Drifting—Some catfishing situations call for a bait to be slowly drifted or trolled near the bottom instead of anchored near fish-holding structure. Sinkers designed for drifting must be heavy enough to keep the rig down in the fish zone, but light enough that the rig can move with the current or follow a drifting boat. These weights also must be snag-resistant so they don’t hang up on bottom structure. The most popular option is a three-way rig weighted with a heavy bell sinker.

Wire-legged bottom bouncers skip and bounce over rocks, logs, or clean bottom, and they excel in situations requiring coverage or snag-resistance. Tie your mainline to the bend in the wire frame just as you would tie on a spinnerbait. Attach a leader to the snap or snap swivel at the top of the wire arm. The leader stretches back one or two feet to your bait. Legless bouncers like the Gapen Bait Walker also can be still-fished directly behind a boat anchored in current. Keep just enough tension on the line to stand the lead base upright, and set the hook as soon as a fish mouths the bait.

To feed line to a fish while retaining the snag-resistant features of a bouncer, try a slip bouncer. Much like a sliding slipsinker, the wire-legged lead weight clips into a clevis that slides down the line until it hits the barrel swivel at the end of the leader, positioning it a set distance ahead of the bait. When a fish takes the bait, follow it back with the rod tip a foot or two, and set. Should you need a heavier weight, just snap the bouncer out of the clevis and insert a heavier weight.

Balancing—This is not really a sinker characteristic so much as a specialized sinker function. We use 3/0 lead shot to balance slipfloat rigs, designed to keep baits moving along the bottom with the current. Pinch enough shot on the line a foot or so above the hook so about two-thirds of the float is submerged. Properly balanced, slipfloats are easily pulled under when a fish strikes, but buoyant enough to keep the bait moving.

Removable and reusable split shot, such as those by Water Gremlin, have tiny wings to bend the shot open and remove it from your line. Many anglers feel, however, that round shot provide a more natural presentation in current. We prefer ultrasoft round shot like Dinsmores that can be pried open with a fingernail. Dinsmores offers an egg-shaped shot made from tin that they claim casts, sinks, and drifts as well as round lead shot. The weights also feature a “fingernail divot” for easy removal.

To anchor larger livebaits for big flatheads and blue cats, add a swivel about a foot above a 3/0 to 7/0 hook. Depending on the size of the float, a sliding egg sinker weighing 1/2 to 2 or more ounces may be needed to balance the float. Several manufacturers also offer quick on-off rigging via an internal rubber grip that fits inside a slot in the sinker. Insert your line into the slot, twist the ends of the rubber strip, and your line is gripped without a swivel or a knot. These sinkers allow you to adjust weights to fine-tune buoyancy as you change baits.

Sinkers are a key component to most catfish rigs, but few catmen consider which sinker is best for the task. Get yourself some sinkers. Better yet, get yourself a catbag full of sinkers of different sizes and styles and find out which ones work best for you. You’ll quickly learn that using the right sinker in the right situation is one of the simplest ways to improve your presentation.