But for those not wanting to make private land connections, there's likely more public land opportunity for catching catfish in moving water than any other species. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has a Fishing Impoundment and Stream Habitat Program that leases private waters for public access. In addition to ponds and watersheds, many miles of small streams and larger rivers are leased for fishing. There's also the Community Fisheries Assistance Program, which pays small city and county lakes to open their waters to public access. Both of these programs offer catfish anglers tons of angling opportunity. Anglers can find more information on the FISH Program or CFAP by checking the KDWP Web site at www.kdwp.state.ks.us for maps and other details of the popular programs.

In addition to these programs, Kansas boasts more than 20 reservoirs with plenty of public access. Many have major tributaries feeding them with either state or federally owned government land surrounding them. Dozens of state-owned, small fishing lakes are scattered from east to west and the small feeder streams and creeks supplying water to these can be terrific catfishing options.

Like any type of fishing, certain weather conditions can be more conducive to catching channel catfish on moving water. Huge summer thunderstorms producing torrential rains may ruin fishing for some species, but not the whiskered ones. Big channel catfish come to life to feed on the buffet of tasty morsels washed into their home as a result of the run-off.

"It can be incredible," said Randy Benteman of the fishing after a summer toad-strangler. "It's a great time to catch big channel catfish."

A Natural Resource Officer for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Benteman has been catching channel catfish since he started fishing nearly four decades ago.

"I was 8 years old when I started channel cat fishing," Benteman recalls. "There was a guy down the street that took me along as a mentor-type thing, and I had my first experiences on the upper end of the Delaware River above Perry Reservoir."

Benteman's favorite catfishing occurs during the first few weeks of June on aesthetically pleasing summer float or wade trips on small Kansas rivers and creeks. But he's quick to admit he's also partial to catching channel catfish after a summer storm near his home in central Kansas.

"You're going to catch more fish after the rains and the rises," Benteman says. "I mean, they're biting and eating and sometimes it's boom, boom, boom and you're catching fish."

This type of fishing is catching on according to Benteman. "The more knowledgeable, hardcore fishermen know that when you get a rise you've got that food supply coming in. And the catfish know that, too, and they're all going to move either because they're displaced or a lot of them know there's a fresh food supply."

Run-off can provide excellent fishing opportunities in any given body of water, moving or static. Benteman keeps his eye on the weather radar and anxiously watches to see what develops as far as rain potential.

"It used to be you'd just go out and look in the street or the ditches and see if water was running," he said of a rain indicator. "But now with the advance of technology and computers, you've got the Internet and all that information at your fingertips and you can tell how much rain was where, and plan accordingly.

"And the Corps of Engineers' sites for some of the bigger lakes will tell you what the inflow is and those are good things to know, too. Knowledge is the key in knowing that you have enough run-off to fish."

It usually takes several inches of rainfall, especially in dry conditions, to produce enough run-off to create any kind of rise in a river. While some fishermen believe that fishing is good during a rainstorm, and it can be, Benteman waits for things to fall into place.

"It could be two hours before you get a rise," Benteman said. "And when the sun comes out and it gets nice, the creeks and rivers are still running so you've got plenty of opportunity for the next two or three days to catch fish. It tapers off, but the fish will still be holding there and roaming because the food supply is still there."

Benteman targets the upper ends of lakes and reservoirs where the river dumps into the main body of water. The running water in secondary streams or feeder creeks can be ideal spots to find hungry channel catfish as well.