Rigging the hook and weight is crucial to successful snagging.
The trick is to ensure one of the hooks on the treble is pointed toward a fish.
First, attach the treble hook with a basic double cinch knot, leaving the tag line about a foot long, and then tie the weight to the end of the tag line (again with a double cinch knot).
Then make two overhand loops just below the hook, and place the loop over one barb. Repeat the process and place the second loop over a different barb. Looping two barbs is important to prevent the hook from twisting and keeping it pointed toward the fish.
Heavy tackle is needed for snagging. Jacob Coldiron armed himself with a 15-foot Daiwa Sealine surf rod, while Rudy Horne used a 12-foot Ugly Stick.
Both relied on Quantum Optix spinning reels.
“A 12-foot spinning rod is really all you need for a place like the diversion canal because you’re fishing a small area and the water is shallow,” Coldiron said. “But if you fish big water like the lock and dam at Simmesport you’re going to need the 15-foot rod.”
As for line, Horne suggested using Trilene 30-pound Big Game monofilament. Anything larger than that is difficult to cast long distances.
Both fishermen use single 8/0 or 10/0 treble hooks because they have learned catfish are able to throw anything larger.
“The smaller hook just sinks into the fish better,” Coldiron said.
A 2- or 3-ounce lead sinker of any shape completes the tackle.
Coldiron brings more weights than hooks because the line tends to wear and break more near the sinker than the hook.
Coldiron and Horne are students at LSU of Alexandria and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, respectively, so they buy the most-inexpensive equipment they can.
“Stay with the cheap hooks, sinkers and lines; you don’t want it to be an expensive outing,” Coldiron advised.