My reason for using this stems from a paranoia about losing sinkers as well as trying to keep a fish from swallowing a hook;  I always like to keep the catch and release option open.  Also, I can put  more bait out on a two-hook rig and catch the fish the "second time around."  (I'm unsure if I really save tackle, though.)

Here are two others:

Sliding Rig

Drift Rig

Both these rigs are effective because catfish like to carry their food/bait away from other catfish, and the "looser" hook allows them to move without getting spooked. 
 

::It's a good idea to tie your bait down with elastic thread.  You can get off a good solid cast without having your bait fly off and it will survive the pests--like little stripers or the evil mitten crabs--long enough for a catfish to wander by and take it.  Plus, you'll know if those little pecks on your line are crabs if your hook comes back bare.  Time to move. 
 

::In covering an area, cast out long and wait for five or ten minutes, reel in half the way and repeat the process. Do this once to your left, once straight ahead, and once to your right.  No bites?  Change baits.  Consider relocation.
 

::Even if you're staying put, get up every so often and gently tighten your line to lift the sinker out of the mud. This can make all the difference if your offering has sunk into the funky stuff beyond the reach of even bottom feeders.  Sometimes you will get a slamming bite a second after you've done that. 
 

::Tight lines here as in all places.  If you let it slack you will run the risk of snags or liberated fish.  Give as good as you get and it will be a blast. 
 

::QUICK STUFF (source: California DFG and Peterson Guide)
Basically there are four different kinds of catfish in the Delta:

Of these, you are more likely to catch white and yellow catfish.  In fact, the DFG says that 95% of catfish caught in California are white catfish.   Could be, but for me it's always been a 50/50 split between whites and yellows, probably because I'm more apt to fish in their habitat: shallow, brackish, muddier waterways like small sloughs and back channels. Best areas I've found for them are Grizzly Island and Hill or Montezuma sloughs, Sherman Island on the San Joaquin River side; and the Whiskey Slough/Empire Cut area.  Brown catfish like deep, slow moving waters with gravel and mud mixed bottoms.   Central Delta, around the Franks Tract region, is a good example. Channel cats, the largest catfish in the Delta, prefer deep swift water with mostly gravel bottoms. The deep water shipping channels of the Sacramento/ San Joaquin river system are top choices.

An observation: if you are looking for the big channel catfish, you should know in advance that this is slow, patient fishing, best at night during the summertime.  Channel cats are meat-eaters, so don't bother with clams.  If you want to catch fish quickly, however,  whites and yellows are the way to go.  And you can catch them year around.  In fact, I'd rather go after catfish in the wintertime, when the temperatures are less searing and the crowds are thin.  I even think the fish taste better in the winter and spring!

Here is a good link for some ideas and culinary styles:

And here is a superb site about catfish that concentrates on lakes:

And here is Catfish Ed's Most Excellent Site: