Fav. catfish setups

[simplefish]

I thought I would ask what everyone's fav. rod/reel/line ect. setup is. I like a 7 to 7 1/2 foot med. heavy rod for most setups. Spin style cause I can't cast a bait caster to save my life. And a large capacity reel, I have a pflueger Trion on my rod right now. I use Power pro most often but will use P-line. I also use Iron silk and good ol fashioned XT for mono. Circle and Kahle hooks work best. Sitin on bottom with a no roll sinker.

[Dennis Steele]

My favorite rig is a 9ft Berkley Reflex rod with an Okuma Expixor EB bait feeder spinning reel with a bait feeder function.Its a large spinning reel with adjustable tension on the "clicker".Power Pro or Spider Wire Stealth are the lines I use most.Hooks and sinkers are the same as yours.
By the way those Berkely Relfex rods make great trolling rigs also.

[korn_fish]

I have a Berkley reflex 8'6" (i think, if not its an 8') casting set up, St. Croix, casting, 7'6" Berkley ultra max (man that rod is old) casting and a bunch of other casting set ups. Use my St. croix 7'6" heavy action the most more because if I paid that much $$ for it I better get my monies worth of use for it

I have each set up rigged just a bit different for fishing different situations. But just went with the no-roll sinker and love em. kahle style hooks primarily. Once in a while I will use a circle depending on the situation (suspending a bait over the side of the boat with the reflex rod) and now have an aresenal of Gamakatsu big river hooks that I will be using later in the season for the brutes.

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[Boar]

For channels I really like my Fenwick 7 1/2 ft telescoping flippin stick seated with a 6500c3 jerrygarcia spooled with 20lb power pro or 17lb stren heavy cover, I aslo have a 8 1/2 berkly spin cast seated with with a large mitchell that I'm excited to try and slip floats for cats this weekend, the length for distance and spooled with p-pro for its hook setting potential at longer distances, where mono has that give factor. Later boar

[Aquaman01]

8' medium-heavy Gander IM8 muskie rod, with a 6500 C4 w/baitclicker (blue one). I have 12/50 power pro on it. The rod is kinda stiff, but whips a 1 oz. bait quite a ways, and the action really comes alive under a larger fish (5 lb.+). Can't wait to put a flathead on it!

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[Fisher Dave]

My favorite setup for flats is my 10' 6" Mitchell Advantage rod in a heavy action. The reel is the largest Shimano Baitrunner(not enough coffee in me to remember model #). I have 20 lb Big Cat on the reel currently.... I will upgrade to 30 or 40lb Fireline as soon as the budget allows for a bulk spool that will fill the reel. I dont like using backing on the very heavy line due to the line burying into the spool under heavy loads. (happened once on a musky with spiderwire).

2nd Favorite is a 8 1/2' heavy action Catfish Special (white rod, yellow tip, company escapes me) with a 6500C3 garcia on it spooled with 30 lb Big Cat.

My Fiance's favorite is a 8 1/2' medium heavy Fish Bonz® rod and reel combo with the funky hot yellow line that came on it in the 20 lb class(color coordination is most important I guess??)... she has caught alot of 30-40 lb flats on it without a problem.

For channels I like my 7' medium heavy Berkly TGS(graphite) with a old shimano bantam black magnum baitcaster spooled with 14lb Fireline. The combo is as light as a feather and has a super sensitive tip on an extra fast action rod with tons of backbone, the reel has a great drag system for when its needed.

[Dennis Steele]

Just watch out for those low hanging trees!Or in your case any tree

[rushing]

Although I'm new to being a dedicated Catman
I only have one set up so I guess its my favorite. I have a 8ft Cabelas King Kat pro Spinning Rod and a Rhino Bait Sensor spinning reel loaded with 16/65 Power Pro line.

I am working on putting together a nicer casting rig too.

Rob

[korn_fish]

OZZY - haven't you learned yet that its not how big it is but how you wiggle the worm HAHA.....I had to say it

[Boar]

I was wondering if you guys are trying to compensate for something, although catmen have longer rods. Ha!

[DARK30]

I have to go with the shorter,bigger around...more stiff. I got no choice, Its the way I am! Nothing works better for me than a good quality 7'one piece glass rod like the E-Cat with a Penn 320GT2 on it full of 65lb power pro. There are alot of options for catfishing.

My other favorite catfish "set up" would be something like this.... The Water: Needs to be murkey but not dirty. It needs to flowing gently but with force. It needs to be forming an eddy with current moving upstream along the edge. The water needs to be deep right off shore with a creek coming in just upstream.
The Shoreline: Needs to be sand and small rocks near the waters edge with larger rocks and pebbles nearby ready for inspection. The whole area needs to be free of trash with a few animal tracks left behind.
The Time: It needs to be right before dark... or right before light. The horizon needs to filled with color. The minutes must seem like hours for best results.
The Sounds: A slight breeze moving throught he leaves. A rooster or a turkey in the distance would be nice. The sound of the water moving on its way to a lower place. A
Whip-poor-will calling just downstream in the trees. A plane way up in the sky heading straight for...well somewhere.

I suppose I could go on about the perfect set up but its time to hit the hay...Maybe I'll dream of another one.

WET NETS!

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

[Guest]

I never knew Dark30 was such a hopeless romantic, go figure?

Ya shur do paint a purdy picture Dark.

I was waiting for the next part..the part with the negligees and scented candles.

[Ozzy169]

Bigger is better, 11' Catt Maxx by Bass Pro Shop, with Abu Garcia 6500 c3 or 6500 c4 and nothing less than 40# Berkley Big Game or Berkley Big Cat, 6/0 or 8/0 Gamakatsu circle hooks and BIG swivels. I have never broke off (knock on wood) and looks cool when driving down the river with 11' standing out of the boat (pork-e-pine effect)

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Puff-Puff-Pass

[DARK30]

About last night.....I don't know what came over me...I...I must have had some sort of mental thing happen. I just flipped and well, I can't do anything about it now except say "sorry" for spewing out all kinds of literal nonsense and acting like a complete fem.

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

[catfish1]

Dark; Next time you have a urge to just let your mind go. Put it on here again. I enjoyed it alot. And bet anyone reading it started to day dream of just a place. That was a real nice cat you got not so long ago. I'm still fighting the monkey on my back. One of these days I will have to take a forward roll and a side kick and get rid of him. lol Going to Grante Falls again late Saturday and early Sunday with my oldest son. Who knows maybe we will get lucky.

Catfish1

[simplefish]

Nice one Dark30. Kinda poetic. Better than some of the stuff I've heard come from recent posts. Post another if ya got it in ya'. Now I sound fem... Anyway, I put together a set up the other day from a spare rod a reel I had tucked away. It's a quantum XL graphite, 6'6" Med. heavy with an Ambassador 6000c Ultra cast baitcaster with a clicker thing. I like the shorter rod when it is brushy. I'm no good at casting a baitcaster but I seem to be able to loosen it up and lob it out there pretty good. I have it spooled with some left over spiderwire in either 15# or 17# test, not sure. I like a 1/0 or 2/0 gamakasu circle without barbes or a kahle hook for channels. I also have been useing these hooks made especially for cats, can't remember who makes them off the top of my head. They have double barbes, which I remove. Junies and a tubee most days. I took this set up out 2 days ago between storms and landed a 9+ pound channel. I also caught one that looked like a blue catfish. I don't think we get them this far north though. It looked just like a blue with the longer anal fin and deeper chest but it had small spots down the side of it's body like a channel. The fish must have weighed about 4 1/2 pounds or so. Do catfish cross breed? Anyway, I've babbled enough. Good fishin' and keep your line wet...

[simplefish]

Got another question that just poped into mind. Has anyone ever tried those ugly stick cat poles? I like the wimpy one I use for sunnies and thought about picking up one of the bigger ones. Later.

[Guest]

Favorite???
well, Abu-garcia Royal Vectran 7 rod(7.5 ft),
Shimano Corsair CS-400a reel, 30# power pro, 1oz no-roll sinker, gamakatsu circle hook.

[Walleye_GFA]

We all have a "cuddly" side there Dark, its just that some of us hide it better than others !!!

;-)

W

[Steve Foss]

For channels:

Berkley E-Cat No. 2 or 3. The 2 telescopes to 7.5 feet, the 3 is one-piece 8 feet, both are E-glass (they discontinued them a couple years ago, when dealers wouldn't stock them because they didn't think catmen would pay $70 for a rod).

Mated with an Ambassadeur 6500 C3, 30 lb Trilene Big Game or 25/12 Fireline Fusion.

Three-ounce teardrop-shaped flat slip sinker, which I've never seen in stores but have cast from molds. They use them up at Lockport a lot. Plastic bead between sinker and barrel swivel to protect the knot, short leader line of a foot or so (same type as main line is just fine) and a No. 5 Eagle Claw circle hook. Longer the leader, the more it moves side to side and up and down in current.

Chunk of goldeye, sucker or frog.

Lawn chair, warm summer night, propane lantern, beer. Ahhhhh . . . why did I ever move away from the Red River?

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]