Some of the best trophy catfishing is to be had at the convergence near Simmesport of the three major river systems. The Black and Ouachita rivers also produce a lot of big blues and flatheads." "We catch 40- to 50-pound cats each year in our net sampling. "The Mississippi River and its backwater lakes are great places to catch huge flatheads, blues and channel cats," said David Hickman, an LDWF biologist in Ferriday. ![]() The Red River produced the top two flathead catfish. The Red, Atchafalaya and West Pearl rivers each contributed one monster blue to the top 10. The Mississippi River produced four of the top five blue cats, including the top three landed in Louisiana. Each of these rivers can harbor many blue cats in the 40- to 80-pound range, with some exceeding 100 pounds. The three major systems - the Mississippi, Red and Atchafalaya - provide some of the best catfish action in North America. Indeed, Louisiana's major rivers typically offer the best catfish waters in the state. Harley Rakes caught the 66-pounder near Shreveport in July 1998. The Louisiana flathead record came from the Red River. Channel cats do better in lakes than rivers. Flatheads do quite well in lakes and reservoirs, but also live in rivers. Fishing for flatheads in the daytime is almost a waste of time. "Flatheads do almost all their preying at night. "With their wide mouths, flatheads are eating machines," said Mark McElroy, an LDWF biologist. ![]() Voracious predators, they devour bream at night and hide in logjams or other thick cover during daylight. Also known as "Opelousas cats," "ops" and "spotted cats," flatheads seldom fall to hook-and-line tackle. With squared tails, mottled brown and yellow skin, large foreheads, cavernous mouths and prominent underbites, flatheads don't resemble either blue or channel cats, but they too can weigh more than 100 pounds.
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