Favorite Rod/Reel setup

allright……….i am in great need of another setup for catfishing. I tend to be a “little” hard on equipment, so my current reels have seen better days.

Whats yr guy’s pics on a great cat rod and reel. Right now, my better rod is a Cortland 7 1/2 ft heavy action witha 6500 AbuGarcia wrapped with 65 PowerPro. I may go with teh AbuGarcia again and possibly a StCroix rod…….but that all cost me alot of coin! \\

any choices?

Mudcat, are you going to use it primarily for channels or flatheads? Or is going to see double duty?
For channel cats I’d buy a rod that works well with circle hooks which would be a 71/2 – 8 ft. med – med hvy. fiber glass rod with a lighter tip. Not a pool cue type rod. The tip to 1/3 the way down should be somewhat forgiving. This is mandatory for circle hooks. I’ve got a 8 ft Berkley Reflex, a old flipping stick and a 9 ft Cabelas King Cat. All work well.
For a strict flathead rod I’ve got a Quantum Big Cat Med heavy, a Shakespeare Tiger rod model BWC 2201, and a very sweet St Croix Classic Cat with a Heavy action. All the rods work well. The St. Croix is by far the lightest as its a graghite/glass composite. Just got it so it hasn’t been broke in yet.
For reels, a 6500 is too small if your gonna use it for flatheads. Doesn’t hold enough 50 lb mono and isn’t quite beefy eonough in my opinion. Good channel cat reel though.
Ive got two Quantum Big Iron 430’s that are very good reels. They have a 6-1 gear ratio that isn’t needed though. I wish they were 4-1. Still a great reel. I just got a 7000 but I haven’t used it yet. Anyway, for flatheads I’d definitely jump up a notch or two in the reel department. You’ll be glad you did. They cast heavy loads better, handle bigger line, more durable, etc.

Dirk lights to sit back and watch them channels nibble…nibble…. run….. almost like setting a snare… so ya that is great…
I like to grab/hold onto my pole and cross thier eyes…. ……
Dirk will catch more fish at times with the circle hooks and they work great but if you want to give them the screws you want something a little more stout….

I got 3 rods set up for cats. My favorite is my 10 foot heavy king cat type fiberglass rod with my old garbage mitchel reel spooled with 65 pound wiplash. I love crossing their eyes with this rig. Does a great job on leatherbacks as well. If I was to buy a new rig though I would buy a reel with a clicker.

Ive been lookin around alot…..i played with the Penn 320 and 330s….nice heavy reels….not sure how they will work for casting, but it ain tlike ya gotta cast all night.

Later i am gonna check out the Cabelas Cat rod…..i also like the St Croix 8ft…sweet setup…maybe mroe than i can pay for though

The best flathead cat rod/reel set up hands down is the st. croix classic cat w/ either a garcia 7000 or the diawa sealine (the bigger model) I have a 7 1/2 foot and 8 foot classic cat that i love.