Catfishing Season

It's been catfishing season, in my neck of the woods, for a few weeks now.
This is the time when we break out the jon boat and drift around the local fishing hole.

  I'm lucky enough to have a nice sandpit full of fat catfish, nearby my home, where I can spend hot summer nights catching all sizes of cats. I have a particular friend who enjoys this type of fishing and we both sacrifice a lot of sleep during the months of June, July, and August.

 There are a lot of guys out there who drift the bigger lakes, using shad, and other live baits, caught with throw nets. We don't get that technical about it.
We started out, a number of years ago, simply drifting nightcrawlers. This worked fine enough in the early season, we then began using chicken livers. The results have been so good, we gave up nightcrawlers entirely.

 We don't go to the larger reservoirs, we stick to the smaller state lakes, sandpits and large ponds. Our results have often been quite good, with fish ranging from 1 to 20 pounds. Some nights are better than others, and timing is anybody's guess. Sometimes evening is the best, or early mornings, or the wee hours after midnite.
The wind is the essential ingredient here, either there's too much, or not enough.

  We use a small v-bottom, that's easy to carry, equipped with a trolling motor and battery. The less stuff you have to carry, the better. We each use 2 rods, and carry the liver in a small cooler. The chicken livers hold up a lot better if you can keep them cool. I use a slip sinker, a swivel and leader combination, with just enough weight to keep it bouncing along the bottom. We use single hooks, less snags, and have little trouble with misses, the cats usually clobber it. Most of the smaller lakes are not that deep, and generally we'll be drifting in 8 to 15 feet of water.
In some areas, snags can be a nuisance and drifting the bait above the bottom is the best tactic. Generally, I like to stay in contact with the bottom, but that isn't always practical.

 A decent headlamp provides enough light for me, I've used a battery operated lantern before but it will draw bugs. My headlamp has a setting with a red led, which I like the best, as it draws less bugs. My friend prefers the brighter white light setting, and complaining about bugs.

  I am presently waiting for the wind to die off a bit so I can get out there tonite.
If you presently use, or plan to try this method, have fun and catch some fish.