Rigs for bank fishing the Ohio River?

Either or.....

Not sure it would matter much. There are a few tricks though. I sure hate to give up "secrets" The "catfishermans association" will probably disown me now!! I can't wait to see my PM's ! I don't believe in keeping secrets to get a "one-up" on my buddies. I compete with the fish, not with humans !
Trick #1 before your sinker hits the bottom, close your bail, sometimes it's even good to do that when it hits the water. Reason? This takes the slack out of your line, less slack, less chance of the sinker rolling & getting snagged. Along the same thinking, crank up a few times after it hits, for the same reason. Always place your baits downstream of where you are ( in current situations). I know you are fishing in the Ohio River. In a lake, you can place them anywhere.
Longer rods help to keep the line up & off the water, also moves more line quickly helping to control a fish & the slack line.
The stronger the current-the shorter the leader. Longer leaders move more in the current, the bait's going to go in a circle, making it twist alot & a harder target for the fish to grab. Also will snag easier.
Hope that helps some, hope to see you at the Doctor's T's this year !!

i finally read Jims reply...

Funny one as usual

Rooster..if you are going to be bank fishing, mostly tailwaters..then i say get away from the "carolina" rig for sure..with this rig you will for loose fish to the rocks as the sinker will snag up and you will loose the whole rig..from a boat its fine...but i never run this rig in the tailwaters.
My rig of choice is the 3-way rig you mentoned.
I prefer either "no-snag" or "no-roll" style sinkers for current as they tend to stay put much better than bank or egg sinkers in current. I tie a lighter line to my sinker and a heavier line to my hook.This way if anythings going to snag it will most likely be the sinker and you wont loose a fish or the whole rig.You can vary your drop lines to your sinker and to your hook...i just try to make sure my sinker leader is a little longer than the hook leader..how long to make them depends on bait being used(live or cut) plus the current flow.
You can buy the 3-way swivels, or you can tie your own style of 3-way like i do most of the time.
Jim was right when he said using longer rods work better for bank fishing big rivers like the Ohio r.
Being a hybrid hunter, you already know that you can cast farther and play fish much better at long distance with them than say a shorter rod of 6-8ft long.
Also i dont run really heavy main line when fishing the big river..the long rod will help protect the lighter lines much better, plus when you do snag up(and you will)..it wont be as hard to break off.

I agree with the 3 way rig .. I go one step farther .. I take line about 15lb test .. depending on how heavy the main line is, I take about 2 ft or so of the lighter line, I attach a sinker to the end of it, type of sinker is a no roll or something kinda snag proof, then I attach a swivel to the other end, I put my main line through the swivel, put another swivel on the end of it, then attach a leader made of the same line as the main line .. this allows the sinker rig to slide on the main line, plus keeping the bait somewhat off the bottom, if you get snagged it sometimes is the sinker so you can break off the sinker and hopefully still get your fish in .... Like jim said I always try to cast down stream a little, this has to effects .. it keeps the line from being dragged across snags, plus I have found that alot of fish when hooked head down stream ... if you are already fishing in that direction then, the fish drags you across fewer snags .... Although I am a 99% of the time boat fishermen, this has worked pretty well for me ... Good luck

Another twist

We've been using this a little. Have your swivel & leader attached to the main line. Before you tie the swivel to the main line, put a snap swivel on it, the main line thru the top of the swivel. Leave the snap end on the bottom. Pre-tie 10# line onto your sinkers with a loop on one end. Now you can change the amount of weight for changing conditions & baits without re-tieing. Also makes it quick when you break off a sinker.
Now that one was a secret !
Here's another one I posted it somewhere else over a year ago It's a nice idea, only now I'd use the snap swivel on the sinker drop line.