Interspersed throughout the area are a number of deeper 20-foot-plus holes, where the larger channels and whites in the area spend the day. But for big channels, a better bet is to move to the major tributaries. For spawning catfish, a quiet back creek with a wealth of fallen timber is a premier bedding site, and they migrate to them.

One of the best sites is the Oklawaha River below Rodman Dam, but anglers in the Middleburg area shouldn't overlook Black Creek. Both are winding, timber-laden streams with numerous deeper holes on the outside bends and a maze of intersecting tide creeks. They hold a resident population of all the local catfish species throughout the year, but see an influx of big spawning channel cats from the main river during the early to mid-summer months.

During daylight hours, one of the most productive techniques is to anchor on the up-current side of one of the deeper outside-bend holes. The best ones are those with fallen wood on the bottom. Drop your bait relatively close to the boat. Let it sit for a few minutes, then strip out some line to let it drift 15 or 20 feet further down the hole. Repeat this procedure until the entire hole has been covered.

At the same time, chumming won't hurt. A few handfuls of cut baitfish dropped over the side can help wake the fish up.

Most common catfish baits work, but when pursuing the bigger channel cats, local experts favor a quarter of a cut blue crab, a live shiner, or a hand-sized live bream.

Another top spot is the hole at the mouth of any feeder creek. The creeks are where many cats spawn, and a few of them can often be stacked up at the mouth waiting for Mother Nature's call to send them in.

For the truly adventurous, another option is sight-fishing bedding cats in the shallow back creeks themselves. If rainfall has been scanty, those back creeks can be surprisingly clear. With a quality set of polarized sunglasses, anglers can actually spot spawning cats sticking their noses out from their beds in submerged fallen timber. Once a cat is spotted, it calls for sight-casting with the same weedless soft-plastic baits you'd use to fish for bass. Even a 20-pound cat can get ticked off, and the resulting battle in a narrow creek can be something to remember!

Six-mile long Dunns Creek, connecting Crescent Lake to the St. Johns River, is another excellent option -- and for the same reason as the rivers. The biggest difference is that this creek is subjected to tidal influence; and some holes produce better on one tide or the other. The same tactics are effective here, but don't overlook the dropoff at the mouth of any of the canals that intersect the stream -- cats spawn in these. Although Dunns Creek isn't very big, it consistently ranks as one of the top summer fishing spots in the state because it draws channel cats from both Crescent Lake and the St. Johns.