Something you guys may like for bite indication instead of staring at your line.

  Well I mainly fish for carp now but this can be used for any fishing out there. I am sure some may have seen them and probably most haven't. They are called bite alarms. Basically its a small box with a roller and your line goes into the groove and simply if a fish pulls slightly or hard it turns the rollers and beeps. Now they also have led lights that come on also so its great for night fishing. They attach to whats called a bank stick and you just stick it in the ground. They can adjust sensivity so on windy days when the line moves some they are not going off,volume and tone mainly.The better ones don't use a roller and work off of vibration. Here is a pic of what one looks like.  http://www.bankfishingsystems.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58   Instead of staring at your line all day you can kick back and enjoy hanging out with your friends and when you get a run or bite your alarm will let you know. Now before I would watch my line and you turn away for a second and you may miss something or if you get a quick hit you may not have seen it so your hook is there with no bait on it. With these you are always aware of whats going on. Just thought I would post this up since some of you may like these and the price isn't bad. They range from around 12bucks and up to as much as you want to spend.
 
Oh ya the above link is just for an image to get an idea.

What we do when catfishing is use a pop can with the tab up and a few small stones in it. Can always add a few more stones to it or lay a small flat one on the top to keep it upright depending upon how tight you keep your line. Usually when they take line the can goes flying on flops over and you hear the noise and you have a quick visual.
 
 
Smitty