How to rig up and find big winter catfish in the river.

Man in blue cap holding a large, gray catfish he caught, next to a river.

Winter catfishing is the best time of year to catch big fish. The nasty cold winter days with a over cast ,when you just want to sit in the house by the fireplace, that's when you need to be in your boat looking for a trophy catfish. I am gonna tell you in a short and quick way how to get out there and find them big fish in the winter. I specialize in river fishing so all my techniques are based off of that. lets start off with the rite kind of tackle and gear you will need. Now keep in mind we are targeting big fish so you need to go prepared with the rite gear to handle them. I normally use my same garfishing tackle for catfish but it is a bit of over kill. This is what you need to have.

7' Ugly Stick medium heavy rod
Abu Garcia 6500 c3 reel
High -Vis monofilament line at least 50lb
Clear monofilament line 80lb (for leader)
Trokar 8/0 and 10/0 Kahle hook
Flat bank no roll sinkers 6oz-10oz (depends on river current)
Barrel swivels 1/0
Rod holders
Garmin sonar with side vu (optional)

Catching bait is probably the hardest part of this and with all fishing. You want to use for bait something that is natural to the area you will be fishing. Here is a list of my favorite bait to use for river catfish.

Live bait (brim, perch,Blue gill,sun fish)
Gizzard shad
Cut bait (carp, Buffalo)

I like to use the Carolina rig. Run your main line to a swivel with your weight on the top of the swivel. running a couple beads between the weight and swivel is a good idea but not necessary. Run a 16-24" leader (80lb mono) to your Kahle hook. Now you are all set and ready to go fishing The next step is to get out there and find rite spot to start fishing. Ideally you want the water temperature in the mid 40s. That's when the fish will be heading to to there winter hold up holes. Normally a deep hole or bend in the river with bait close by. That's the key (bait close by). In the winter they don't like to move much but prefer to be in deep water so you want to find a deep hole in the river with bait near by. This is where the sonar comes in. What I like to do is scan the river looking for deep hole with structure in it while watching for bait. When you find your spot with all that in it keep your eye open on the sonar for a big fish on the bottom. you would then want to anchor up river from the structure and fan cast your baits back down river. Give it 30 minutes and if you don't get a bite go look for another spot and change your baits out. Keep moving don't stay in one place to long even if your seeing fish there. They just not might not be biting there but you go around the bend and they just may be hungry there. Hope this helps you out on your next winter fishing trip and good luck .

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