Three state-record flathead catfish also came from the Arkansas. That's reason enough to keep crowing about this river's outstanding fishing for jumbo cats. The largest was an 86-pound, 15-ounce giant taken at Dardanelle Dam. ![]() All but one of those seven record blues weighed over 40 pounds. And you'll read about it a dozen more times if you read about catfishing at all, because few bodies of water in this state, indeed in the entire country, produce monster cats so consistently.Ĭonsider this: With the exception of the most recent one, which came from the Mississippi River, every state-record blue catfish ever taken in Arkansas has come from the Arkansas River, even though blues are common in other bodies of water. You've read about it at least a dozen times in Arkansas Sportsman magazine. No doubt you've heard about the great catfishing in the Arkansas River. Potholes or slight depressions in the river bottom also tend to concentrate catfish, as do the upstream sides of underwater humps. The outside bends of the river are among the most productive hotspots, especially where trees have toppled in and the river has gouged into the bank forming undercuts. is prime time for big summer cats - the darker the night the better. "Cats move from the main river into smaller streams when feeding, and if a line is placed along their travel route, I'm likely to catch some dandy fish."įrom dusk until 2 or 3 a.m. "The mouths of these streams are ideal places for catching big cats," Peace told me. The lines are baited with small carp or big goldfish purchased from bait dealers. He stretches each line from an anchor point on shore into deeper water, and then secures the line's other end to a burlap bag weighted with rocks. Those he usually sets near the mouths of small tributaries running into the White. Peace usually fishes with trotlines when targeting trophy cats. "I have no doubt you could probably catch a world record if you wanted to work at it hard enough." "You can visit the White and expect to catch a 20- to 30-pound catfish almost any time during the summer, and often you latch into one even bigger," he says. The White River below Newport offers exceptional trophy-cat-hooking opportunities as well, and one of the best cat men I ever fished with there is Bill Peace of Jonesboro. Allow the bait to sit up to 10 minutes, but if there's no bite by then, move and try another eddy hole. Often, big cats cruise slowly through a hole, waiting for something to jolt their taste buds before they rush in to strike. Reposition your rig if necessary to achieve this end, then prepare for the rod-jarring strike that will soon follow if a giant cat is nearby. But when done properly, the bait will sink quickly to the bottom and remain stationary. It would seem that a bait tossed to the edge of one of these huge suckholes would swirl round and round. Big cats usually hit hard and quick, so rod holders are necessary if you fish more rods than you can hold." Sometimes I'll have out 200 feet of line. "I anchor above the hole I intend to fish," Patterson says, "then cast to the spot and let the reel free-spool until the weight hits bottom. The 8-inch weight leader is tied to a 3-ounce sinker. The 2-foot hook leader is tipped with a 3/0 to 7/0 Eagle Claw Kahle hook. "Cut skipjack herrings also are good bait."Ī simple three-way-swivel rig is Patterson's standard. "I use live shad a lot, even though they're hard to find," he says. Active cats are along the edges, so that's where I anchor and fish." "I find that catfish in the middle of the eddy water are not active. "I fish the current along the edges of these eddies, or whirlpools, of water," Patterson says.
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