General Questions

[mogus06]

I am trying to put together a couple of catfish rigs. I know many have weighed in on the subject of rods (I have been reading old posts). What would be a good general purpose rod? By that I menn a rod for channels maybe an occasiional flathead. I have been looking at Ugly Stiks but they have a ton of models to choose from. Any recommendations. Also I have picked up that most use braided line what recommendations there (brand, test etc). I have a variety of reels (6500c3, spinning, bait casters etc.). I will mostly be fishing on rivers. All help would be appreciated.

[Scott K]

Some cheap and decent options are the white catfish series rods, that the box stores have. King Cat, Wild Cat, ect.. They are about $20. They are a good starter rod, and a good multi purpose rod. I have a few of them myself.

[rbs]

A lot of guys use those rods as he has stated. I use med hvy flipping sticks. I have a few diff brands but that is what I like. I also use tidewater reels. They are cheap and have held up awesome.

I also only use mono 50# test. I have had bad luck with braid and I have never used dacron...does anyone use dacron anymore?

[DTro]

Berkely glowstick is a great option. Get a med/heavy and you have your bases covered.

[Mr Special]

I have 5 KingKat combos and they are great for the money.

Thanks again Dtro and Paul1978 =)

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I was up in Rogers the other day and they now make King Kat combos with a clicker. Pretty nice beginner rig in my opinion. Better than the Wild Cat combo my girlfriend has.

[Gordie]

Berkely glowstick is a great option. Get a med/heavy and you have your bases covered.

I think that this will be my next rod

[phishnerd]

I run Glowsticks for flats and channels all the time. Dtro is right. Good versatile rod at an even better price. Perfect rod to use with circle hooks IMO. Fiberglass rods + superbraids + circle hooks= goodtimes. These rods can handle anything from 5 to 50 pounders with no problems. I am really impressed with how durable these rods have turned out to be.

[blakeb]

really i have had two and the lights crappped out on both?

[DTro]

yeah, the lights suck, but nobody buys them for the lights.

If you want to light up your rod, stop by fleet farm and pick up a pack of these for 2 bucks:

[rushing]

How do you get them inside the rod, D?

[Larry FlatCaster]

If you want to light up your rod, stop by fleet farm and pick up a pack of these for 2 bucks:

Your still using those.... eh.. The one you gave me finally crapped out last year.... Sometimes a little tough to see on black poles... but was still a neat light.

[Surreal Deal]

yeah, the lights suck, but nobody buys them for the lights.

If you buy a glowstick I recommend bringing AAA batteries with you to test the lights before you make your purchase. Make sure that the light at least works the day that you take it home. Also sometimes the L E D's are situated a little crooked in them and they don't shine down the entire length of the rod.

[rockingroy]

The area I fish only has channels, but I just bought an Ugly Stick Catfish with an Okuma Epixor EB50 reel spooled with 17lb mono, this combo has landed me a couple of 28" and a couple smaller ones. The Epixor is a spinning reel with a clicker, the clicker is not real loud but works great. Prior to this year I was using a combo that I had bought pre-spooled, rod and reel for $24.99. A Berkley Fusion 7' medium heavy rod with a Berkley Fusion 206 spinning reel and what I figure is probably 20LB mono. That combination got me several dozen cats including several fish over 30" up to my personal best 34 1/4, and I never had a problem with it or broke the line (unless I broke it on purpose to free an impossible snag. The Fusion did not have a clicker but I would set the drag light with an Eagle Claw 4/0 J hook which comes threaded on a steel nylon line about 6" long. above that I put an 8" steel leader and above that a 1 oz. weight (there is very light current where I fish due to a back water area near my dock). If you are looking for cheap, yet reliable that is a pretty good set up for channels. I usually don't even have to tighten the drag to real them in, when the bell rings I just lift the rod out of the dock post and reel, they almost always hook themselves in the corner of the mouth before I even pick the rod up.

[DarrenW]

A lot of guys use those rods as he has stated. I use med hvy flipping sticks. I have a few diff brands but that is what I like. I also use tidewater reels. They are cheap and have held up awesome.

I also only use mono 50# test. I have had bad luck with braid and I have never used dacron...does anyone use dacron anymore?

I use 50 lb tuff line and have had really good luck with it it seems to hold up better than other lines that my buddies have used including powerpro and fireline maybe it is just luck but it is all i use now