Catfishing Rigs

Setting Up Your Rig
You need to set up your catfishing rigs carefully to successfully catch the larger catfish. It’s not tough to set your catfish rigs up to land your giant. I would advise you to begin with something reasonably straight forward, just a weight or bobber with a stout hook and of course the right bait. Experiment with different set ups and fish bait.

Commonly Used Catfish Rigs
Listed below are examples of rigs commonly used for catfishing.

  • Standard two hook rig – this is the most popular rig and can be used to catch all species of catfish found in a lake.
  • Slip sinker rig – used for both shore and drift fishing from a boat for channel cats.
  • Drift fishing rig – suitable for areas of lakes with muddy bottoms away from rocks where the rig can snag.
  • Slip bobber rig – use in shallow waters during spring and summer.

Fishing for Cats in Deeper Water
One sort of basic rig is a deep catfish rig. This kind of rig requires using a dependable, sturdy weight instead of a hook attached to the end of the line. This allows you to avoid snags. Use a one ounce weight fastened with a palomar knot – . This simple knot is considered to be one of the strongest and most reliable fishing knots. It is used to attach the line to a hook or a fly to a leader or a tippet. It is straight forward to tie and rarely has a problem with being pulled loose. With this kind of knot you would snap the line before this knot unravels.

You should then attach your hook twelve to eighteen inches from the end of the line. Tie a dropper loop into the line in order to hold your hook and leader line. If you would like, you can use a wired leader to hold the line connected to your hook to stop it from getting wrapped around the line connected to your weight. Use a smaller hook such as a number 2 if you are fishing for smaller catfish such as the channel catfish. Use an 8/0 or 9/0 circle hook if you’re fishing with shad or perch catfish bait and are looking for those elusive big catfish. The hook setting is a lot superior, and the fish will be less likely to straighten or escape once hooked. Remember you need to match the right catfish bait to the rig you are setting up. You will use the smaller hook with catfish bait such as worms. night crawlers, chicken liver or grasshoppers when fishing for the smaller channel catfish for example.

Fishing for Cats in Shallow Water
If you’re searching for catfish in shallow waters, make a shallow catfish rig. Making a shallow catfish rig requires good catfish bobbers. You need to place your bobber two to three feet from the hook depending on how deep you are fishing. Between the bobber and the hook, add a split hook just over the bobber. The same guidelines apply with regards to which type of hook to use. Pay attention to your bait and the catfish types and sizes you are trying to catch.

Each catfish rig is uncomplicated to set up, however you have to tally the rig with the kind of surroundings and fish you are trying to get. Whilst setting up your rig, take note of the weather and temperature conditions, and what time of the year it is. Once you have mastered how to set up a good rig you’ll have no problem in catching loads of large catfish.

Happy fishing!

Hank Roberts