Catfish rigs are simpler than the aisle suggests. Every one of them does the same job, holding a bait where a catfish can find it by smell while letting the fish take it without feeling the weight, and the guides who fish for blues, channels and flatheads for a living use five variations on that idea. Which one depends on whether you are anchored or drifting, in still water or current, fishing cut bait or live bait, by day or at night. Below: the five rigs with their parts and sizes, the situation each is for, a step-by-step for the one you will tie most, and the sinker weights and hook sizes the guides and the state agencies use.
Use the lightest sinker that holds bottom, and never strike with a circle hook: reel until the rod loads and the hook turns itself into the corner of the jaw.
What you need
- Sinkers: egg sinkers and no-roll (flat) sinkers from 1/2 to 8 oz (14–227 g), bank or bell sinkers for the three-way and bottom rigs, and a few slip floats. Tungsten is unnecessary; lead is fine on the bottom of a river.
- Barrel swivels, size 3 to 1/0, rated well above the line; plastic beads to protect the knot.
- Circle hooks: 2/0–4/0 for channel catfish, 5/0–8/0 for blue catfish on chunks and 8/0–10/0 on heads, 7/0–10/0 and up to 12/0 for flatheads on live bait. A #4–#6 treble for punch bait. The hooks hub covers the sizes and the circle-hook rules.
- Leader material: 30–50 lb monofilament or fluorocarbon, stiffer than the main line so it does not tangle.
- A 7–10 ft medium-heavy rod with a soft tip, a 4000–6000 spinning reel or a round baitcaster, and 30–65 lb braid or 20–30 lb mono; the rods and reels hubs cover the tackle.
- Bait: the best catfish bait page covers it by species.
The five rigs
| Rig | Build | Sinker | Leader | Hook | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slip-sinker (Carolina) rig | Sinker sliding on the main line, bead, swivel, leader, hook | Egg or no-roll, 1–3 oz (28–85 g) still water, 3–5 oz (85–142 g) river bends, up to 8 oz (227 g) in fast current | 12–36 in (30–91 cm) | Circle, by species | Anchored bottom fishing; the default rig |
| Santee Cooper rig | Slip-sinker rig plus a peg float on the leader 2–4 in (5–10 cm) above the hook | Egg or line-through bank sinker, 1–3 oz (28–85 g) | 18–30 in (46–76 cm) of 20–40 lb fluorocarbon | Circle or octopus, 5/0–8/0 | Drifting reservoirs and timber; keeps the bait off the bottom and out of snags |
| Three-way rig | Three-way swivel: main line on one eye, 6–24 in (15–61 cm) dropper to a bell sinker on the second, 2–3 ft (0.6–0.9 m) leader to the hook on the third | Bell, 2–8 oz (57–227 g) | 2–3 ft (0.6–0.9 m) | Circle or wide gap, 2/0–3/0 channels, 5/0–8/0 blues | Slip-drifting big rivers, wind-blown flats, vertical fishing |
| Slip-float rig | Float on the line above a stop, small weight, leader, hook | Split shot or 1/4–1/2 oz (7–14 g) egg sinker | 12–24 in (30–61 cm) | Circle, 3/0–6/0 | Spawning banks in May, live bait over schooling fish in summer, snaggy bottoms |
| Bell-sinker bottom rig | Sinker tied to the end of the line, hook on a dropper loop or short leader above it | Bell or bank, 1–4 oz (28–113 g) | 6–12 in (15–30 cm) dropper | Circle, 5/0–8/0 | Night live-bait fishing on steep banks; catfish from piers and surf |
The sinker weights come from the guides who fish the water: Jim Moyer’s blue-cat calendar in In-Fisherman runs 3–5 oz on Tennessee River channel bends and 8 oz in fast current, and Virginia’s wildlife agency suggests ¾–1½ oz (21–43 g) for the tidal rivers of the Chesapeake. The rule is the lightest sinker that holds bottom where you are fishing.
Tying the slip-sinker rig, step by step
- Thread the sinker onto the main line, an egg sinker for still water or a no-roll sinker for current, which lies flat and does not tumble.
- Thread a bead below it, so the sinker cannot hammer the knot.
- Tie on a barrel swivel with a Palomar or improved clinch, wetted before it is drawn tight. The swivel is the stop the sinker slides against.
- Cut the leader, 12–36 in of 30–50 lb mono or fluorocarbon: short for current and for catfish that swallow bait, long for still water and a bait that should move.
- Tie the leader to the swivel and the hook to the leader, both with a Palomar. A circle hook needs no snell, though many anglers use one.
- Bait it: a chunk of cut shad hooked once through the skin with the point clear, or a live bluegill through the back behind the dorsal fin. Punch bait goes on a treble instead.
- Fish it in a rod holder, line tight, and when the rod loads, reel; do not strike. The circle hook turns into the corner of the mouth as the fish moves off, and a strike pulls it out.
Which rig for the situation
Anchored on a river hole, a channel bend, a ledge or a hump: the slip-sinker rig, with the sinker matched to the current so the bait stays put; it is the rig Moyer anchors with from October to March for the biggest blues, giving each spot an hour. Drifting a reservoir flat or a timber field for blues: the Santee Cooper rig, whose peg float lifts the bait over the snags, on the drift or behind a slow-moving boat. Slip-drifting a big river such as the Mississippi or Missouri, where the boat moves with the current and the rig bumps down the channel: the three-way rig, with the sinker on its dropper taking the knocks and the bait riding above. Spawning catfish on a rocky bank in May, or blues under schools of white bass in July: a slip float set to hold the bait just off the bottom or just under the school. Live bluegill for flatheads against a log jam at night: the bottom rig or a heavy slip-sinker rig, with a leader short enough that the bait cannot swim into the wood. The catfish hub and the blue catfish page carry the month-by-month calendar those situations come from.
Mistakes to avoid
- Striking with a circle hook. Reel until the rod loads; a jerk pulls the hook out of the mouth before it turns.
- Too much weight. A bait pinned under 8 oz in still water gets no scent trail and no movement. Use the lightest sinker that holds.
- A soft leader. Limp line tangles around the main line on the cast; 30–50 lb mono or fluorocarbon stands off.
- Burying the hook in the bait. The point has to be clear, especially on a circle hook.
- A fixed sinker for a tentative biter. The slip rig exists so the fish feels no weight when it picks up the bait; a fixed sinker drops the bite.
When to use something else
For catfish on lures, an occasional summer river technique, the crankbaits and jigs on the catfish hub do the work; for bullheads a split shot and a small hook is enough, as the bullhead page says. Inshore, the same slip-sinker rig with a shrimp catches redfish and flounder, and the Carolina rig on the jigs and rigs page is the freshwater bass version of the same idea.