Catfish are not usually considered finicky eaters. They’ll eat most organic material they find while foraging across the bottom of ponds, lakes and waterways. But don’t be fooled, that doesn’t mean catfish are always easy to catch. Catfish do have preferences. They will feed more aggressively—and are easier to catch—when presented with certain types of baits. Additionally, there are several species of catfish—each with unique feeding habits.

A key to catching catfish is getting the right bait in front of the catfish at the right place at the right time. While most catfish feed along the bottom, a few species feed in the mid-water column. Where most catfish will take just about any bait, a few species—such as the blue catfish—prefer live bait. When selecting bait, make sure you select the bait that is appropriate for the species of catfish you’re targeting.

There are a variety of catfish rigs that will help you get your bait in front of feeding catfish and hold your bait where it will be found. The fishing rig you choose will depend on a number of factors including the quality water (murky vs clear), water conditions, as well as the specific species of catfish you’re targeting. Remember, while most catfish are bottom feeders, a few species feed in the mid-water column. You want to make sure the rig you select will put your bait where catfish feed—and keep it there.

Below we’ve listed the top fishing rigs used for catching catfish. Review the description of each rig to determine which is best suited for the type of catfish you’re targeting.

Drift Rig

Cast and wait. Keep it still and stationary. Give’m time and those whiskery devils will come to you. That’s how your dad taught you to catch catfish. Given enough time catfish do come a knockin’—especially if you use a bait that smells like death warmed over. But notwithstanding conventional wisdom, you don’t have to stillfish to catch giant cats.

More and more anglers are finding drifting—or even slow trolling—bait an effective alternative to stillfishing. Instead of waiting for catfish to come to you, it’s often more efficient to go to the fish. Now if you’re happy to sit on the bank all day playing the waiting game, then stillfishing is where it’s at. But if you want to get your bait in front of more fish, and increase your odds of landing a lunker, then it’s time to get moving.

Drifting will work for catching catfish year round, even throughout the winter for warmer climates of the South and Midsouth. But, it really shines during the warmer summer months when catfish are at their peak activity and scouring the water for a meal. This is when they’re most likely to be in predator mode and likely to respond to moving bait.

Drifting will work for catching all three major catfish species—channel cats, flatheads and big blues. It’s especially effective for hooking cats in the larger rivers such as the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennesse—which is known for producing some impressive blues and flatheads. But drifting also works for targeting cats on medium size rivers and reservoirs where water flows over deep basin flat, deep channels and drop-offs.

The drift rig is a simple three-way swivel rig with a 2- to 3-foot leader and dropper line with a sinker. Attached to the leader is a 2/0 to 3/0 wide gap or circle hook baited with your favorite catfish bait. At the end of the dropper line is a 4- to 6-ounce weight. For drifting, using a cannonball or slinky weight will help reduce snags.

Adding a float to the leader line about 10 inches above the hook will allow the bait to sit just off the bottom. This is optional but recommended when fishing rough terrain or targeting blues.

Slip Sinker Rig

Hands down one of the most popular and effective rigs for catching giant channel cats is the slip sinker. It’s my “go-to” setup for targeting channel cats and for most anglers. If you’re going to stick with just one catfish rig, this is it. It’s not sexy, but it pulls them in.

One of the beauties of the slip sinker is its versatility. It can be fished from an anchored position, vertical fished, used for drift fishing and fished along the bottom. Most anglers use th slip sinker rig for targeting channel cats, but it’s also effective at hooking flatheads and blues. It can be fished in lakes, rivers, ponds and just about anywhere you’ll find a catfish.

Why do catfish anglers prefer the slip sinker? The biggest benefits of the slip sinker rig for targeting catfish include:

• When catfish first take the bait they don’t feel any resistance from the sinker. This allows time for the hook to set.
• It allows for the use of a line alarm or “bait clicker” which creates a clicking noise that alerts the angler as the fish begins to swim away.
• It allows the angler to target any size catfish from smaller fish all the way up to 200lb behemoths.
• By simply adding a small peg float near the bait you lift the bait off the bottom essentially turning it into a Santee rig which is ideal for targeting blue catfish.
• It’s your one stop rig for catfishing. It can be used to fish channel cats, blues and flatheads.

The slip sinker rig has a simple design. It is constructed using a leader line, hook, swivel, and sinker weight.

Leader Line: 30 to 50 Lb clear mono or fluoro line. Going with a heavier abrasion resistant line is recommended when targeting larger cats.

Hook: For larger channel cats, blues, and flatheads a 5/0 to 8/0 circle hook is recommended. A larger offset octopus hook or treble hook will also do the trick.

Swivel: A basic 1/0 to 3/0 barrel swivel is all you really need. If you want something a littler sturdier, try a ball bearing or crane swivel.

Sinker/Weight: For stillfishing or when fishing on an anchor use an egg sinker or no roll sinker. For drift fishing use a snagless drift fishing sinker.

Carolina Rig

The Carolina Rig has long been a bass angler favorite because it presents bait on the bottom in a way that doesn’t allow the fish to feel the weight. It works by allowing the line to slide freely through the sinker. When the catfish takes the bait, it swims away without feeling the tug of the weight, providing an opportunity for the hook to set without scaring off the fish.

The Carolina can work equally as well for catching catfish as for bass, although it’s somewhat rare to hear a catfish angler say they’re fishing a “Carolina rig”. More often than not catfish fish anglers will fish a slip sinker rig which is very similar to the Carolina. Like the Carolina, the slip sinker allows catfish to take the bait and pull the line without encountering signficant resistance.

The Carolina rig will work for catching bottom feeding catfish, but it’s not the most popular catfish rig.

Slipfloat Rig

A slipfloat rig with a cigar-shaped slipfloat is perfect for drifting a variety of baits near or on the bottom. The biggest advantage of fishing a slipfloat over more popular bottom setups—such as the slip sinker rig—is it provides greater range and snags far less often.

Using a hydrodynamic cigar-shaped slipfloat with your rig, as opposed to a round or water weighted bobber, allows the catfish to take the bait and retreat a distance without feeling much initial resistance. This ensures a solid hookset before the fight begins.

Thin, sleek float designs like the Thill Center Slider are ideal for drifting small to medium-size cut bait when targeting blue and channel cats. A large float, such as the Thill Big Fish Slider, is perfect for suspending live bait such as shiners, minnows, and chubs when targeting flatheads.

Regardless of target fish species, the basic slipfloat rig is created the same way. Start by adding an adjustable float stop (aka bobber stop) to your main line. Slide the stop up the line to the desired bait depth. Sliding the float farther up the line allows the bait to run deeper, while sliding the float down toward the hook provides for a shallower drift. Add a 5-mm bead followed by your preferred slipfloat and hook.

A Slipfloat heavy rig is ideal for targeting flatheads while a light slipfloat is perfect for channel cats and blue catfish.

To anchor lighter cut bait and small live bait, add a few lead split shot about 12″ above the hook. Use #2 size shot for small baits up to 3/0 for larger baits. For flatheads, add a swivel rated at least 25lbs about 18 to 24 inches above your hook, with a 1 to 2 ounce egg sinker just above the swivel.

Paternoster Rig

Simple is better, especially when targeting species such as channel cats which will take just about any bait you put in front of them. The paternoster is one of the more complex fishing rigs to tie, but it offers a few unique advantages over more rudimentary rigs—especially when flatheads and blue catfish are on the menu.

In my book, the biggest advantage the paternoster offers over rival presentations is it can be rigged with multiple hooks. This allows the angler to space hooks along the line and position bait throughout the lower water column. This is ideal when targeting species such as blue catfish that often take baitfish and other prey above the bottom.

Almost as advantageous is the ability to rig the paternoster with multiple baits. Again, another advantage when you’re targeting more than just one catfish species. Rigging your presentation with more baits, of the same or differing type, can increase scent, attraction, and hedge your bets that you’ll present something that the fish is going to find delectable.

The basic paternoster setup includes a 2-6oz bell weight, or sinker, attached in a fixed position at the tag end of your leader line using a barrel swivel and snap—or snap swivel—with 2 to 4 dropper loops above, spaced 5″-8″ apart. Hook size depends on the target catfish size and species, but a 3/0 to 7/0 circle, octopus or Mustad style hook is your recommended range.

Float Paternoster

For targeting catfish, I like using a modified version of the traditional paternoster rig known as the float paternoster. The are couple versions of the float paternoster but the common characteristic of either version is when the fish takes the hook it feels little resistance. This is accomplished by ensuring the weight and hook move independent of one another on the line.

The float paternoster rig also allows bait to move naturally, float up off the bottom, and makes it easier to tell when you’ve got a fish on the line. When vertical fishing from the side of a boat at anchor, the traditional paternoster is your go-to rig. When bank fishing, the float paternoster really shines.