This is a very disappointing book. Anyone who has read Phillips' columns in magazines such as Southern Sporting Journal will recognize many passages that have been lifted almost verbatim from his other writings. There isn't much new here, there aren't really many secrets shared, and the presentation isn't all that masterful.
Phillips writes in very general terms about tools and tactics that can be used to fish for catfish, the second most popular target for American anglers. He avoids details to a fault, for instance glossing over the fact that tactics well suited for catching blue catfish aren't likely to work well when fishing for flatheads, and vice vera. The important discussion of catfish baits is similarly sweeping. Judging from this book, one might think that all it takes to catch a catfish is a smelly bait. Nothing could be further from the truth. Stink baits certainly will work for bullheads and smaller channel catfish. But larger cats, especially flatheads, have a pronounced preference for live baitfish, such as shiner minnows, and generally ignore any other offerings.
There are other problems, as well. While Phillips does an excellent job of explaining how to fish for catfish in tailraces, the leader is left to infer that tailraces are areas below a dam fed by cool water from the bottom of the lake above the dam. Similarly, he leaps into an interview with Carl Lowrance (inventor of the depth finder) about fishing the thermocline (a zone of transition between warm and cold water that occurs up in large lakes in the summer) without telling the reader what the thermocline is or how to locate it.
The book isn't wholly without merit. For example, Phillips devotes an entire chapter to the excellent channel catfish fishery on the Red River of the North. This fishery is often overlooked by anglers in the eastern US. (Still, one wishes he had provided as much detail about other well-known catfish fisheries, such as the Santee-Cooper system in South Carolina). For another, the section listing several tasty recipes for cooking catfish is quite useful. Last, and by no means least, Phillips' folksy writing style is fun to read, even when it isn't conveying much useful information.
There are better sources of information about fishing for catfish. Channel Catfish Fever, edited by Doug Stange of In-Fisherman magazine is one such source, while In-Fisherman's annual Catfish Guide is another.
