Particularly good locations include the 10-mile stretch upstream from the Route 64 boat ramp east of Wynne; and the Sunken Lands area, which covers 30 miles of river between Monette and Marked Tree. Deep holes, outside channel bends, and areas above and below sandbars are good places to fish with favored local baits such as night crawlers, small sunfish and chicken livers.

THE LAKES
As with its rivers, Arkansas has so many good lakes that it is almost impossible to pinpoint the best catfishing action. But no one will go wrong trying the following.

Lake Conway
Lake Conway is located just off Interstate 40 east of Conway. While large fish occur occasionally, you are more likely to find messes of 5- to 15-pounders about anywhere you want to wet a line. The AGFC drew down the 6,700-acre lake in 2006, and as it refills, the bigger cats tend to lie near the mouths of the inundated creeks and within old water-covered lakebeds. Ask dock owners about places like Palarm Creek, Cub Pond and Holts Lake. These are all good places for either trotlines or bank-fishing. Use medium to heavy tackle with live shad and sunfish for bigger blues and flatheads. Most of the locals use commercial baits and even catalpa worms when fishing for channel cats.

Lake Ouachita
Lake Ouachita, which lies just west of Hot Springs, holds some big catfish and is also under-fished. The resident giants -- all three varieties -- get big because of the variety of cover and structure available in this 40,000-acre impoundment. There are numerous deep holes and sharp ledges, mid-lake reaches in open water, dense piles of deep, woody cover and subtle, hard-to-find structures along creek and river channels.

Locals fish mostly at night because of the clarity of the water, which prompts cats to feed during hours of darkness. The current state-record channel cat, a 38-pounder caught in June 1989 by Joe Holliman, came from Lake Ouachita, and a photo floated around the Internet of a 100-pound blue taken there in 2005. While the lake doesn't provide prime habitat for flatheads, fish weighing more than 50 pounds are taken from time to time.

Lake Millwood
Channel cats up to 20 pounds are so abundant in Lake Millwood, a shallow, 29,200-acre Corps impoundment located near Ashdown in southwest Arkansas, that anglers are allowed to keep 20 per day, twice the regular statewide limit. Big blues and flatheads -- 50 pounds and above -- thrive here too. Fish the areas along the two rivers that empty into the lake -- Little River and the Saline River -- for the best action.

Lake Erling
Lake Erling, owned by International Paper, lies within Lafayette WMA down in Lafayette County. Best access to the 7,000-acre facility lies off state Route 160 east from Bradley. This is a relatively shallow lake, with the deeper spots along the old Bodcau Bayou channel providing the best opportunity for both size and numbers. Light tackle with shiners, goldfish, stink baits and catalpa worms are best. While good catfish numbers make for some intense action, this is not a spot for taking real monsters.

White Oak Lake
White Oak Lake is located along state Route 387 southeast of Bluff City in Ouachita County. The lake is known for its bass fishing, which serves to take the pressure off the fine catfish found there. White Oak is actually two lakes in one, with 1,600 acres lying north of Route 387 and 1,000 or so acres lying south.