- 1). Select a 7-foot or longer, heavy action fishing rod. Match the rod with a reel. When you hold the combination, it should feel comfortable and well balanced in your hands.
- 2). Spool the rod and reel with 15- to 20-pound test fishing line. Place the fishing line through each rod guide, starting at the tip and working your way to the reel. Wrap the line around the reel's spool twice, and then tie an overhand knot -- the knot used to tie knots in shoelaces -- to secure the line to the spool. Wind line onto the reel until it is 1/4 inch below the rim of the spool.
- 3). Cut a 2-foot section from the fishing line, which is the leader for your bottom catfish rig.
- 4). Thread an egg-shaped weight on the main line. The weight must be heavy enough to keep the rig pegged to the bottom. In most cases, 1-oz. weights are heavy enough. Heavy current may require larger weights.
- 5). Tie the fishing line to the barrel swivel with a Palomar knot. Use the same knot to attach the leader to the other side of the barrel swivel.
- 6). Tie a hook to the leader. Hook sizes from 2/0 to 4/0 are effective for channel catfish, while 4/0 and larger are sufficient for flathead catfish.
- 7). Hook a night crawler or dead minnow onto the hook if your target is channel cats. Live bullheads and sucker minnows are better options for flathead cats.
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