Ugly Stik Catfish rod, spinning

[slipperybob]

Ugly Stik Catfish rod
The white Ugly Stik I purchased is a medium heavy power, seven feet rod.  I kind of wanted a Heavy power but this will just have to do.  The reel seat is designed for those large version heavyweight reels.  For now I have my old Stradic FG 4000 paired up with it.  White reel on a white rod isn't too shabby.  I have 50# Whiplash braid on it.  This braid is about the equivalent of most 40# braids.
Casting, I don't have it down yet for thus rod.  It feels awkward because it does not load up like other Ugly Stik of medium power nor does it match up to other graphite rods.  It is sort of in between, but still an Ugly Stik feel.  I have a lot of other rods to compare it to.
The hook keeper is a problem design. It is mounted perpendicular as opposed to traditional parallel mounts.  Furthermore it is on the side so there has been a few times my line fit caught up on it.  That's what happens when fishing in the night.
The bite detection for the rod tip is not as soft as I would've like.  It doesn't have that traditional Ugly Stik rod tip action.  To be fair the location of where I was fishing has pressured catfish that do not hit hard.  I was evev having trouble hooking up with a medium power Ugly Stik Pro.  The only was to hook up consistently was with a graphite rod while you hold it.  

While hooked up to nice 22-26" catfish the rod loads up nice and progressive.  It basically flexed on full load to the same as my heavy power graphite rod.  This is what this rod does very well.  I have my very old Rhino Glow tip Medium Heavy rod that has a softer tip and more backbone that I'm much more use to, that I find better.  The Ugly Stik just doesn't have the fish head turning ability but keeps a nice progressive load.

White is also very easy to see in the night as well. The Glow line guides in the top three makes it look cool.  Not as visible as a glow rod tip from the Zebco Rhino rod.

 

If anyone wants a dedicated catfishing rod, this rod fits the role very well.  I just wish they have a heavy power version. At $40 its a great buy.

[Harpz]

I have the 8' spinning version of this rod. I've easily got 1000+ channel cats on this rod. I only fish at Lockport Manitoba where the Cats are all 25-39". I have it paired up with a Shimano Sonoma 4000 and I love it. This rod is a workhorse. Try casting straight over your head. I can launch a 3oz weight and a chunk of cisco 150-200 yards using this technique. Check out youtube for long casting. You're gonna love this rod.

[MN BassFisher]

Happy to hear a positive review, I landed on the Baitcasting version of the Ugly Stik a month or so ago. I wanted a different rod but seeing I couldn't find it at a store or get a hold of the owner or staff, I would have had to pay a bunch for shipping and it put the rod out of my budget. I paired it with a Abu Garcia 6500 C3.