That's exactly what I planned to do when I met Gus on the morning of our trip. Soon after getting onto the open water, the graph displayed a solid reading from the surface down to the 14-foot depth. This was a mass of baitfish, according to Gus. As we continued over the school of shad, the recorder indicated we were also passing over an underwater hump. The graph drew the unmistakable inverted "Vs" indicative of larger fish below the shad. In fact, the unit recorded so many fish it was almost scary.

"Better loosen up the old muscles, 'cause you're about to start working out," came the warning from my partner. "And remember, you're on your own, I'm not planning on doing anything but watch," he continued.

Once the rods were rigged and the baits lowered, all was quiet for about three minutes. Gus just sat in the front of the boat smiling. In retrospect, I know now what he was thinking.

First a rod to my left took a nosedive toward the water. As I snatched it, a rod to my right arched down, then the one where I was originally standing took a deep bow. Within a couple of seconds, I had managed to miss all three fish. Before I could re-bait any of those rods, another one went down and I managed to set the hook solidly into a nice catfish. While playing that one, I missed strikes on the remaining two rods.

"I'd have to give the first round to the cats," Gus said. "One catfish caught, five missed. You're gonna have to average better than that," he said.

After all the rods were re-baited, I dropped the shad down again and the process of fast strikes was repeated, only this time there wasn't any waiting time. At one point I had three fish hooked, and two of the other rods were bent down with fish I couldn't get to. To shorten this story, I did catch all the catfish I could handle and I was hooked on cold-weather catfish action for good.

This extraordinary fishing isn't a freakish occurrence: It happens annually when the water temperature reaches a certain mark on its downward plunge. This type of action has become an accepted pattern of fishing during midwinter for the last several years at lakes Marion and Moultrie.

Another guide who has fished those cold-weather catfish for years is Don Drose. Drose specializes in stripers and catfish on lakes Marion and Moultrie. He notes that during the fall and early winter, when the striper fishing begins to slow, the catfish begin to crank into high gear.

"It's good timing for fishermen in that when the water gets cold enough, then the striper action, particularly topwater schooling action, slows. The shad get so congregated and sluggish the catfish really begin to gang up on the threadfin schools. Not only blue catfish, but many big flatheads are taken during this time of the year as well," Drose said.

The keys to success are simple but strict, according to Drose. A combination of underwater structure, such as hump or channel ledge or dropoff, and shad are the primary keys to locating the huge schools of catfish. During this time of the year, locating the structure and bait together creates the best chance for success. Structure alone will hold some fish, as will a large school of shad drifting over open water. But the potential to score the heaviest catches, Drose notes, occurs when forage and structure are found together.