Which line for flathead & channel cats?

[Perch Jerker]

I have been using two rigs for cats.

1) St. Croix Catfish Classic rod & Abu Garcia 6500C3 reel with 80lb braided Tuff line. I have two of these setups for Flatheads.

2) 8' Downrigger rods (very bendy) and Penn 209M reels and 17lb test mono. I have four of these for channel cats.

Now these are what I have for catfishing, however I want to get two more 'rigs' and I was thinking of South Bends 'Mr. Big Fish' catfish rod ($20) and two more Penn 209M reels ($50). The question I have is this...

If you were to spool them up for 'river fish' (channel cats, flatheads, carp, sheephead, sturgeon, loc-ness, etc) what line would you get? Mono? Braided? 20lb? 30lb? 50lb? I have a pretty good idea as what to get, but thought I'd toss it out there for some extra input.

Also, what rod/reel/line combo's are you guy's running?

[This message has been edited by Perch Jerker (edited 07-30-2002).]

[dragon master]

Hey Perch Jerker sounds like you're a rod junkie like myself. I have about 14 rods set up for cats and I have tried all kinds of lines. The two that I use is mono and braided. The braided is 80 lb I am not too found of it the reson being is that I like to fish snags, rocks and fast water. With braided line you have a hard time seeing any damage done to the line when its wet. I am suprised at how much line I have to cut off when its dry. Now on the mono I lucked out 3 or 4 years ago Berkeley gave me some 40 lb catfish line to field test. it was a new product, made for fishing river cats. Its lime green so its easy to see in low light and you can feel any damge done to the line by snages and rocks. Its just as strong as the 80 lb braid. The 40 lb mono catfish line is the one that I like and it won't be long and all my reels will be spooled with it. The Trilene Big Game line and the catfish line I Belive are the one and the same.

[Guest]

I think it all comes down to preference.What you like to fish with and what kind of problems you are willing to tolerate.Braids and mono will both catch fish.Some braids or "super lines"vibrate in the water and at times may put the fish off,they have no stretch and are hard to get out of a snag,and you may loose a fish if you try to horse the fish in too fast.The advantages for me out weigh these disadvantages.Most are resistant to abrasion,they are thinner and cut the water so that you can use lighter weight,and in my opinion they are easier to handle.My favorite are Power Pro and Fireline.Mono on the othre hand has some advantages also,words well with a black lite,floats and has some give or stretch to it but I just can't get beyond the fact that the sun and water deteriorates it and it gets twisted up.

[DARK30]

I like the mono for Channels...20-30lb with a swivel/leader and a circle hook.

For the Flathead rigs I like the braided dacron attached right to the hook with the weight sliding freely.

Last year I got a 42lb Flathead on 12lb mono and it was just a matter of knowing your drag...it performed fine but there were no snags around either. Earlier this year I got a 30lb Flathead on 6lb mono and that was just plain fun but it was a fluke....He hit a walleye jig in 3ft of fast current.

Yesterday, I spooled on some Power Pro 30lb line but I don't know what to think of it yet....I'd sure like to test it on a big guy soon!

WET NETS!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[Fisher Dave]

Big Cat or Big Game are both great lines. These are all i use on my reels. Cant beat the abbrasion resistance when bouncing big flats off logs and rocks

[Ozzy169]

I personally use 40# berkeley Big Cat, mono line but have had NO problem. From what I've experienced braids hum in the river, but its on all my lake rods, summer and winter. Big Cat is very easy to work with under black lights. I'll keep using Big Cat as long as I'm paying for it ot till I get sponsored by a line company!! hehe

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Get 'er done