The Bell City Canal empties into the Intracoastal Waterway near Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge at Gibbstown and creates an outstanding fishery. In addition, the waterway provides boat access to many once-isolated natural lakes. Most of these canals and lakes hold many blue and channel cats with some big flatheads. Most cats run in the 1- to 3-pound range, but some top 20 pounds.

With its waters flowing through fertile wetlands and numerous tributaries, the Intracoastal Waterway offers catfish a smorgasbord of food. Along the waterway, anglers often find brackish water. Here, they may catch more blue cats, which can better tolerate higher salinity.

"The Intracoastal Waterway has good catfishing and there are hundreds of bayous and canals leading off it," Caldwell said. "Catfish tend to get off the main waterway and lay their eggs in tributaries. The mouths of bayous and canals are really good places to fish."

With uniform banks and scoured bottoms, canals often lack structure. Consequently, catfish congregate wherever they can find structure. Fish along banks, or where small streams feed larger canals. Bridges, pilings and rock riprap also make excellent places in which to seek catfish.

Eastward, the Intracoastal Waterway passes near Lake Salvador southwest of New Orleans. Lake Salvador connects with Lac des Allemands and Lake Cataouatche at the upper end of the Lafourche and Barataria estuaries in Lafourche, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes. This maze of canals and bayous teems with whiskerfish. Freshwater river diversions into the brackish estuary could improve catfishing.

"Lakes Cataouatche and Salvador were historically freshwater environments with extremely high catfish populations," said Mark McElroy, a LDWF biologist. "Due to coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion and other factors, the salinity levels became higher and higher. Consequently, we lost the freshwater environment in that system, especially after the three-year drought a few ago. In my opinion, Lac des Allemands is probably the best catfish lake in the whole United States."

Scarcely 10 feet deep and wildly fertile, 12,000-acre Lac des Allemands and surrounding bayous and canals offer cats all they want. The labyrinth of cypress tangles, bayous, stumps, brushtops, fallen trees and grassy flats fosters the forage base cats need to grow big and fat. Anglers commonly catch 30- to 60-pound blues and flatheads here. Abundant channels nip on lines as well.

"Catfish start spawning in Lac des Allemands in May and continue through September," McElroy said. "Not many lakes in the country have the spawning structure that is in Lac des Allemands. Reproduction potential is superior to any lake in the country. The freshening of that system from the Mississippi River diversion will keep the salinity ranges at a lower level and increase catfish habitat. It has more of each of the three species of catfish per acre than any other lake in Louisiana."

In northeast Louisiana, the Ouachita Rivers flows down from Arkansas through Monroe. One of the most beautiful and overlooked rivers in Louisiana, the Ouachita, offers excellent fishing. Anglers can also find exceptional fishing in the Tensas River and the Boeuf River.

On upland rivers, many anglers find a large sandbar and park their boats. They fish on the downstream side of the sandbar, where water flows a little less swiftly. To attract catfish into the area, they chum with pieces of cut fish, canned pet food, old ground meat or other oily, smelly baits. Like sharks, catfish use their extraordinary sensory powers to home in on morsels from long distances.