I’ve been thinking about buying a baitcaster to use for catfishing and such. Money is a big issue, so with that in mind, what are some quality rods and reels that you would recommend? I’d like to try and keep the total cost under $100.
I like the Berkly big games rods for the price. 19.99 at wallmart, I prefeff the 7′ heavy action, or med heavy. I have fished with them for years and have never broke one. For reels I have fished with a few cheapo’s but I cannot recommend one cause they sucked, Ill stick with the abu’s 
I agree. Berkly rods will do you a fine job. This will also allow you to put more money into your reel 
When purchasing your reel keep in mind, you will be spooling it with heavy line 
Good luck fishing people
Berkley rods, abu garcia reels. Saw some of the older 5500’s in WallyMart Rochester (south) yesterday for about $45.
The abu’s are great cat reels. If you are going to fish flatheads.. be sure to go with at least the 6000/6500 series that are equipped with the clicker.. gotta have it. I’ll put a 3rd vote out on the Big Game rods.. good rods. I like the 8′ models.. a bit more stiff than the 7′ rods.
Hey Skip, where are you fishing? A river, lake?
Are you fishing for flats or for channels.
The info the guys above gave you is good…and will work for either…although depending where/what your fishing for, my preferance would change slightly.
If your in a lake with the normal channel cat running 3 lbs…the above rods would be overkill and you would have more fun with lighter gear…(that is an extreme example)
Thanks for your input guys. I knew abu’s were good reels and was leaning towards those from the start. I’ll definately look into the berkley rods to see what I can find. I’ll probably start looking this week and maybe next week’s paycheck will buy me a new rod and reel. 
Couple more questions. What test line should I put on it? I’m a big fan of fireline, so thats most likely what I’ll put on it and secondly, will line color make any difference? I ask this because I am thinking about putting the flame green line on it because I can’t see where the smoke colored fireline is. If there is a difference, I’ll obviously use what would be better but I don’t know and hopefully you guys will have some opinions on it.
Brian-
It will be mostly fishing for channels, but the setup will most likely be used for deadbaiting northern up in canada as well.
Abu Garcia 6500 spooled with 20lb Trilene Big Game on a Berkeley Big Game rod. The whole combo should be well under a hundred bucks 
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I’m a big fan of fireline
There will be as many opinions on this as there is lines. 
I’m a Power Pro kinda guy because of the wood I’m fishing…however for channels only…I would lean towards mono. Berkely and Trilene both make a good catline.
If you’re fishing lakes for smaller (under 5 poud) channels…I would rather use a heavier bass (hole) rod…(did I say that out loud! 
)
Well…after hearing opinions from several people, I think I will probably look into a 7′-8′ med-heavy rod, probably a berkley, a abu reel, and the line is still up for grabs. I’ll have to see what I can find for line and then decide how much i want to spend on it.
and Brian….I thought the “technical” term for green carp was forbidden on the site…along with the name of the blue oval trucks 
(I’d use the actual words, but I’m afraid i’ll be kicked off for using foul language 
)
You’re allowed to use the word bass…only if it’s in a degrading way…or with the word bait in the same sentance…
skip, if you are in storm lake, drive up to the berkley outlet store (in spirit lake) and you can get a rod and reel for $60 or so that will make you happy. Get some line for $1 or $3 and you are set.
Every time I’ve been there the last few years they have had a bunch of rebuilt abu’s there and i’ve bought two that were pretty good deals. The last one was an abu 7000 with some boat rash for $42. They always seem to have tons of musky sticks there. I’d get a fiberglassy one if i were gonna use superline.
Quote:
You’re allowed to use the word bass…only if it’s in a degrading way…or with the word bait in the same sentance…
Now that there is funny 
I went to a store yesterday and asked for big hooks because I couldn’t find any. The guy started showing me rubber worm hooks……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… I said “i’ll just take the sinkers.”
Unfortunately, I’m not in storm lake now. I’m home for the summer and spirit lake is at least a 4 hour drive from here. Otherwise I would definately go and get something from there.
I looked today and I think I decided what I’m going to get. I’m going to get an Abu rod and reel. The rod is a 7′ med-heavy called the Super Seven and I will either get the 5500 reel or the 6500 reel. I decided that for the fishing I will be doing, I am going to get the Abu rod instead of the Berkley Big Game because the Abu will be more versatile for the fishing that I do. Since I can’t buy lots of setups for different types of fishing, I need to invest in single setups that I can fish 2 or 3 different ways and will still be effective.
Sounds like a wise choice to me. I would still spend the few extra dollars for the 6500 reel.. you will not regret it in the long run.
You can look at it another way.. In the future… if you ever have the absolute need for a flathead rod, musky rod, northern/bass rod.. you are already half way there if the rod that you get with the combo is inadequit(sp? im tired) for the truely big fish.
Most of the time if you do a bit of shopping.. a person can find a decent rod in the $20-$35 range that will suit their needs just fine… you will already have the $70 reel out of the way.
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