If you think that sounds as if 2004 should be a killer year to fish for blues, you're right. Since the blue cat is a big-water fish, neither the drought nor the otters had any significant effect on the species. Unlike channel cats, blue cats aren't found just anywhere. The MDC has experimented successfully with blue cat stockings in a few of its impoundments, but the serious blue cat angler is limited to three venues.

The Mississippi River - the section from St. Louis south in particular - is unquestionably the best bet for the angler who hopes to land a world-record blue. As a rule, the biggest blue cats are found in the deepest available water - which is a maybe too-subtle way of saying that you need to take time to learn the stretch of river that you intend to fish before you wet a line.

The section of the Missouri River, between Kansas City and St. Louis yielded the current state-record blue cat in the rod-and-reel category, and undoubtedly, bigger fish wait to be caught. Scour holes above wing dikes are prime blue cat habitat in the Missouri; many of these potential glory holes can be reached from shore.

The Osage River, including the Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir, may be slightly - and I do mean "slightly" - less likely to produce a record-breaking blue cat than is either of the state's two larger rivers. On the other hand, it's absolutely loaded with blue cats in the 20- to 70-pound class. The biggest fish seldom stray very far from deep water in either the impounded or unimpounded portions of the Osage -but happily, the same can't be said for eating-sized blues. Whenever the river's rising waters begin covering the flats from Osceola on west, thousands of 1- to 3-pound blues go on a shallow-water feeding binge.

There's no denying that small flatheads are delicious. Even so, this species' trophy potential not only fully justifies the five-fish daily creel limit that's already in place but also explains the same dedication to catch-and-release that's made trophy muskie fishing possible.

In Missouri, flatheads are found in every habitat type from Ozark and flatland streams to small impoundments, reservoirs and big rivers. Flathead fishing will be best wherever the savviest flathead specialists deploy their skills - but that doesn't help this forecaster very much, because there are flathead purists who ply every type of water in which the fish can be found. Having hedged my bets, here are some bodies of water that I'll pure guarantee harbor plenty of big flatheads; all you have to do is catch them.

The Missouri River upstream from Kansas City to the state line is easily the state's premier rod-and-reel flathead fishery both in terms of numbers and in terms of average size. During the day, look for flatheads in or near logjams and other woody cover. At night, flatheads prowl the shallows, actively hunting the small fish that make up the majority of their diet.

The Osage River produces too many flatheads in the 60-pound class to ignore. Promising flathead water is much easier to identify and to fish in the unimpounded portions of the river. That said, there are flatheads in the Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir that'll stretch your string - if you can find them. Try rocky bluffs in the daytime and timbered flats at night.

Table Rock Lake is best known for its black-bass fishery, but it's also a top-of-the-line place for flathead fishing. Most of the pressure on flatheads is in the James River arm of the lake. It's seldom a good idea to ignore what other people think will work, but neither is it a good idea to limit yourself. There isn't a cove, hollow or pocket on the entire lake that isn't home to at least one trophy flathead.

As noted earlier, channel cat fishing in small- to medium-sized streams won't return to what we've come to expect until the drought ends and river otters are brought under some semblance of control. Excessive fishing pressure is a problem at some MDC impoundments. Finally, tailrace fishing - at least, for quality fish - will continue to decline for the foreseeable future as a result of unsustainable pressure on fish requiring decades to reach trophy size. We can hope that the final version of the MDC's catfish management strategy will address these issues.