# Catfish Rod & Reel



## BigTerp

Considering getting another rod/reel setup or two just for catfishing. I currently have an older Ugly Stick with a Shakespeare Medalist attached that works well for catfish. But would like another setup or two to fill my rod holders when we are just targeting catfish. I have a Pfleuger President on a Berkeley Lightening Rod that I use for bass fishing and really like, but don't want to beat it up catfishing. I also use an older Mitchell reel on an ultra-lite ugly stick for bass, but it's obviously too small for catfish. Any suggestions on a cheap rod and reel, or even combo, for catfishing? I say cheap because I know it will get beat up while catfishing. Don't really want to spend a ton on a high end rod and reel and proceed to beat it up while fishing for catfish.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors

BigTerp said:


> Considering getting another rod/reel setup or two just for catfishing. I currently have an older Ugly Stick with a Shakespeare Medalist attached that works well for catfish. But would like another setup or two to fill my rod holders when we are just targeting catfish. I have a Pfleuger President on a Berkeley Lightening Rod that I use for bass fishing and really like, but don't want to beat it up catfishing. I also use an older Mitchell reel on an ultra-lite ugly stick for bass, but it's obviously too small for catfish. Any suggestions on a cheap rod and reel, or even combo, for catfishing? I say cheap because I know it will get beat up while catfishing. Don't really want to spend a ton on a high end rod and reel and proceed to beat it up while fishing for catfish.



7ft Ugly Stick Catfish Rod ($30 - $40)
Any bait caster with a clicker (line out alarm). If you want to catch the bigguns...might want to look at the $100+ Abu reels.


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## KMixson

How big of fish are you looking for? For anything between 20 and 100 pounds I use a Penn 209 level wind loaded with 80 lb. braided Power Pro on a Shakespeare Alpha 7 foot medium action rod.


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## Insanity

I love the old Abu 5000 to 6500 paired with an ugly stick. They work well with large line. Might get a stiffer rod if your going after the big one though. 

No idea how well the new ones are made now. ( there not Swedish made anymore) But there still carrying the Abu name. So I'd try one.


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## Insanity

Holy cow. I ran across the new abu in the bps catalog last night. I didn't no they had gotten that high price now days. Guess that's to much for a catfish in reel. 
Betting you could find some old ones on ebay.


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## BigTerp

Thanks!!

Only channel cats in my area. Rarely anything over 10-15 pounds, but they are there. So don't really need anything too heavy duty.


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## BigTerp

RiverBottomOutdoors said:


> 7ft Ugly Stick Catfish Rod ($30 - $40)
> Any bait caster with a clicker (line out alarm). If you want to catch the bigguns...might want to look at the $100+ Abu reels.



Any suggestions on a reasonably priced bait caster? Like I said, won't be getting anything to big on the other end. Maybe the very occasional 10-15+ lber.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors

BigTerp said:


> RiverBottomOutdoors said:
> 
> 
> 
> 7ft Ugly Stick Catfish Rod ($30 - $40)
> Any bait caster with a clicker (line out alarm). If you want to catch the bigguns...might want to look at the $100+ Abu reels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced bait caster? Like I said, won't be getting anything to big on the other end. Maybe the very occasional 10-15+ lber.
Click to expand...


That's kind of subjective. "Reasonable price" that is. I think the C3 and C4 are reasonably priced for a reel that will last a lifetime will little maintenance. The C3 and C4 are made in Sweden. I really like the C4 reels for big catfish.

For channels, I would go with a medium action pole. Medium-Heavy will just over power them and take the fun out of it.


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## Jim

BigTerp said:


> RiverBottomOutdoors said:
> 
> 
> 
> 7ft Ugly Stick Catfish Rod ($30 - $40)
> Any bait caster with a clicker (line out alarm). If you want to catch the bigguns...might want to look at the $100+ Abu reels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced bait caster? Like I said, won't be getting anything to big on the other end. Maybe the very occasional 10-15+ lber.
Click to expand...


And don't sell yourself short! :LOL2: 

You will catch a record fish! :beer:


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## lugoismad

Find a used Abu Ambassadour 5000 or 5500. 

Spend some time practicing how to cast it. I started teaching myself about 2 months ago and finally got it figured out.

I have mine on a 7ft Zebco Rhino pole, it was just a cheap heavy pole I had sitting in the closet. Its catfishing, not fly fishing.


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## BigTerp

Jim said:


> BigTerp said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RiverBottomOutdoors said:
> 
> 
> 
> 7ft Ugly Stick Catfish Rod ($30 - $40)
> Any bait caster with a clicker (line out alarm). If you want to catch the bigguns...might want to look at the $100+ Abu reels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced bait caster? Like I said, won't be getting anything to big on the other end. Maybe the very occasional 10-15+ lber.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> And don't sell yourself short! :LOL2:
> 
> You will catch a record fish! :beer:
Click to expand...


You never know......


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## BigTerp

RiverBottomOutdoors said:


> BigTerp said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RiverBottomOutdoors said:
> 
> 
> 
> 7ft Ugly Stick Catfish Rod ($30 - $40)
> Any bait caster with a clicker (line out alarm). If you want to catch the bigguns...might want to look at the $100+ Abu reels.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced bait caster? Like I said, won't be getting anything to big on the other end. Maybe the very occasional 10-15+ lber.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That's kind of subjective. "Reasonable price" that is. I think the C3 and C4 are reasonably priced for a reel that will last a lifetime will little maintenance. The C3 and C4 are made in Sweden. I really like the C4 reels for big catfish.
> 
> For channels, I would go with a medium action pole. Medium-Heavy will just over power them and take the fun out of it.
Click to expand...


Thanks!!

Would those reels work well for musky as well?


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## Jim

Yes they would work awesome for Musky. A member here is an avid Musky hunter he uses those reels exclusively.


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## BigTerp

Jim said:


> Yes they would work awesome for Musky. A member here is an avid Musky hunter he uses those reels exclusively.



Cool. Thanks!!


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## lovedr79

i have two setups. one is a Abu 6501 on a Basspro 7'6" telescoping heavy action rod and my other is a Abu 7500 on a 5'6" heavy action ugly stick


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## RiverLife

I use a medium Berkley lightning or med Hvy paired up with a Abu 5500 but you are looking at a hundred and a half for that. Plus side is I use it for bass too. 

For a cheap setup it is hard to beat the King Cat combo that Cabelas offers. I bought one and it has held up well. Can be had in a number of weights lengths and configurations. Think I paid 40 for the combo and it came with their salt striker spinning real. I also noticed Zebco and Berkley has rods available. Check out what team Catfish has to offer too.


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## ccm

7ft Med hvy to hvy Ugly stick ( $30-$45 ) and a Used Abu Garcia made in Sweden Round Reel. I suggest the 5000 - 6500 size preferably with a clicker. As far as getting a used reel goes I like pawn shops ; never truly know what there going to have in stock, plus you can look over the reel before negotiating on price ( I wouldn't pay over $65 for something even in excellent condition ).


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## bplayer405

I've been using 3 white Berkley 7' Big Game rods with medium action for the last 3 years. They're equipped with Bass Pro Shops CatMaxx open face reels and 20 lb Berkley Big Cat line. Poles are $20 and reels are $50. No issues yet, but haven't caught anything big enough to have me update a thing. Have reeled in 2- 20+ pounders.


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## xXOnyxXx

i run a pair of 7ft uglystick catfish MH action with abu 6500's loaded with 30lb mono ....


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## Butthead

For big blue cats, I run 7' Ugly Stik Tiger medium rods and 7' Tiger Lite heavy rods with Abu Garcia C3 6500 reels. 65 pound Power Pro, 3-way swivel rig, 2oz-5oz weights, 17-20lb fluoro leader, 6/0-8/0 circle hooks.
When targeting blue cats around 5 pounds, I'll use 7' Berkley Lightning MH rods with C3 4600/5500's with 12lb mono, 1oz weights, and 1/0-3/0 circle hooks. 

I've got an older buddy who is essentially a fishing gear hoarder. He has bins FULL of good condition Abu reels (C3's/C4's and variants) in his garage. He sells most of them to me for $30-$40 and I've outfitted myself and all my other friends with gear from him. He's got a lot of 4600's and 5000/5500's, but is kind of limited on 6000/6500's. 
If anyone needs a TinBoats.net hookup, let me know! I'll start a thread in the FS section tonight and post some pictures.


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## BigTerp

Thanks to Butthead I got 2 used Abu 5500 C3's. One is a slightly older model than the other, but they are both very nice. Can't believe how smooth they cast!! I got the hang of them pretty quickly and can chuck a 1oz. weight seemingly a mile. I had an Abu Garcia Conolon 6' medium rod in my shed that had an old low profile baitcaster on it that I never really got the hang of and ended up breaking the reel years ago. I threw the 5500 on that rod. Seems to be an OK combo. 

I also picked up a 4600 C3 from Butthead for my wife. She loves it.



Jim said:


> BigTerp said:
> 
> 
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced bait caster? Like I said, won't be getting anything to big on the other end. Maybe the very occasional 10-15+ lber.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And don't sell yourself short! :LOL2:
> 
> You will catch a record fish! :beer:
Click to expand...


And Jim was right. Wasn't really a record, but caught my PB channel catfish the first time I went out with my new 5500. 10# 6oz, 29". Caught it on a sunfish head. Rod and reel performed fantastic. Was set on getting a new rod to go with my reel, but after catching this one I don't really see the need.


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## lvmark342

I prefer a penn 210 reel, 25 to 35 dollars on ebay, paired with any foot 

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## lvmark342

I hit the wrong key on my tablet. Penn 210 reel 25 to 35.00 on ebay paired with quantum big cat rods. I am mostly fishing for blues and flathead though. Quantum big cat rods are hard to find now. I think I paid 50 or 60 apiece for them. If you like garcias try a 6500. Have a look at tangling with catfish rods.

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