There’s many options when it comes to catfish rigs and the Whisker Seeker Tackle Ultra Chub is a great option! One of my favorite ways to rig for catfish is the santee rig or variations of the santee rig. This catfish rig utilizes a float to raise the bait from the bottom putting it into the line of site of catfish and into the “strike zone”.
While a basic santee rig will certainly catch catfish often minor tweaks and adjustments will mean big differences helping you to catch more or bigger catfish.
I’ve long been a fan of the various Whisker Seeker Tackle “Catfish Lures” and have covered many of these in the past like the Big Bertha and XL Rattlers. The Whisker Seeker Tackle Ultra Chub has been on the market for quite some time but I never used this version of their catfish lure much because I had a system and it worked for me.
This past winter I was tinkering with some variations in catfish rigs and began using the Ultra Chub. There were days where the Ultra Chub was a clear winner in both the numbers of fish caught and the size so it peaked my interest and I continued with further testing (and tweaking the catfish rig), I had some awesome results combining the Ultra Chub with a Silver Versa Rattle and a 10/0 Triple Threat Catfish Hook when targeting trophy blue catfish.
I was so impressed I worked the Ultra Chub into my arsenal and started testing the results of this catfish rig using a 6/0 Triple Threat Catfish Hook in the early spring and continued with amazing results.
Many anglers have seen the Ultra Chub show up in my photos and video clips and have asked how I’m setting up this catfish rig so I wanted to walk everyone through how I’m rigging the Whisker Seeker Tackle Ultra Chub for catfish.
The Whisker Seeker Tackle Ultra Chub
The Ultra Chub is different from the other Whisker Seeker Tackle “Catfish Lures” as it’s a hard bodied catfish lure with an integrated rattle. Being a hard body it lasts forever and is super durable.
The true magic in this catfish rig is in the integrated rattle and the silver color. It’s been my experience fishing with the Ultra Chub that when the fish bite the catfish bait on the Ultra Chub they absolutely HAMMER the baits.
There’s always days where color and presentation doesn’t matter and the fish are hitting almost anything, regardless of catfish rig or color but on the days they’re being “picky” the Ultra Chub has often been a clear winner. I’ve had a number of days while testing where 70–80% of the fish caught were caught on the Ultra Chub catfish rigs. It’s definitely something that will stay in my catfish tackle arsenal.
How To Rig The Ultra Chub
I’m rigging the Ultra Chub like a traditional Santee Rig (but on steroids).
- I’m attaching the Ultra Chub to a piece of leader line so the overall length from hook to sinker is around 28 to 36″ dependent on the depth of water I’m fishing and where the catfish are holding in the water column.
- In the middle of the leader line I add a ball chain swivel.
- Just above the ball chain swivel I add an optic bead and silver Versa Rattle attaching the whole rig to the mainline with a barrel swivel.
- Above the barrel swivel I add another Optic Bead and then either a no roll sinker when fishing on anchor or when a drift fishing a Quick Release Sinker Slide with a drift fishing sinker.
- I’m using the 10/0 Triple Threat catfish hook for trophy catfish with huge baits, the 8/0 for trophy catfish with small to medium baits and smaller catfish with a very aggressive bite and then the 6/0 Triple Threat when targeting small one to five pound catfish. This allows me to continue to fish like a traditional circle hook, set the hook or use the line alarm on my catfish reels and the “reel, reel, reel method”. Whatever you do don’t make the common circle hook mistakes that will cost you fish!
Here’s The Video
Check out the video below for all the details on how I’m rigging the Ultra Chub.
You can get all the tackle and gear needed and the Ultra Chub here at the Whisker Seeker Tackle website.
If you want to load the boat with catfish right now then check out the Spring Blue Catfish Techniques ebook or the Drift Fishing For Catfish ebook to get on the fast track catching more catfish.
