PHOTO BY ANTHONY GARITTA

"Grand slam" is a general sports term applied when achieving something special. Generally a grand slam is associated with achieving at least four feats simultaneously or in succession.

Hunters can achieve a grand slam by bagging all four types of North America's wild sheep (Dall, Stone, Rocky Mountain bighorn and desert bighorn) or the continent's four wild turkey subspecies (Osceola, eastern, Merriam's and Rio Grande). In saltwater fishing, a grand slam is when a single angler catches three different types of billfish in one day, and a super grand slam occurs when four species have been landed.

A grand slam is a singular feat regardless of how long it takes to achieve. It involves careful planning, considerable time and travel, at least a modest degree of good fortune, and even when done by the most budget-conscious of sportsmen, considerable cost.

But not all grand slams require a huge investment of money and travel to exotic destinations. For example, if you enjoy catfishing, it is possible to achieve a grand slam this summer right here in Arkansas. To do this you must land the state's four types of catfish: channel cat, blue cat, flathead and bullhead. You can achieve this simple, but fun, feat by visiting the following four whiskerfish hotspots and applying your knowledge of cat-catching.

CHANNEL CATS: WHITE OAK LAKE
A premier producer of giant channel cats is White Oak Lake in south-central Arkansas. White Oak is actually two lakes in one because a dam crosses the middle of the lake to form two separate bodies of water. The north end contains 1,645 acres; the south end 1,031 acres.

Proof of White Oak's potential for producing gargantuan channel cats came to light in 1985. Until March 28 of that year, the state-record channel cat was a 19-pound, 12-ounce fish taken from a nearby farm pond. But Maxine Bryant of Chidester changed all that.

Bryant wasn't fishing especially for cats. Rather, as she explained it, she was fishing for "just whatever was biting." She was fishing a worm on a No. 4 hook when she hooked a big one that managed to break loose. But not to be outdone, she continued fishing, and an hour later, she managed to hook and land a whopping 22-pound, 14-ounce channel cat, breaking the old record by 3 pounds, 2 ounces.

Ironically, just a few days later, Eddie Allen of Bluff City landed a 22-pound channel cat from the same area near the dam and spillway that separates the upper and lower lakes.

Relatively light catfishing pressure allows the lake's channel cats to reach extraordinary sizes, and the angler who knows how to catch them can still bring in some record-class fish. A regular lake fertilization program simply adds to the big fish possibilities.

The area on the lake where the two big cats were taken is especially productive because of water-control structures built there. Water flows from the upper lake into an outflow channel, through an overflow tower and out a pipe. Water churns up in that area between two jetties. Channel cats are attracted to the spot because water flushes out a lot of nutrients, and there's a great deal of forage running with the current. And they grow larger and smarter with each season that rolls by. Other hotspots include bottom creek channels, Christmas tree shelters, riprapped banks and timbered reaches.

How should you go about catching one of these monstrous White Oak channel cats? Try small pieces of cut bait such as shad or skipjack herring threaded five or six at a time on a big hook, or a dozen or so night crawlers done likewise. Fish with a tight line or beneath a bobber, using tackle to match the fish you're after.