Channel cats like the one shown here are abundant throughout the state. Photo by Keith Sutton

Trying to predict what catfishing will be like in the Natural State this year is a simple task: Arkansas catfishing is great and will continue to get better.

Our state has produced more 100-pound-plus blue cats in the past decade than any other. Flatheads from 50 to 80 pounds surface with astounding regularity. Fishing for channel cats continues to improve as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission maintains and improves populations with continual stockings. The only bad news as far as catfishing goes is the discovery of mercury in catfish from some south Arkansas waters such as Felsenthal Reservoir. And even that won't stop the growing cadre of catfish fanatics who are practicing catch-and-release fishing.

Here's my forecast for catfishing prospects in a variety of waters scattered throughout the state. Although catfish swim in all waters of the state except the cold trout tailwaters, the lakes and rivers listed below deserve close attention. Some rate better than others because of their potential for producing lots of "eating-sized" cats, but also in the mix are several waters that have the potential to produce a new state-record, or perhaps even world-record, catfish. You could be the lucky angler who catches that record fish.

BIG RIVERS
The big bottomland rivers of the state continue to be the best waters for numbers and size of catfish. At the top of the list is the Mississippi River, perhaps the No. 1 body of water in the U.S. in terms of trophy potential for blue cats. Several 100-pound-plus blues have been taken in recent years, including the 116-pound, 12-ounce former world record caught at West Memphis by Charles Ashley Jr. in August 2001. In my humble opinion, it's only a matter of time before someone catches another world record here, one that will top the 121.5-pound fish from Lake Texoma, Texas.

Giant flatheads also inhabit the Mississippi, throughout its length along the Arkansas border. And if catching loads of channel cats is your idea of fun, there's no better place.

Local anglers say the St. Francis River between Lake City and Marianna has been making a comeback in recent years, and I've spoken to anglers who've been nabbing some extraordinary flatheads from deep holes in the Cross County portion of the river. Keep an eye on this spot. The two river junctions -- St. Francis/Mississippi and St. Francis/L'Anguille -- tend to offer exceptional catfishing, especially in late fall, winter and early spring.

The Arkansas River is the undisputed queen of Arkansas catfishing waters. No other body of water in the Natural State has produced as many record-book cats, and catfishing continues to be excellent year-round throughout the entire length of the river from Ft. Smith to the river's mouth near Yancopin.

The best bets continue to be the tailwater stretches below the dams, especially the tailwater of Ozark-Jeta Taylor Lock & Dam south of Ozark, the tailwater below Dardanelle Lock & Dam near Russellville, the tailwater below Murray Lock & Dam and the North Little Rock Hydroelectric Plant at Little Rock.

The tailwater below Wilbur Mills Dam (Dam 2) on the Arkansas' lower end below Tichnor is also ideal. When the gates are open, especially during high-water periods in spring, all these areas have the potential for producing a new state- or world-record flathead or blue, and each of these areas produces astounding numbers of small catfish year after year.

A sleeper honey hole is the stretch immediately below David D. Terry Lock & Dam, where Bruce and Mackey Sayre caught the biggest flathead ever recorded, a 139-pound, 14-ounce fish taken in May 1982.