Amy Hansen caught this big blue cat while bumping on a large river. In strong current, bumping often outperforms other tactics. (Photo courtesy of Troy and Amy Hansen)
June 27, 2024
By Jeff Samsel
Pick a good spot. Put out lines. Wait for the fish to bite. That’s the essence of catfishing, right? By tradition, yes. Often, though, a more mobile strategy will help you find and catch far more—and bigger—catfish.
Iowa residents Troy and Amy Hansen fish catfish tournaments throughout the Midwest and travel extensively to fish, field-test products and develop content for Whisker Seeker Tackle. Beginning in spring and continuing through the warm months, they mostly go mobile with their catfishing approach.
“It lets us actively chase them and figure out the areas they are using that day,” Troy Hansen says. “It’s usually better for finding the bigger fish, which is what we’re always after.”
The Hansens’ primary drifting strategy differs according to whether they are fishing lakes or rivers.
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PRIMARY TARGETS Whether in still water or moving water, drifting strategies are normally used to target channel and blue catfish. Where present, flatheads will sometimes nab drifted baits; however, flatheads aren’t typically targeted by drifting because of their predatory nature and the way they set up to hunt, which is different than how blues and channel catfish pursue their prey.
Drifting approaches for channel and blue catfish are essentially the same. The only significant differences are in the specific areas worked, the size of the baits and tackle used and, to a degree, the speed. Getting channel catfish to bite typically requires a slower drift rate. Channel cats are the main draw in the Iowa lakes closest to the Hansens, so they spend a lot of time drifting for them. However, they’ll gladly adapt with bigger hooks, baits and rods to target the larger blues when their travels take them to waters with solid populations of blue catfish.
When fishing lakes, the Hansens modify their drifting tactics by utilizing a trolling motor. This gives them more control and flexibility regardless of wind direction. (Photo courtesy of Troy and Amy Hansen) DRIFTING/TROLLING The Hansens opt for a stationary approach early in the year, when catfish tend to congregate in shallow water. As spring warms the water and catfish start moving and spreading out more, the Hansens shift to their mobile drifting/trolling approach. They’ll drag drift rigs along bottom to cover a range of areas in deeper and shallower water and a variety of structure types to find cats and determine how fish want baits presented on a given day.
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The core rig for this approach—often called a Santee Cooper drift rig—uses a three-way swivel with a dropper leader to a weight and a second leader rigged with a float and a hook. The weight, usually elongated and designed to resist snags, drags along the bottom behind the boat. The float keeps the baited hook just off the bottom and out of these same snags. With this type of rig, the offering stays in the key catfish feeding zone, whether the bottom is 4 feet deep or 40 feet deep, making it ideal for searching.
Traditional drifting strategies suggest going with the wind. You start upwind of a potentially productive area and let the boat drift, often with drift socks deployed to help control the speed and boat orientation. The Hansens modify that approach slightly to more of a trolling strategy. They employ the same rigs as one would employ when drifting, but they use their trolling motor in conjunction with drift socks to methodically work areas. It also allows them to work into the wind, with the wind or even across the wind, if they desire.
With or without directional aid from a trolling motor, drifting strategies are seldom random. Veteran drifters select areas that encompass a range of depths and structure types to help them pattern the cats efficiently. Troy Hansen points to a hard bend in an inundated river channel as an example. By starting on the flat outside the channel and dragging baits down into the channel, up the other side, across the ridge and in and out of the channel across the bend, they can learn a lot about where the most active catfish are positioning themselves.
The Hansens typically don’t do extensive graphing before they put lines down for trolling or drifting. With a mobile approach, they don’t need to. They can simply search for catfish with baits already in the water, which can even improve searching efforts. As the day progresses, drifts often become shorter and more targeted based on what fish have revealed.
To cover a much broader area and further improve the searching and patterning process, the Hansens use planer boards on outside lines. They also vary their rigs, baits and drop-back distances to gather more information about the mood and behavior of area catfish. Iowa allows three lines per angler (with a third-line permit), so when they fish together at home, the Hansens typically spread out six lines, each a little different. The core rig remains the same, but little variances sometimes make a major difference.
For example, instead of using a traditional float between the three-way swivel and the hook, they commonly add a Whisker Seeker Rattler or Ultra Chub. These also create buoyancy, but they rattle as they come through the water and add action to the bait. The Rattlers and Ultra Chubs come rigged with a leader and octopus circle hook.
“We even mix up the baits,” Amy Hansen says. “We might use a shad head on one, a fillet on another and a slice on another, and some days the fish really prefer one over the others.”
The Hansens do all their drifting with cut or whole baitfish. Usually that means shad, but they also try to match the types of forage prevalent where they are fishing.
BUMPING Rivers with substantial current call for a different style of drifting known as “bumping.” It’s a controlled drift, with the boat drifting backward and the trolling motor engaged and pushing upstream to cut the boat speed to half the speed of the current or less. Because of the faster current speed, lines fished out the back angle down-current, ahead of the direction the boat is traveling.
Bumping keeps baits at the bottom, whatever the bottom depth, and it allows anglers to cover a lot of water to locate fish. Because the current moves faster than the bumping rig, it carries the bait’s scent downstream to the catfish, alerting them about an approaching potential meal.
Unlike drifting and dragging—typically a multi-line approach with rods in holders—bumping calls for more precise control and is executed with one rod per angler. The reel’s bail is kept open to facilitate letting out line as needed based on bottom depth or current strength. The key to making good presentations and detecting strikes is to keep enough line out so that the weight bumps along the bottom with gentle lifts and drops of the rod but does not drag.
The rig is set up like a drift rig, with a three-way swivel, a dropper to a weight and a leader rigged with a floating element and a hook. The dropper, about half the length of the hook leader, leads to a cannonball-style sinker heavy enough to keep the angler in touch with the bottom.
Sound is an important element of bumping, as it draws fish nearer and helps them find the bait. To keep the bait off bottom and create the auditory allure, the Hansens always use a Whisker Seeker Rattler or Ultra Chub rig, as opposed to a simple float. The pair also use Whisker Seeker Bump’n Stick rods. These are 7 feet 6 inches long and designed specifically for this technique, with heavy power and a fast action, but are also light enough to hold all day.
Again, mixing things up to learn the cats’ preferences is central to the Hansens’ approach. Although this method only uses one rod per angler, they almost always vary a thing or two—whether the cut of the bait, the lure used or the leader length—and let the catfish reveal what they want.
When fishing this way, the Hansens keep several bumping rods rigged at all times. They do this both for the sake of facilitating changes for patterning and to avoid losing valuable fishing time in a key zone when they lose rigs to the bottom, which is inevitable with this approach.
As with lake drifting, the Hansens choose river sections offering a variety of potential holding spots for catfish, and they’re very intentional about boat positioning as they “drift.” If they’re working a hole along a hard river bend, they’ll maneuver the boat back and forth as they work downstream. This way, they hit the deep part of the hole, the outside bank’s slope and the slope to shallower water on the inside. The anglers also vary speeds, as they’ve found that some days even a .1 mph change can make all the difference in getting bites.
DRIFTING DESTINATIONS Six spectacular spots to try catfish drifting techniques. Truman Reservoir and its different arms support solid populations of blue and channel catfish. It’s an excellent place to implement drifting and trolling strategies. (Shutterstock image) Thankfully for catfish diehards, the Midwest is loaded with top-tier waters, whether they be reservoirs or rivers. Many, if not all, are perfect places to employ a variety of drifting strategies. However, a few fisheries are worthy of special mention.
RATHBUN LAKE, IA: Channel cats abound in Rathbun Lake, an 11,000-acre reservoir in southern Iowa with a maximum depth of around 50 feet. Two major arms, an open main body and a few significant creek arms create nice variety for drifting and finding catfish.RED ROCK RESERVOIR, IA: Just southeast of Des Moines, Red Rock impounds 15,250 acres along the Des Moines River and has a maximum depth around 44 feet. Like Rathbun, Red Rock is loaded with channel catfish, consistently serving up great drift-fishing action and the opportunity to catch quality channel catfish.MILFORD LAKE, KS: The largest manmade lake in Kansas, Milford covers 15,700 acres. This impoundment of the Republican River west of Topeka stands out as a blue catfish destination, although it also supports a solid channel cat population.TRUMAN RESERVOIR, MO: The Hansens believe Missouri’s Truman Reservoir is vastly undervalued as a catfishing destination. A 55,000-acre impoundment of the Osage River between Kansas City and Springfield, Truman supports outstanding populations of both channel and blue catfish.MISSISSIPPI RIVER: Nationally famous for its trophy catfish offerings, the Mississippi is a hot spot for the bumping technique, which allows anglers to break down the big river and fish it much more efficiently. The lower part of the river’s run through the Midwest, especially, is often difficult to anchor in due it its size and powerful currents, but it is very well suited for bumping.MISSOURI RIVER: Like the mighty Mississippi, the Missouri River offers extensive catfishing opportunities with plentiful channel and blue cats and opportunities for genuine giants. Big blues are the most prevalent species in the lower portion of its trek across the Midwest.This article was featured in the Midwest edition of May 2024's Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
