Catch Catfish - Drift Fishing Can Increase Your Ability to Catch Catfish

When fishing unfamiliar lakes, drift fishing is an excellent way of locating fish. Make sure you have a current map of the lake you are planning on fishing, and look for contour that has deeper channels adjacent to shallower water. Catfish will move shallow during the night and dusk hours, but most of the time during the heat of the day they will be found in deeper water. If your lake has channels that run near flats that are a few feet shallower then that can be a great place to start. Also look for underwater humps that can change the depth in the deeper water.

The following is a typical set-up for drift fishing from a pontoon. Generally six to eight rods is a good number to drift with, although if you are new to drift fishing then four rods may be a better way to go. Generally four rod holders across the front and two on the side rails will provide you adequate cover when trying to catch catfish. Typically you want to rig your rods with 30lb line or heavier for drifting, this way if you hang a stump, the line is heavy enough to come loose without popping. medium heavy to heavy rods in seven to eight foot length are a good rod to start with. The drift fishing rig I use is a 1 to 1.5oz slinky weight on the main line, then tied to a barrel swivel, with roughly a 36" leader, and a 6/0 to 8/0 circle hook tied to the leader. I find the circle hooks are the best when drift fishing, because it will automatically set when trying to catch catfish.

Depending on wind speed, the use of at least one drift sock is typically always needed. A 10ft drift sock will hold up to a 25ft pontoon straight when drift fishing.

If possible set your drift up so that you will drift across shallower water, through a channel, and back into shallower water. This will give you a good range of water depth when trying to catch catfish, so you can find where they are biting at. Once you locate some fish, then you can try adjusting your drift to capitalize on the water depth they are feeding at. If you haven't located some fish within the first 30 minute drift, then try moving some and watching your graph to locate feeding fish. Once you locate some feeding fish, you can continuously drift across them and load your cooler up. Try this technique when heading out to catch catfish, and after a few times you will find out what a joy drift fishing can be.