September has arrived in Northwest Florida, but the Escambia River has not received the message that summer catfishing should be winding down. The current Escambia River channel catfish bite remains strong, and the more useful story is not which bait … Read the rest
Author: Tony Ray
How Florida Catfish Tournament Teams Can Build A Better Practice Day In 2026
A productive Florida catfish tournament practice day should answer more than one question. Finding fish matters, but tournament teams need to learn which water levels, depths, bait presentations and travel routes make those fish repeatable. A single large flathead found … Read the rest
Summer Catfish Deep Holes: Why Current Beats Depth
Florida anglers have been taught for generations to find the deepest water in August and put a bait on the bottom. That advice is not useless, but it becomes dangerous when summer catfish deep holes are treated as automatic fish … Read the rest
Florida Just Refreshed Big Catch—How Big Does a Catfish Need to Be to Qualify?
Florida’s Big Catch program has a new look, and for catfish anglers the useful question is wonderfully simple: how big does a fish actually need to be? A Florida Big Catch catfish does not have to threaten a state record, … Read the rest
Why FWC’s 2026 Catfish Top Spots Should Change How Florida Tournament Anglers Scout Water
Florida catfish anglers have an unusually useful scouting tool in 2026: a statewide list built by fisheries biologists rather than social-media reports or yesterday’s dock talk. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has identified waters across the state that … Read the rest
Suwannee River Blue Catfish Are Still Running Big
Florida’s new blue catfish record could have been dismissed as one extraordinary fish in one extraordinary moment. The problem with that explanation is that Suwannee River blue catfish have kept showing up at heavyweight sizes months after the record was … Read the rest
Walking Catfish Are Still Spreading Through Florida—And Anglers Need to Know What They’re Catching
Walking catfish in Florida are not a new invader, but they remain easy to misidentify and even easier to handle incorrectly. The issue for anglers is not panic over a fish that has been here for decades; it is recognizing … Read the rest
Lake Harris Is Getting New Underwater Vegetation—Catfish Anglers Should Watch the Edges, Not Just the Plants
Lake Harris catfish habitat is entering a deliberate rebuilding phase, but catfish anglers should resist the temptation to treat newly planted vegetation as an instant fishing spot. Eight floating enclosures installed across Lake Harris and Little Lake Harris are designed … Read the rest
Florida’s Boater Freedom Act Is Changing On-Water Stops—What Catfish Tournament Anglers Should Know
Florida Boater Freedom Act fishing rules have changed one part of tournament day: state officers generally can no longer stop or board a vessel solely to conduct a routine safety-equipment inspection. For catfish competitors, that can mean fewer interruptions on … Read the rest
Training Regimens for Mastering Positioning Techniques in Sport Fishing
Have you ever noticed how the sportfishing world is like a reality dating show? Everyone wants to be the top without learning the basics. It’s not just about giving someone a rod and expecting them to become Captain Ahab right … Read the rest