His rods are 7-foot medium action with quality baitcasting reels.

The depth he will drift will vary anywhere from shallow water, sometimes less than 6 feet deep, down to 15 to 20 feet deep during this time of the year.

"As the location of the forage fish change, so will the feeding habits of the catfish," Simpson said. "However, I'm usually on the lake several times a week whether I'm guiding or not, so I keep pretty close tabs on the location of the catfish. During this time of the year, there's an excellent chance to catch channel catfish over 10 pounds. The average size fish we'll catch is usually in the 6- to 8-pound class, which is an excellent size channel catfish. Also, on a typical day, we'll usually catch at least 10 to 20 fish, sometimes a lot more."

Simpson added that as for the flatheads, it common to catch 20-pound and larger fish.

Simpson will use his electric motor to keep his boat on course and at the speed of drift he prefers. Usually, a drift speed of less than one mile per hour is good, but a range of anywhere from a half mile per hour to three-quarters of a mile per hour is fine. He uses the GPS on his graph to monitor the speed. A hand-held GPS will also work.

"I like to cover a decent amount of water, but if I get drifting too fast in the cold water, the bite may slow down," he said. "Plus, on some days, it can be very crucial to have just the right speed, so I keep experimenting until I get the speed and depth pattern for the day. "

Simpson will sometimes drift adjacent to the old river or creek channels in the lake, especially if there are some humps and ridges along the way. But much of his fishing is over the flats between the shoreline and the inundated river channel. He prefers flats that have some depth changes on the bottom, to give the catfish some identifiable places to which they can orient.

"This also helps me stay on fish if I can identify a specific type of spot they prefer on a given day," he said. "If I can get on a pattern in an area that produces several fish and then the fishing slows down, I usually know several more places with a very similar bottom situation we can immediately go try. Usually that works out real well."

When the water temperature dips down really cold, especially during January and part of February, the best fishing can be from an anchored position. Simpson has found a number of places through the years that produce very well in this situation.

"When the water temperature really gets cold, the catfish won't move as much to feed," he said. "The big catfish will begin to orient to humps along the river channel ledge and will often get into some sort of woody debris such as brushpiles at this time of the year. I have very specific spots I'll anchor and cast to these specific targets."