“The Mississippi River and its backwater lakes are great places to catch huge flatheads, blues and channel cats,” said David Hickman, an LDWF biologist in Ferriday. “We catch 40- to 50-pound cats each year in our net sampling. The Black and Ouachita rivers also produce a lot of big blues and flatheads.”

TROPHY WATERS
Some of the best trophy catfishing is to be had at the convergence near Simmesport of the three major river systems. Bearing the silt that inspired its name, the Red River flows down from the Great Plains between Texas and Oklahoma, across Louisiana and into the Mississippi River through a series of managed channels and control structures. Taking 30 percent of the flow from the Mississippi, the Atchafalaya actually breaks off from the Red at the Lower Old River channel and heads toward the Gulf of Mexico at Morgan City. Near the Old River Control Structure, Tommy P. Soileau landed an 84-pound blue cat in January 1981.

Some oxbow lakes off the Mississippi River also harbor abundant catfish. Lake St. John, Lake Concordia and Lake Bruin produce many channel cats in the 1- to 3-pound range. Anglers might also consider Lake Louis, a 1,000-acre lake near Sicily Island. Connecting with the Ouachita River through Bayou Louis, Lake Louis contains good populations of channels and blues, with some flatheads reaching 30 pounds.

Upstream on the Mississippi River, the swirling currents hold as many or more catfish, but anglers find little access to the Father of Waters there. In northeast Louisiana, anglers typically fish the Ouachita River or impoundments such as Poverty Point Reservoir and Lake D’Arbonne.

The state stocked channel cats -- but not blues or flatheads -- in the 2,700-acre Poverty Point Reservoir near Epps soon after creating the lake in 2001. The lake now produces outstanding catches for the few people who actually target catfish, among those being many channel cats in the 4- to 6-pound range and some exceeding 15 pounds.

“Poverty Point is excellent for channel catfish,” said Mike Wood, an LDWF biologist in Monroe. “People catch a lot of channel cats over 10 pounds. We stocked it, but catfish are spawning as well. It has a very heavy shad population and excellent habitat for catfish. At Poverty Point, catfish are almost ignored. People focus on crappie and don’t fool with catfish that much, but it has some great fishing.”

About 13 1/2 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide, Lake D’Arbonne drains a watershed more than 75 times its own 13,600 acres. Full of grassy flats, channels and flooded timbers, the lake contains exceptional catfish habitat, often yielding channel cats in the 2- to 5-pound range and some flatheads breaking 50 pounds.

“On any flat, people can expect to find catfish at Lake D’Arbonne,” Wood said. “D’Arbonne also has a large population of flatheads, but few blue cats. In September 2008, we’ll draw down Lake D’Arbonne by about 5 feet. It’s not targeted specifically to catfish, but the drawdown mimics the natural fall fluctuations and dries out some areas. It concentrates the fish and forage in a confined area, benefiting predacious fish.”

RED RIVER CATS
Across the state, the Red River offers some of the best catfish waters in northwest or central Louisiana. Water-control structures divided the once raging river into five pools between Shreveport and Simmesport. Each pool can produce excellent blue and flathead action. In 2004, Dwight Hendrickson landed a 93-pound blue near Lock 5 on the Red River.