What makes a good catfish rig? Most catmen would say it depends on the situation—you’re better off with a fixed-sinker rig for this, a slipsinker rig for that, a drift rig here and a float rig there. Take it a step further: What are the most important considerations for any rig? The top responses would surely include the right size and type of hook, the proper sinker weight, and just the right leader length.
Of course, no single rig is best for all styles of catfishing. But at least this gets you thinking about the components of rigs and what makes them effective. Let me add to that list. A rig should also give you good control over a presentation and a high degree of feel for what’s happening on the business end of things. A rig that’s simple and easy to tie is a bonus.
A basic rig needs a hook and a weight, but consider leaders and the reasons fishermen cite for using them. Livebaits have more room to swim and thump, attracting catfish from greater distances; cats are less likely to shy away from or drop a bait the farther it is from a bulky sinker; cutbaits and deadbaits have wider swing angles in current and when driftfished, allowing them to move more naturally and send out more visual and vibration signals to catfish.
So much has the thinking about leaders been pored over that it’s become a habit to use leaders in just about every situation. For reasons described above, long leaders tend to be used more than short ones, yet there are many scenarios when going shorter can be better, even to eliminating the leader altogether. Zero it out—and you’re left with a rig called a jig.
Jigs in Theory
“Few catfishermen use jigs, but there are situations when they can be just as or more effective than traditional rigs with leaders,” says In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange. He was among the first to experiment with jigs for catfish, praising their effectiveness in In-Fisherman books, magazines, and television. In Stange style, then, you first should understand the theory behind the thinking, to put it to best use.
“There’s a fundamental relationship that exists between leader length and how connected you are to your presentation,” Stange explains. “A long leader results in less feel and less-precise bait positioning. The longer a leader is, the more control you sacrifice. Shorten the leader from 2 feet to 6 inches and the presentation becomes a tighter package, giving you a more direct connection to the bait. Eliminate the leader altogether and you’re in direct and constant contact.
“Anglers generally don’t equate a jig to a rig,” he says, “but a jig is really nothing more than a fixed sinker rig, with the weight directly molded on the hook, rather than positioned somewhere above a leader. It’s the most compact a rig can get.”
One of the reasons more catfish anglers don’t consider using jigs is that they fear the added weight of the head might cause a fish to drop the bait. Most jigheads, though, weigh less than the items catfish usually eat; and if walleyes and other discriminating species from panfish and bass don’t mind the added mass, neither do cats.
Worrying about catfish being cautious around a jig is often unnecessary. Rarely does a catfish nose up to a bait and sample it with a pick-pick-pick. More often, a cat grabs it quickly. Flatheads like to mouth a bait before they run—that’s typically the initial thumps you see or feel with the rod. Channel cats tend to grab and run right away. Strikes on moving baits tend to be aggressive, which is why drifted baits are usually hit hard. With jigs, often enough you can set right away, but you sometimes need to let cats mouth the bait to allow time for the hook to get in the right spot for setting.
