I'm mainly a fly fisher but I have some fond memories of catfishin and I'd like to do a couple trips and take the spinning rod back out for a bit. Only problem is I'm not really sure what I need as far as terminal tackle and hooks as well as preferred baits
. Anyone have any suggestions for me?
Well there are some mad catters here that can tell you 10x what I know, just search the posts...but my rigs are as follows
I run a lot of Santee rigs that I modify a lot. If you google Santee rig you will see lots of drawing of them. Mine is 15, 20 or 30# main line with similar leader sizes depend on what and where I am at. Leader length is somewhere from 8- 24". I run whisker seeker tripple threat hooks now- love them, size 5, 6, 8 circle hooks. Sinkers size and type vary depending on current.
I also run simple bottom rigs - kinda Carolina style. Same Google it to get some photos. I also run fligs in various ways.
Bait, is cut sucker and carp, cut yellow perch, cut white bass ( at UL only) or if i have them carp or chub minnows - dead only - no live bait in Utah. Some swear by raw shrimp, and others chicken liver. You can get into quite a fist fight over the best catfish bait.
I love youtube and recommend you watch some of the videos by carp and catfish. If you search his list he has all kinds of videos on set ups, baits, poles. Ext. Great info
If you tell us where you might want to go, we can help better. Keep in mind that the ponds will have smaller cats so lighter gear will work. Even Willard from a boat or tube can be fished with small baits and gear for the most part.
Other places need bigger gear.
I prefer 3/0 to 5/0 circle hooks (usually I order them). I prefer 20 pound mono at a minimum but I fish some of the bigger cat spots. My "big rod" uses 50 # braid.
Really, you can get away with 8 # mono and #4 bait hooks on shrimp or a hot dog in the community ponds for the most part.
Welcome to the dark side.
Here are some excerpts from my larger work on "Fishing Utah Lake". It covers a lot of stuff like baits, rigs, etc. most of which is applicable to other waters. But if you want something more specific to Willard Bay, let me know and I will edit some light reading on Willard for you.
I run 30 pound line with 50 lb leader but 30 is okay. Hands down the best bait on Utah Lake is white bass. Thanks to the generosity of Pisco I have a pretty good supply so if you are going to fish Utah Lake I could share some with you to get you started. I use the Santee rig a lot but lately I've been using a lot of fligs. See TubeDude if you want to try some of those. I have also had a lot of success with what Pisco calls a flait. He can tell you how to make them up.
A shrimp/worm combo works well on UL. I've had considerable success with what is generally called strawberry chicken. There are lots of recipes on the internet and I bet any variation would work. Heck, just plain chicken breast cut in 1" pieces works fine. I like the bigger circle hooks, 6/0 and up to 8/0. I know some who go as large as 12/0 under certain circumstances. I was able to pick up a lot at Cabela's in Lehi last year.
Drag your bait behind your boat very slowly, around .5 mph. To keep it super-simple just put the bait on with a 1/2 oz weight several inches above it. If you are fishing from the bank you can use the same rigs; just be sure to keep them near the bottom. A bobber works great in that application too.
Good luck and have fun.
Thanks a bunch guys, the Carolina rig is what I have used in the old days on the Green River. I just gotta pick up some hooks and weights and bait. Thanks for the info. Oh and I plan on fishing mainly UL and some of the smaller ponds around here in Utah. Trying to fish Pruess soon too.