11-11-2014, 07:33 AM
Never had much interest in catching catfish, but I decided to give them a try. I want to start with channel cats, so I figured I'd stay away from the ones in Utah Lake due to the consumption advisory. Luckily there's a community fishery nearby that has them.
The heaviest rod I have is a 5'6" medium action spinning rod that I used for years before getting UL gear to go after the trout I usually target. I'll plan to use that with 6lb mono line. I'm not going after humongous fish, 20 inches will probably be on the long side. I'm hoping I can be okay with 6lb; does anyone with some channel cat experience recommend stepping up the line weight?
My main question is this - from my reading, it seems like going after these guys on raw chicken with a circle hook on a Carolina Rig is a good recipe to start things off. Thing is, the only time I've ever used a Carolina Rig is going after stocked rainbows in lakes, and my understanding is the reason it works is because I use floating PowerBait with tiny hooks, so although the egg sinker is on the bottom, the bait floats up off the bottom so it's suspended at the leader length off the bottom where the trout can get to it.
If i just throw chicken on a Carolina Rig, won't it just fall into the mud, sit on the bottom, and be out of the strike zone for the channel cats? Is there a better rig to start with?
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The heaviest rod I have is a 5'6" medium action spinning rod that I used for years before getting UL gear to go after the trout I usually target. I'll plan to use that with 6lb mono line. I'm not going after humongous fish, 20 inches will probably be on the long side. I'm hoping I can be okay with 6lb; does anyone with some channel cat experience recommend stepping up the line weight?
My main question is this - from my reading, it seems like going after these guys on raw chicken with a circle hook on a Carolina Rig is a good recipe to start things off. Thing is, the only time I've ever used a Carolina Rig is going after stocked rainbows in lakes, and my understanding is the reason it works is because I use floating PowerBait with tiny hooks, so although the egg sinker is on the bottom, the bait floats up off the bottom so it's suspended at the leader length off the bottom where the trout can get to it.
If i just throw chicken on a Carolina Rig, won't it just fall into the mud, sit on the bottom, and be out of the strike zone for the channel cats? Is there a better rig to start with?
[signature]