| Drift fishing is the name of a popular | | | | a bite during the day, if your bait happens |
| technique used for catching all types of | | | | to be in the right place, at the right time. |
| fish, and catfish are no exception. In fact, | | | | You'll need a boat, obviously, and possibly a |
| as cats mostly live in moderate to high | | | | drift fishing "drag", like a parachute, or a |
| current situations, drift fishing can be a | | | | small and very quiet electric trolling motor, |
| very effective means of catfishing. | | | | to slow your surface drift speed to match the |
| | | | more languid pace down below, where ideally, |
| Especially, if you are fishing in a long | | | | we want to allow the bait to float and tumble |
| stretch of water, and are unsure of the | | | | in a deceptively lifelike fashion, to get the |
| location of the fish, or in cases of | | | | most attention from the cats. Drifting too |
| questionably heavy bottom cover, where bottom | | | | fast, and pulling your bait, becomes more |
| rigs are continuously fouled and snagged, | | | | like trolling, and greatly reduces your |
| drift fishing is a top solution to enjoying a | | | | likelihood of bagging a cat. |
| peaceful float along the waterway, and | | | | |
| covering a lot of ground while fishing, with | | | | Line weighting for drift fishing is a |
| little chance of snagging, once the correct | | | | touchier subject, as the size and type of |
| fishing depth is attained. | | | | bait you are using, the tendency of your line |
| | | | to float or sink, and your drift speed will |
| Most cats require acclimatization to an "odd" | | | | all influence the depth at which your bait |
| bait, and so, are cautious around many | | | | will "want" to drift at. Bigger baits tend to |
| fabricated baits, making drift fishing with | | | | sink fairly well all by themselves, but |
| these baits sometimes less effective, but big | | | | smaller or more buoyant baits will need some |
| cats will often strike a naturally-occurring | | | | weighting to get then down where they can be |
| bait as a matter of opportunity, as it drifts | | | | found by the catfish. |
| along past them. | | | | |
| | | | Cats, however, are extremely sensitive to the |
| Once they are bigger, Channel Catfish and | | | | feel of a weight associated with the bait, |
| Blue Catfish, especially, are both almost | | | | and will spit the bait out within a couple of |
| exclusively fish-eating species, and will | | | | seconds, or faster, if they can sense the |
| seek out a nicely-presented dead fish (four | | | | unusual nature of what they are taking - |
| or five inches long, and somewhat stinky) as | | | | remember, that cats "see"up close, almost |
| it is drift-fished past their hideaway, as | | | | entirely with their sense of touch. For this |
| this is just how their favorite food shows up | | | | reason, use as small of a sinker as you can |
| in nature.... drifting into their space with | | | | get away with, to weight your line, and |
| the current. | | | | ideally, simply increase your bait size, or |
| | | | its buoyancy, to make it dive, rather than |
| Drift fishing for cats, like all catfish | | | | using sinkers for drift fishing. It's all |
| pursuit, is best done in late evening and | | | | about the lifelike presentation of the bait, |
| overnight, though it is not impossible to get | | | | here. |