The Sunken Lands are scattered along 30 miles of river from Monette to Marked Tree. A flatbottom boat with a small outboard is the primary mode of travel for catfishermen here. Boats can be launched at three concrete ramps -- one at Stevens Landing east of Trumann, one at Oak Donnick south of Tulot and one at Siphons north of Marked Tree. Signs on U.S. Route 63 mark turnoffs for each access.

St. Francis National Forest WMA lies 80 miles south of the Sunken Lands. The area’s eastern edge is in the low, flat land along the St. Francis, L’Anguille and Mississippi rivers. Catfish on this end of the river tend to run a bit larger, and it’s not unusual to catch 30- to 40-pounders. There’s likely to be more action, too, because the Mississippi River, a mother lode of giant flatheads, is just a skip and a hop downstream. The two river junctions -- St. Francis/Mississippi and St. Francis/L’Anguille -- tend to offer exceptionally good flathead fishing.

Look for St. Francis River flatheads near breaklines in river bottom structure. Deep holes, outside channel bends, and areas above and below sandbars are good places to fish. The portion of the river traversing the Sunken Lands also has numerous logjams where flatheads head. Live bream (less than 4 inches) are the preferred bait.

WHITE RIVER
The White is another of Arkansas’ premier flathead rivers. It has its narrow beginnings in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas and flows on a zigzag course for 690 miles to its junction with the Mississippi. However, due to the cold-water discharges of lakes Bull Shoals and Norfork, the really superb White River catfishing doesn’t begin until you reach Clarendon in Monroe County. Boat access is available in White River National Wildlife Refuge, at St. Charles and other locations along the river.

Outside bends of the river are among the most productive hotspots, especially where trees have toppled into the water and the river has gouged deeply into the bank forming undercuts. Potholes or slight depressions in the river bottom also tend to concentrate flatheads, as do the upstream sides of underwater humps, and shallow flats and drops near tributary mouths. Live fish like green sunfish, goldfish, shiners and carp are the best baits.

Rod-and-reelers will find the best White River catfishing along the lower 10 miles from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers barge canal to the Mississippi River. There’s good access for bank and boat fishermen alike at Norrell Lock and Dam, eight miles south of Tichnor. This section of the White contains dropoffs, holes, brush, bends and other structure attractive to flatheads.

LAKE HINKLE
Lake Hinkle, 12 miles west of Waldron, typifies a superb flathead catfish lake. About 70 percent of this 960-acre lake is flooded timber. Dead snags, stumps and submerged treetops provide an abundance of the protective cover the flathead prefers.

Creek channels, several small ponds, inundated roadways and flooded fencerows are among the bottom features of this west Arkansas lake. All these features are used by structure-oriented flatheads. Hinkle also provides a dense population of prime flathead forage -- shad, small minnows, crawdads and small sunfish -- allowing the cats to reach extraordinary sizes. Thirty- to 40-pound flatheads are fairly common, but the possibility of hooking a much larger fish is excellent.

Many catters concentrate their efforts in deeper water near the dam. This area is preferred for two primary reasons. First, it has more open, snag-free water, thus providing a better chance of landing a heavyweight fish; and second, a caged fish-rearing operation adjacent the dam creates a zone of extremely fertile, forage-filled water that attracts many giant flatheads. Preferred baits include live crawdads for smaller flatheads and small, live bream for trophy fish.