Well ok you are sitting there on the shore with a tin of worms, hoping to get a cat &/or walter-what is the best hook weight cast etc. In the past I cast, get snagged and get no fish, so how do I get fewer snags and more fish? Thanks.
Do not allow your bait to drift once cast.
I.e. heavier weight so or don’t slip downstream and get stuck.
When reeling in, essentially set the hook and simultaneously reel to POP the bait off the bottom and make its way up through the water column fast.
That’s in regard to snags.
Fish… with a worm. You ain’t getting bit within 5 minutes. Move it.
90% of the channels or flatheads I catch are within 5 minutes of bait hitting the water. Waiting longer is just lack of motivation…OR during a cooling trend or if fishing a spawning bed… then max 20 minutes.
Don’t wait. Set hook. 20″ cats will go after a 12″ sucker on a 1/2 LB jig. They ain’t shy at the table.
The shore spot on the MN river I go to I’m typically using a 4-6 oz no roll bank sinker on a slider and then a 5 or 6/0 circle hook with cut sucker on it. Usually an 18 or so inch leader off the swivel.
A no roll requires more weight to hold casted adjacent to the current compared to a flat bank sinker.
No rolls are essentially banned from my boat. It’s lead. That’s all I’ll give ya. I’ll use a thru line sinker 1oz or less.
With a flat bank I’ll put a small zip tie through the large lead eyelet of the sinker, left loose with tag trimmed. My main line will have a small snap swivel, bead, swivel to leader.
A weight left on the line anytime not fishing, especially above 2 oz tends to wreck rods over time. With the snap, changing weight sizes is fast obviously. If I want a weight that will slip when casted adjacent to the current a round weight with a single eye is best as it has the most feel when bounced to find bottom, and quickly removable of course for easy rod travel and storage. No tying knots to change weights. Ocean guys fishing into current attach barbs to weights to hold.
Anyway up size to reduce drift which is not desired in snag County. I’m passionate a tad about lead weights over the years and always experiment to find most efficient ways to always be using the right weight and putting more fish in the boat by keeping lines wet longer.
BTW, it’s not uncommon for someone catfishing to decide to throw something into an area that is only, maybe, coming out with a fish or not at all. 
For a very general question I’ll give ya a very general answer.
1oz, #2 octopus, half a crawler will catch mostly anything in the river.
Depth, current, structure, distance from shore, cat species, etc are all needed for better answering your question. I’ve caught eyes and cats in the same spots in 15′ wide creeks in 6′ water and 150′ wide rivers in 15′, very different setups for both from shore
In bank fishing line diameter, water resistance against the bait, current, and bottom type all effect what you need to use. A low diameter line and small bait will need less weight to hold it down. Keep moving up in weight until your bait doesn’t hop down stream in the current any more than you want it to. I might have to change from 6 oz to 1 oz through a season on my little river. A slide with a snap makes changes easier and is better for your line.
Thanks! Crawler stationary near bottom and not snagging is key.
The more you drag the more you snag right? I would lift up and reel fast when done with a cast, short to medium casts-you guys who do this don’t even think about this stuff-are you better setting up where the river bends in or out?
The more you drag the more you snag right? I would lift up and reel fast when done with a cast, short to medium casts-you guys who do this don’t even think about this stuff-are you better setting up where the river bends in or out?
I don’t just soak a crawler in one spot I try to set up in front of down trees cast close to them and every minute or 2 I’ll give it a reel or 3 drag that crawler along bottom. You can’t set up and cast over super snag areas because you will have endless issues.
As for inner or outer corners, that depends on the day, time , situation. Most my favorite spots are on long straight aways
Inside or outside bend depends on species, water level, water temp, etc.. I don’t bottom fish much so not much help there.
Walleye or cat-mid-day, upper ‘sippi. Thanks
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