Catfish are bottom feeders that hunt with smell as much as sight. The rig is dead simple, but the bait choice and the location are everything.
The slip-sinker rig:
- Slide a 1-3 oz egg sinker onto your main line. Heavier in current, lighter in slack water.
- Add a barrel swivel below it.
- Tie an 18-24 inch leader of 20-30 lb mono.
- Finish with a circle hook, size 4/0 to 7/0 depending on bait size and target fish.
A circle hook is non-negotiable — they set themselves on the fish's lip, hooking far fewer fish deep in the throat. This matters for catch-and-release and for the fish's survival.
Bait choices, in rough order of stink and effectiveness:
- Chicken liver for channels — slip a treble through it and a small wad of pantyhose to keep it on the hook.
- Cut bait (chunks of shad, mullet, or sucker) for any flathead or blue cat.
- Stinkbait or dip bait — molded onto a sponge or worm-shaped holder. The smell carries in the water; fish find it by following a scent trail upstream.
Cast to a deep hole, outside a current seam, or below a tributary mouth. Open the bail, set the reel down, and wait. When line starts moving steadily, just lift — don't swing. Circle hooks do the work.