What are your preferences for winter time drift fishing? Pick a topic below and elaborate please. Or pick all and write a novel! Any one of us might learn a new trick or two.

Rigs?
Santee Cooper
Carolina
Three way or sliding weight?
Type of weight?
What size weight?
What size circle hook?
Leader length?
Main Line strength?
Leader line strength?
In line rattles?

Bait?
Shad
Buffalo
Bluegill
Other
Size of bait on hook?

Fishing?
Deep channels
Shallow channels
Deep flats
Shallow flats
Shallow points

Drifting method?
Drift socks traveling with the wind
Controlled drift with trolling motor against the wind
Or combination of both

Drift speeds?
.3
.4
.5
.6
.7

How often to freshen bait?

Use planer boards or no planer?
# of boards out at one time
Distance of boards behind the boat

Other things you look for when deciding where and how to fish?
Other things you might do or look for while drifting?

I use a santee Cooper rig with a 30-36” leader. I replace the peg in my float with 5mm glass rattles and place my float 4 to 6” from my 8/0 or 9/0 circle hook. I go a little heavy with a 65# to 80# braid with a 50# mono leader. I use homemade slinky weights and range from 1.5 to 2.5 oz, some are sliding weights and some are rigged on a three way swivel.

For bait I like shad and Buffalo

This time of year I scan mid depth channels and flats 20’ to 35’ deep looking for high concentrations of fish, i try to not get complacent and fish dead water.

I prefer to do controlled drifts against the wind using the trolling motor but I will switch to a drift sock if no luck with a controlled drift. I like to start at .5mph but will slow down to .3 if needed. Sometimes I’ll get my lines out with planers and spotlock into the wind when I think my bait is sitting on one of my waypoints and give it a few minutes.

I could write an entire book on this post! we fish a little different every trip depending on conditions. To be consistent you gotta be flexible and willing to target the patterns you see for that particular day and it’s always changing and different. Come check out my YouTube channel El Gato Azul TV and we show how we catch em year round depending on what we see that particular day. https://youtube.com/channel/UCg0aV-uOxzxKxeqFFfREzKg

I want to talk a little more about the sinker type. I bought into the slinky weight because it made sense to me that the way it would drag made sense that it would not tangle or snag as much. I never did see those kind of results. I tried several versions and even made my own. None seemed to work any better and the no poll are a lot less expensive so I've decided I'll stick to them.

One thing I will say is when I anchor fish, which isn't very often, I have issues with the peg floats pulling my baits to the surface, especially in shallow water. I have seen some Youtubers recently talk about fixing the line to the weigh so you don't have that problem. I think that would be easy if you were using a 3 way or a sinker slide. I might need to work on a way to clip the weight or pull the peg float if I'm going to anchor.

I think the Santee rig is great. I don't normally see any reason to use anything else but I fish the same way a lot. I'd be real interested to see what y'all think about the expensive slinky weights...

God Bless and tight lines...

I use slinky weights for drifting for the last 15 yrs. Got tired of breaking off no rolls every trip. I saw your drift weights Tim and I never had much luck with those tube style weights either. I will give you some of my 2oz slinky and they will change your mind I guarantee it. Those tubes get hung up in rocks and stumps and I lost all mine quick. The slinky will also smooth out your presentation more than a no roll. The ones I’m currently using are a foot long and very flexible. When anchoring you just clip the sinker slide to the swivel so your bait doesn’t float to the surface.

The devil is in the details as they say Chris! The clipping of the weight to the swivel is a simple thing but only if you have the rig set up the right way. Lavon isn't real stumpy except in certain areas. I do okay with the no rolls. I think I have found all the stumps with my cast net!

For me (I’ve been taught well….).

Santee rigs, 3 feet mono leader
Carolina rigs for suspending, 4 feet mono leader.
Main line 50 pound mono, leader 80 pound mono.
Egg weights, 2 or 3 ounce depending on wind (but going to try the slab/fixed weights)
Bait. Shad, big as I can get, whole fish with the tails sliced off. Chicken breast as a back up as I ain’t superman!
Hooks. Size 8 round shark hooks (no snell knots for me as they are the DEVIL).
Floats. Larger 3 inch for big baits, smaller 2 inch for cut/smaller baits.

FYI the local Asian market sells carp, whole fish, and I’m going to give that a try this week.

Great info guys! I made this post for everyone to learn from, not just for myself. I do alright catching fish but I also keep my eyes and ears open for new tricks. I’m hoping there’s something I can learn to break this curse I’m in. I catch the occasional 30 or 40lb fish but I mostly catch the 20’s. Almost every trip I’ll catch 1-3 fish in the 20’s and it’s wearing me out! I want some fat girls!!

Tim I fish shallow a lot and when I have santee Cooper rigs on some poles, I just pull that float up to the swivel so my bait sits on bottom. When shallow I tight line so the float won’t surface.

Great thread!

Very good three here

Love seeing the variations of what works for everyone

Sheesh.. this thread could give someone like me instant carpal tunnel..
ok..here goes on some of it: 65lb braid, 50lb mono leader.
After years of using different rigs, weight types, etc., I've come to like a 3 way barrel swivel and lock snaps. I'm able to use the same 2-3oz pencil sinkers for drifting or anchoring, deep or shallow. I'll adjust leader length for deep or shallow as I keep a slew of varying size leader lengths ready to tie on. Cut one off, tie the new one, reuse as needed as long as the line isn't frayed or nicked. I do use rattles.
Hook size this time of year ranges from 8/0 to 13's.
Shad 1st, drum 2nd, Perch/Carp/Buff follows. It's rare I don't find Shad/Drum together this time of year (see below pic from this past Friday)
For drifting I work with speeds from .3-.7mph. For control I use a combo of 2 x 54" socks, 2 x 36" socks, power poles, and the trolling motor. I'll use the big motor to help control the boat as well.
Freshening the bait varies when I'm drifting. I really don't have a standard here. Depends more on the size of the bait I'm using and if a bunch of dinks have been pecking at it the entire drift.
I do use planer boards. 4-6 boards depending on the length of the drift and 2 long lines straight back. Boards range from 20 yards out to 75 (sometimes more if I forget to lock the reel back down).
ledges, edges, drops, flats, channels, points....they're all game.

Other things.... I know it's a "drifting" thread, but learn to anchor your boat in deep water. It may not be this year, or even next year, but one year knowing how to do this effectively will pay off.

The TFF Catfish section has turned into a brag board over the years and that’s ok but it used to be a lot more informative with tons of participation. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the TFF and the ol DeerStrangler. The reason for the post is to bring back a little more detail of a specific way to fish. None of us have perfected anything and there is always something new to learn. I appreciate seeing the replies especially if they contribute to helping others be better catfishermen.