I typically use a med - med heavy spinning rod with 2500 series reel, 50lb braid with gold treble hooks (that bend easily if you get snagged). I use a trout rig style setup with a strong leader (meaning egg weight above swivel with slip cork above that). If fishing below birds, I typically go small on the cork and just use a splitshot to get the bait down. A Santee Cooper rig would work well for bottom style fishing, even without drifting, to keep the bait out of the mud.

I prefer the Ugly Stik Lite-Pro spinning rods from Walmart. They are 6'and have served me well. I use the H20 Maxim spinning reels from Academy size 200 or 300(whichever is on sale at the time) Power Pro Slick 8 braid in 30lb test and #4 treble hooks , preferably the 4x version. I use no weight and Stubby's cheese bait. My boat caught roughly 1000 or so catfish last year and I don't go every weekend either. This is just MY preference.