When it comes to baits, bullheads and smaller cats respond well to wigglers, night crawlers, cut baitfish, clams, mussels, chicken liver, shrimp, cheese, small dead minnows, or an array of commercially prepared catfish baits. Discerning diners they're not!

If the trophy-class channels, blues and flatheads are your target, you can forget the above. Top baits for the bruisers include blue crab quarters, live shiners, eels, or bream, or any of the latter three in a freshly dead state. For flatheads, few things beat a live redbreast sunfish.

Once you're geared up, here are some of the Sunshine State's best waters on which to put them to use.

ST. JOHNS RIVER BASIN
For anglers along the state's east coast, the St. Johns River is one of the biggest and best catfish factories in Florida. Both bullhead species are present just about anywhere, while channel cats prowl the open waters. White cats, although not as abundant as the others, also show up in angler creels.

Catfish do well in rivers, and at over 300 miles in length, the St. Johns is a big one that hosts cats along its entire length. Targeting the best portion, however, requires moving to the section between Lake George and the Buckman Bridge on Interstate 295 at Orange Park.

Based upon creel surveys, this is the top section of the stream. The reasons aren't hard to figure out -- it offers not only the deepest holes, but the best spawning sites. Combine the two and "Catfish Heaven" results. Here's how to tap into it.

The top cat fishing starts in Lake George itself. Although it lacks any significant depths below 13 to 14 feet, it boasts a good population of bullheads and channel cats. The former can be scattered around the edges of the lake's extensive grass beds, but the channel cats -- at least during June and July -- are far easier to target. Just concentrate your efforts on any stand of offshore pilings in 5 to 8 feet of water. Mature channel cats spawn this time of year and seek out a cluttered, wood-laden bottom at a comfortable depth in which to nest.

That's in short supply on this lake, except for the old pilings. The posts draw big channel catfish, and this writer has been surprised on many occasions when a diving crankbait banged through the pilings for bass or stripers resulted in an 8- to 12-pound channel cat -- even during the middle of the day.

The smaller catfish rank high among those who enjoy them on the table as much as on the end of their line. They usually skin them, fry them whole, and eat them like ears of corn. If those are your targets, move northward in the river and concentrate your efforts on mid-river shell bars. There are a number of such structures between Hogg Island at the northern end of Lake George and the Buckman Bridge. Most hold channel cats in the 8- to 14-inch range, along with white cats. Bouncing wigglers or commercial baits along the bottom on an outgoing tide will attract them.