Catfish Rigs

Posted by Keith on January 4, 2010 under Carp and Coarse Fishing, Help and Tips | Be the First to Comment

Suspended Live bait rig/Dumbell rig

I’ve had numerous requests from people asking for some rig tips for catching Wels Catfish. Bearing this in mind I have put together a few rig tutorials with regards to this. I’ll publish these over the coming weeks and we’ll discuss their uses.

This rig has accounted for a massive amount of fish from our UK shores to much further afield.

It’s principal setup is very basic and extremely effective. Many people are under the assumption that the Wels is a bottom dweller and only feeds hard on the bottom…..this is a fallacy and nothing could be further from the truth.

This rig uses a small amount of items to achieve maximum catching effect. The Wels will readily take a live bait presented high up in the water, just below the surface in fact.

The suspended rig or Dumbell rig as it is also known is most effective in water of around 8-10 feet+.

A lead of 3-4 oz would be most suitable and placed onto the mainline in a free running format. Next we need to position a free running buffer bead onto the line.

Next we need to pull the line through our dumbells silicone tubing center and now tie on a good strong swivel.

All that is left to do is tie on our hooklength material……I like to use a heavy monofilament such as amnesia as it is less prone to tangles as braid is.

Now tie on the hook. You will need to use an appropriate hook for the size of fish livebait that you are going to use. A size 1/0, 1 or 2 will be around the required size.

Place the live fish onto the hook via its top lip and then the rig is ready to cast.

Once cast to the appropriate area I then tighten the line until the weight can be felt and the dumbell is tight to the mainline in such a way that if you were to pull any more then the dumbell would disappear under the water.

You now put the rod in the rests and wait. You can pay out some more line if you wish…..this will help the hookbait to cover a larger area.

So, there you have it……our first rig ready for catching one of those elusive monster fish……more to follow in a weeks time.

Tight lines

Keith