What's yer favorite cat reel?

[Stratosman]

Just thought I'd get a few opinions on reel selection... Right now my cat reels consist of a couple of my muskie reels sitting on a cat rod. Need to get these reels back where they belong and am looking for a designated cat reel or two. What seems to be the reel of choice?

[Ralph Wiggum]

I'd say that the majority of catmen I know use either the Abu 6500C3 or 7000C3 for casting reels. As far as spinning reels, the Okuma Epixor Baitrunner/Cabela's Salt Striker is popular in the 50 series reel. The 65 series is quite a bit bigger and heavier.

I've heard good things about the Pflueger Trion 66, too, and I am going to look at the Pflueger Contender series, as well. I like my Pflueger spinning reels a lot, so I figure I should try out their casting reels, too.

[hanson]

Garcia 7000C3

I'm also looking to get some Penns and am looking at the Penn GT2. I believe Dark30 has this reel and Dennis also has a Penn of some kind.

Lots of options out there.

[rushing]

Tica Sportera Bait Runner spinning reel is my choice.

[Guest]

I assume you are fishing flatheads(everyone else is).

If your fishing flats, the 7000 is the way to go, or just about any light surfcasting reel with a levelwind should treat you well. Larger trolling class reels will work, but some you cant adjust for enough tension for casting.. so casting gets irratic and backlashes can become a problem.

Bigger spool, lower gear ratio, good power handle, stronger drag is what everyone is getting at here. There are some decent Okuma's on the market too.

[Stratosman]

Yeah, the two muskie reels I am using for cats, one is a C3 the other a C4, I think I'll stik with the C3's, lower gear ratio, but just in a larger size.

Thanks.

[ivegottabite]

I would go with the 6500C3's, they are pretty much all I have ever seen on cat rods around here. Also, Gander Guide series bait casters look pretty nice as well. I know Ed Carlson has given them a good workout in the past

[hanson]

Normally I would say 6500C3 is perfectly fine for channel cats. However, my recent trip to the Red proved to me that I like the 7000s much better for those big channels in heavy current. And it might not be so much the reel as the handle. The 7000s come with the Power Handle and I'd definitely consider swapping the handles on my 6500s for the power handle. Its just a whole lot easier to crank with the big handle in my opinion.

[Dennis Steele]

For bait casters, I've got a couple 6500's, and for my "close quarter combat" reels I have a Penn GTi 310 and a GTO 220.

THe Penns are TOUGH reels. You can crank down the drag and just winch fish out of a mess. I don't think they will ever fail on a fish. Tough gears, housings and very smooth drags.

They aren't as freindly as the 6500 or 7000s when it comes to casting however, and you have to manually engage them to set the hook.(They don't engage by turning the handle).

[Stratosman]

I have Penn GTi 310 that I use for lead core trolling, works nice, I use it for that because of the castability issue.. I think I'll just pick up a couple more of the 6500's..

[DARK30]

I like the Penn 320GT2 hands down. You can't go wrong for the money...only wish it had an instant inti-reverse on it. I am going to get another one. The 7000 is nice too. I'm sure there are other reels out there that would flip the bill just fine...Its always fun to try a new one out.

[Master Chief]

Any comments or opinions on the Abu Record series reels? I have been thinkin about that route.

[honky kong]

picked up the big game 7000 this year and she's a beaut clark.

[Random guy]

Quote:

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Any comments or opinions on the Abu Record series reels? I have been thinkin about that route.

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I tested a couple for musky fishing and was very unimpressed. Drags skip and the brake wouldn't stay put and kept coming loose every time I traveled. Can't go wrong with the 7000. I have been messing around with reels and found the 7000s offer good casting, smooth drags and just built tough. I tried a big Shimano that the drag skipps and jumps steady by by jerks plus the clicker is lame and doesn't adjust well, a tidewater that should be thrown in the tide, a Okuma that won't engage half of the time, and the 6500s just don't have the muscle for a flat in the current from my limited knowledge of cats.

Spend the ching on the 7000 and be done with it. Has to be a reason so many good catmen have them in the boat.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Anyone have a Pflueger Contender? It's piqued my interest, but I can't find one around here to get my hands on.

[dudeofpurple]

I've fished with a 6500 for years, pulled many flats over 30# and channels over 10# In or out of current,Not one issue with them.My cousin on the other hand strips the level wind gears out of his.I fish Muskies and Pike with the same reels, no problems.

[nitefisher]

i fish the penn model 155 no level wind so i can cast farther, and the clicker is the loudest i have ever heard.the drag is awsume also,one tough reel. i have a penn model 209 coming ain't fished with one yet but have a buddy with one and he said he would'nt fish with anything eles, it has a level wind on it but he still out casts me. these are the reels of my liking which every catfisherman has his own prefrences and reasons why they like the reels they use.

[Guest]

JP..

What model shimano did you try? I purchased a 600 Tekota a while back and it performs far beyond my expectations for flathead fishing. It cast beyond great, the drag is as smooth as glass and will crank down not to slip at all, the power handle is beyond excellent ad comfortable, and the clicker is loud and works flawlessly.. it can be adjusted up to resist current with big baits, or tension reduced for a reasonably light pull(little heavier than 6500 at lightest tension).

Heavy price tag($150-$170 depending where you buy).. but I was very impressed and it makes the 7000's feel like a volkswagon bug vs a cadillac. I liked the 600 so much I purchased a 500 Tekota($130-$150) also and I couldnt be happier. The performance puts the 7000's to shame(they are still a good reel).

[CatManLee]

Call me a cheapskate, but I tend to spend alot less than you guys on my rigs. The reels I use are Shakespeare Tidewaters. They only run about $40-$50 and I have never been dissapointed. I don't fish for Flatties though, so my answer might be different if I did, but for any size channel cat in any water flow, these are sufficient. As for my rods, I use King Kat rods, MH 9' and MH 8' rods. They seem to be absolutely perfect for catching channel cats on the Red River, not too much and enough!

Anyways, my stuff is cheaper, but it works well. I have never lost a fish due to my gear, now the operator...that's another story!

[Guest]

I never said there was anything wrong with inexspensive! The only problem I have with with cheap is I would wear out cheap reels within a season, and always at the worst possible time. Eventually I moved into *better* reels.. but trying to save money got me decent reels, but less reel than I really needed... so I just *got by* with decent reels(6500's). Time went on and I got tired of cranking on big fish in heavy current.. I decided to move onto larger reels with lower gear ratio's... I bought a inexpensive reel to cover my needs which was a big trolling rhino reel. Its a very tough reel, good drag, and you could reel in a whale without getting fatigue... only problem is you cant get enough spool tension on it without using a pliers for casting... So, the 6500 went back on for a while just for the cast-ability. On a later day I was standing with cash in hand looking at the trustworthy 7000 with marginal casting abilities, and seen the Shimano reels sitting there next to it for a couple dollars more...

The moral of the story.. if I would have spent the money in the 1st place, I would have saved money buying exactly what I wanted, rather than skimping.. it cost me $130 to buy 2 reels that got me by, but one of them just bounce around in my truck now because its not user friendly. It almost cost me another $100+ to get another reel I wouldnt have been totaly happy with. If I had bought the good reel in the beginning, I would have been happy from the beginning... and not sitting with 2 reels and the need for another.

[hanson]

Gotta love a good debate!

Simple difference between a 6500 & 7000 Garcia is the gear ratio. 5.3:1 compared to 4.1:1 When it comes to big or bigger fish in the current, 7000 will do the job better. Plain & simple.

On my last trip to the Red River with my dad, we had 4 rods out. For an experiment, I took my 2 Ugly Stick Tiger rods (Medium action) and put a 6500 on one & a 7000 on the other. I then took my 2 Berkley Reflex rods and did the same thing, 6500 on one & 7000 on the other. I happened to fish the Tiger rods & my dad was fishing the Reflex rods. After we caught about 20 channel cats (all fish were over 15 lbs), I asked dad which rod/reel combo he preferred. He pointed to the one with the 7000. I felt the same way about the combos I was fishing.

With a 6500 and a 20lb channel cat in heavy current, it takes considerably more effort to crank the handle. Sometimes I couldn't even crank it. I would have to do the ocean fishing rod pump and then crank down on the fish. With a 7000, it was crank away!

Anyway, I think if you switched out the stock handle on the 6500 with a single paddle power handle like the 7000 has, that could put an end to the debate.

Onto important point #2- the clicker.

For flathead catfishing, we use live bait of course with bullheads being the top choice. When using a large bullhead w/ a 4oz weight in good current, the clicker on a 6500 doesn't have enough tension to keep the bait in place. It'll occassionally slip giving you a bit of excitement when the clicker goes off for a few seconds. Maybe thats alright with you. Not me. A 7000 has a much louder clicker and it releases under much greater tension. A big bullhead will very rarely pull my line out. When the clicker goes off on my 7000s, you know something just happened. There aren't too many false alarms.

So there you go. My opinions on why a 7000 is a much better "big cat" catfishing reel. I'm sure there are a few other benefits as well, such as drag, but the 2 I pointed out are enough for me.

[harvey lee]

I have the Abu baitcasters and now bought the Okuma bait feeder.The reason for this is I like the fact that I can adjust the tension on the clicker or feeder.More adjustabillity.

[hanson]

Okuma baitfeeders are great reels as well!

I think just about every cat guy I know has at least 1 of those Okumas on a rod somewhere.

Mine just happens to get left at home a lot now.

[rushing]

6500s might not be the reel of choice for for some but what I do like is you have the option to buy different gears to lower the gear ratios, upgrade the drags, worm gears and bearings on them. I just ordered some of those Carbonex Drag washers which is suppose to make it much smoother and increase the drag strength. If the 6500s had all the bells and whistles as far as the best parts, you are looking at a reel costing over $150 or so. All I know is I still love my TICA Sportera spinning reel!

[fiskyknut]

Yo Chris you may wanna check and see iffin your 65's are'nt screwed up internally. 25+ years on the Red and hundreds of BIG Channels and all my 65's and even my 55 and 45 series have handled them well without a problem yet! I even sold my 7001 here on FM awhile back as it was in my book way too big, way too heavy, and way overkill for my Sturgeonfish, Pike, and Catfishing needs, and it takes a mile of line to fill'em. My feelings are that there are times when a bit quicker retrieve speed is a good thing too.......Fish hits current seam and comes back towards you at doubletime. Guess it's all a tradeoff when it comes right down too it though.

Someone mentioned marginal castability with a 7000? Castability may just be in the education of ones own thumb, regardless of reel make. My 7001 would cast a country mile and a half for me.

Anyhows my personal favorite Cat reel is my handbuilt custom 4 y.o scratched up and put away muddy 6501C4, X-treme smoooothie drag washers, 5.0 gearset, and an ABEC bearing set, oh and a power handle too!.....Plain perfection for my needs in a reel for large MN fishes, and it's oh so pretty on them blue St Croix rods I like too!

Blown off the pond this morning, darn it anyhow. So now I'm headed for the Red tonite.....Oh well, I was Catfish when Catfish was'nt cool!

fiskyknut