Buy what you can now boys. Looks like the Classic Cat rod is being discontinued. I got the word straight from St. Croix. The Berkley E-Cat met the same fate a few years ago. Too many frugal catmen are unwilling to pay the price for a top end rod is my guess. Too bad cause the Croixs are one heck of a rod. I’m going into a one week self imposed mourning period 
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PS: The factory had only a few left if your interested.
hey Dirk,
can you explain what the differnece is between high and low end rods? i obvioulsy haven’t been at this long enough to no too much, but it seems to me all cat rods are just big stiff sticks. i imagine a better qualitly rod has more feel(?), but is that really needed? i’ve never heard of anyone having difficulting ditecting a bite from a big ol flat when it chomps on their bullhead 
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One big difference with the Croix rod is that its a glass/fiberglass composite which made it much lighter and more sensitive than a straight glass rod. It’s made with top quality materials and should last a lifetime if I don’t do something stupid. One of my cheaper rods is starting to “flake” the top coating, one has a loose reel seat. Stuff like that is what starts to go on cheaper rods.
You’re right though, since most of the time your rod is in the holder and a flathead isn’t usually very timid when he bites a less expensive fiberglass rod will do. Its like a Dodge and a Porsche. Both are going to get you from point A to point B. The Porsche is a lot more fun to work with though.
If youv’e only got a limited amount of funds I would buy a less expensive rod and plunk down the extra cash for the best reel you can afford.
Dirk,
It takes a special breed to be a “true” catman…Would you recommend not buying real expensive equipment right away until you have that passion that some of us (like yourself 
) share for cats? I mean..no reason to go out and buy some st. crx. if you end up fishing for cats 2 or 3 times during the year?
thoughts on that aspect of buying products..?? not just in cat gear, but any gear for that matter…Kind of…building your way up to the best gear?
Put it this way…my cat boat is full of the Dodges and has only a few Porches. If I only fished cats 2-3 times a year I definately would not be putting major cash down on high end gear. Most channels can be taken with heavy bass gear. Flatheads need the beefy stuff though. I suppose the more you get into your passion the better gear you end up wanting, no matter what your passion may be. Catfishing is one type of fishing were you don’t have to spend tons of dough to get what you need to do it right.
I once caught a 42 inch sturgeon on a Zebco 202. That was a hoot. I am a big Abu Garcia guy. I love the 6500 series for my flat head adventures. Cheap stuff is great…. until you see something destroy it. I agree with Dirk though. Way more Dodges in my boat too.
A rod that I love to use for flatheads is the Quantum Big Cat Rod. I’ve never seen the St. Croix rod but I know the Quantum is pretty close to a Berkley E-cat.
I agree. I’ve got two Quatum Big Cat rods and they are the best flathead rod going for the money. They cost around 40 bucks and are almost indestructable. I was looking at the Quantum website the other day and didn’t see them. They didn’t get discontinued to did they??
I love my Quantum Big Cat also. Catfish Connection’s 2004 catalog has a Zebco Big Cat rod. I think it is the same rod. All of the specs are the same and I believe Zebco and Qauntum are related companies. Do you guys have problems with grooves being worn in the stainless steel tip on your Big Cats. Mine almost a channel worn in it. I am worried about my line fraying. I would like to replace the tip with a high quality guide, but I am afraid it would ruin the rod. Those stainless tips are on there pretty good. I am really disappointed that St.Croix is dicontinuing the Classic Cats. I was planning on getting a couple through a friend of mine for a good price. I took Dirk’s advice today and called St.Croix. No more rods being made in the near future so I said screw it and charged 2 of them on my card. I figured if they aren’t going to be made anymore, better get them while I can. I don’t mind spending the extra money on a quality rod. Hopefully I will have it for the rest of my life. Unlike my Big Cat which might have to be retired soon due to the worn guide.
Can’t wait until summer 
Mike T.
P.S. James I would have bid on the rod to support the site, but I have no cash
I haven’t checked my top guides. That’s surprising that your line is wearing through it. Replacing the tip probably isn’t much of a problem for a repair shop assuming they have one that large.
I would bet money your top guide looks the same as mine. I runs 80 lb Power Pro and my buddy’s run 80 lb Tuff Line and their top guides are all doing the same thing. One guy I know replaces the top guide as soon as he buys a new Big Cat. He does it himself and it just doesn’t look too sturdy. A rod shop could probably replace it, but how much does that cost? You could almost by a new rod for how cheap they cost.
Mike T.
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