taste and touch with their whiskers, and they are especially active when warm weather coincides with rising water levels. Many anglers use worms, crayfish, prepared baits and cut shad for channel cats, but blues and flatheads, especially the big ones, prefer live bait. Areas with current, especially tailraces, are the best destinations to catch blues and channel cats. Wing dams, such as those that direct current on the Arkansas River, are also very productive. Flatheads, on the other hand, relate very strongly to structure and often gravitate to riprap or sunken timber in deep pockets.