Ive always been told catfish feed by scent, and not by sight. Which is why fresh bait is so critical. My question is, if thats the case, what difference does changing rigs really make? I hear guys who say if the fish are there, but not biting, try changing rigs.

I was running all santee coopers and 3 ways, and recently switched to a plain old carolina rig, i have been having just as much luck with it as the others, its quicker to tie, and not as much terminal tackle to replace on a break off.

So do you really thing fishing different rigs side by side would make a difference, or will you do just as well with any rig if the fish are feeding.

I personally like the Carolina rig with punchbait for channels but rigs that keep the bait off the bottom seem better for blues.

like in shark fishing fresh cut bait. cat fishing fresh cut bait. the scent is "blood" and fishoil. bull "S" catfish feed by sight to.

I think if you have a hard bottom just about any rig is ok, but if there is a soft mud bottom your bait will get covered up in the mud and the fish won't be able to find it, this is where the Sante Cooper, and 3-way rigs with a float work better,

Good Luck to Ya!!!

I agree about cats being sight feeders too, thats why I think live bait is good

I use the santee rig for blues... And the simple Carolina rig for channels

My dad always out fishes me and he always uses c rig to my santee rig blues and channels so idk.

To my experience, catfish (or at least Blues) rely both on scent and sight. I catch all of my catfish on lead spoons so there is obviously no smell to them.. I do however see lots of cat fishermen catching Blues on cut bait all the time. The largest Blue I have caught on a spoon was 86 lbs. The largest Blue I�ve seen caught on cut bait was 93 lbs, so they both work good as far as I�m concerned

Id love to hear more about that. What size spoon, and how do you fish it?

I once caught a 9# channel cat on a white crappie jig. I don't know if they feed by sight, or they sense vibrations in the water.

Blues feed by sight as much as they feed by smell. They school with sandbass and chase shad often. It isn't often that a blur eats cut bait...only when a fisherman presents it to him.

I agree with Tom, having that bait moving off the bottom helps....and so does drifting. We have caught several fish reeling in a piece of cut bait.

Last week, the blues wanted live shad 3-1 over cut.

Caribou. I throw 2-3 and 4 ounce slab spoons, I also throw 2-3 and 4 ounce Diamond Jigs. I use 12 pound mono tied to a 30 pound shock leader with a 15' foot one piece Lamiglass rod. Braided line although it cast further just doesn't work well when these Big Blues get down in the rocks. The dam has 5 large gates, from the bank to the 5th gate is about 200 yards, I use the 4 ouncers for the the 5th and 4th gates, I use the 3 ounce for the 3rd gate and I use the 2 ouncers for gates 2 and 1. The gates on these dams push the water from below the gate up, instead of coming over the top like most dams. This flushes the shad up and on top and that is where you'll find the Blues.. I stand on the bank and throw into the gates as far as I can and let the spoon wallow as long as it can before it gets spit out. I'll catch them some days in the gates, other days in front of the gates and some days a good ways down from the gates..If I don't hook a fish in the gate, once it gets kicked out I start jigging it up and down like a wounded shad.I can't speak for fishing Blues on the lakeside so I don't know what the best months are, but below these dams July and August are the best months. Ohhh, I almost forgot I use 1/0 Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp 4X treble hooks and Number 5 heavy split rings. If you would like to try it, just message me and I'll take you on a trip.

All I know is they DONT feed whenever im fishing............

I've caught catfish blues and channels on all kinds of lures. I also caught them on something but its one of those stories nobody believes. So I'm not going to say but I do know they will eat anything in front of them if their hungry.

Flatheads are caught all the time on crank baits and crappie jigs, channels hit jigs also. I've caught blues trolling for hybrid, so them not being sight feeders at all is off.