>>927249Pic related is my preferred rig for catfish, sometimes I'll use others depending on the situation though.
20lb test monofilament line is generally plenty for about any freshwater catfish you're going to catch in North America, you might want to go up to 30lb test with a 50lb test "shock leader" if you're going to be exclusively targeting trophy flathead or blue catfish.
For channel cats I use treble hooks (usually size 4 or 6, try to find some that are 3x or 4x strong) and some sort of stink bait, I prefer CJ's Catfish Punch bait as far as store bought stinkbaits go.
For blues and flatheads you'll want to use a 6/0 - 8/0 circle hook (sometimes called an octopus hook or octopus circle hook), and some kind of baitfish. Personally I prefer live shad for blues and live bluegill for flatheads. Blues will also go for cut bait as well but flatheads feed almost exclusively on live fish.
