Catfishin

Question
Its early May and where I fish(a small river, where I wade) there are rocky shoals. About 20 yards down from the shoals there is a deep hole, about 15x15ft. Do you think this would hold catfish, this time of year? I've seen carp swimming in and out of it, but no catfish. I've not attempted to catfish it yet. I thought it might hold em' because the shoals wash Hellgrammites and crawdads out from under rocks.(especially when the water is low). Thanks.

Answer
Your assessment of the situation is great. Yes cats will hold there. The most active will hold right at the end of the water current. The largest will be in deep water most of the time, but will move shallow to take advantage of any inflow of food. A good way to activate a feeding frenzy is to toss some dog good, the dry kind into the water. When the carp move up the cats will be underneath them. Toss a worm or a small bluegill or minnow in.
If the dog food does not activate a feeding frenzy then try some bait fishing on the bottom. The fish though not active might still hit the bait.
Hot Dogs, Marshmallows, Stink Bait, etc. will work on cats.
Jim