People fish near the Old River Lock and the Old River Control Structures near Simmesport with deep-sea rods and heavy sinkers. They place huge baits in the eddies and backwaters. They regularly catch 30- to 40-pound blues, but sometimes land 70- to 80-pounders. Tommy P. Soileau landed an 84-pound blue cat near the Old River Control Structure in January 1981.

For numbers, Hickman recommended Lake St. John, an old oxbow off the Mississippi River. It produces many channel catfish in the 1- to 3-pound range. People might also fish Lake Concordia, another ancient oxbow. Although some of these oxbows no longer connect directly to the Mississippi River, they still hold good populations of catfish surviving from when the river flowed through these channels.

“Catfishing has been good on Lake St. John,” Hickman said. “In the spring, St. John is always good for smaller channel catfish, but it does have some big flatheads in it. Lake Concordia also has some good channel cats and flatheads. Lake Bruin has some bigger catfish, but for numbers, St. John is hard to beat in this part of the state.”

Looking to get away from the crowds? Try Lake Louis, a 1,000-acre lake near Sicily Island. Lake Louis connects with the Ouachita River through Bayou Louis. It contains healthy populations of channels and blues, but it also produces some flatheads exceeding 30 pounds.

Anglers in northeast Louisiana might also visit Poverty Point Reservoir near Epps. Named for an archaeological dig on the banks of Bayou Macon to study a culture dating back 34 centuries, the 2,700-acre lake offers excellent channel catfish opportunities. The state stocked channel cats soon after creating the lake in 2001. Now, some of those cats weigh 15 pounds or more.

“Poverty Point Reservoir should produce a lot of catfish this spring,” said Mike Wood, an LDWF biologist in Monroe. “It's a shad-based impoundment. When an impoundment has a good shad population, it has a good crappie population and a good catfish population. It doesn't have any blues or flatheads, but many channel catfish are exceptional in size. The lake has many 4- to 6-pound fish, but it also has a lot of 10- to 15-pound fish.”

Anglers might also fish Lake D'Arbonne. About 13 1/2 miles long and a mile and a half wide, the 13,600-acre lake contains abundant catfish cover. Flooded timber dominates some parts of the lake. Grassy flats also provide good hiding places for big whiskerfish.

“Lake D'Arbonne is also a great channel catfish lake,” Wood said. “It has many 3- to 4-pound fish. It also has an excellent population of flatheads up to 50 pounds. It doesn't have many blue cats.”