I started catfishing in my young days, and by early teens was riding a moped holding on back, pulling a red flyer wagon with a cooler, tackle, etc. fishing local tourneys with my friend Nick! Quite the sight to see us heading into weigh-in! LOL..... Anyways, in this section I will talk about the different tackle I use to target channel cats, and flathead catfish, and different options for different situations etc... rollo
Structure Channel Cats
Channel Catfish can be targeted many different ways. However, when fishing river systems, I have found them to be more active around current and heavy structure such as logjams or rocks. They are positive feeding machines. Moving alot, and getting everything they can to eat.
When fishing thick cover, we like to fish a simple setup. It's really important to keep your weight close to your hook! This minimizes alot of hang ups! Our basic log jam rig is an egg sinker (2 or 3oz.) right down to the hook, with a bead between the sinker and knot. It's what I call a straight rig. Most people are afraid of fishing heavy structure for the reason they feel they will hang up, or lose lots of tackle! Thats true to a point, but if you learn how to fish structure, you will catch more and bigger fish! Big fish live in structure!!!!
When fishing structured areas, current can carry your rig deep into them often. Biggest mistake most fishermen make when they feel tension is assume they are hung up! They pull hard, burying the hook into the structure that wasn't the problem! Most of the time the sinker gets wedged before the hook is caught up. By fishing a straight rig you keep the weight above the hook. By not jerking, you will learn it's not the hook that's hung. You are able to gently pull your rig out of the structure. You might have to drop the rod tip, giving it slack, working with the current to retrieve your rig. However, a straight rig is the best rig in my opinion for targeting heavy structured spots!
Here is a photo of a simple straight rig for targeting heavy stuctured channel cats:
My setups
