So many waters, so many catfish and so little time to fish them all! But whether you prefer to catch skillet-sized whiskerfish or monster cats, the opportunity is right at your back door, regardless of where you live in Texas.

It shouldn't be surprising that catfish rank as the No. 2 game fish in Texas behind the largemouth bass. Or should it? After all, most bass anglers these days go after their quarry driving expensive boats and vehicles and invest heavily in the latest electronics, rods and reels and lures to catch a fish that very few of them take home to sit down and enjoy at the dinner table.

There's certainly nothing wrong with that, unless some bass harvesting is needed for the sake of the particular fishery, but there should be little argument about the sometimes-ancient tactics used to catch catfish or the delicious taste of their flesh whether fried, blackened or grilled.

Your opportunities to catch large numbers of pan-sized channel and blue catfish are just as numerous as are those for catching trophy-sized flatheads and blue cats. And that holds true from the Pineywoods of East Texas, the scenic, rugged Hill Country and the cacti-infested flats and canyons of West Texas, to the Coastal Plains of South Texas or the prairie grasslands of North Texas.

To help you decide where to go to enjoy the best catfishing waters found in the Lone Star State, let's take a look at what's out there and consider the many methods you can use to "load the boat" with these tasty game fish.

Actually, you won't need a boat on some of our choicest catfish waters -- just a bucket of punch bait or box of shrimp and whatever type of pole or rod and reel you prefer. That's part of what's so great about catfish. You can catch them on a pauper's equipment and then eat like royalty.

Let's begin our voyage down the path to Texas' great catfish waters on the shallow waters of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, beginning at an access point near the Highway 6 Bridge near Lueders north of Abilene. Typically, running water is the key to unlocking this relatively little-known channel and flathead catfish fishery. Good rains in late April and May can transform the Clear Fork's shallows into a limbliner's dream come true. Access at the Lueders Bridge is for johnboats, canoes and other small craft only.

You can go as far downriver and back from the bridge as you are physically allowed, but the first two to four miles provide some of the best water depths (about 3 to 4 feet) and overhanging willows. I fished the area for the first time a few years ago while making a 32-day canoe trip with a friend down the river. For bait, I used the hearts of squirrels and the livers of bullfrogs, but cut bait, shrimp or chicken liver will work just as well.