Catfish On Bass Gear?

[Josh Smith]

Hi folks,

A couple friends of mine like to catfish.

When I would go with them, I used my Ambassadeur 5000 on a pistol grip Daiwa graphite rod. (In truth, given the '90s vintage and price of the rod, I'd say it's not a huge percentage of graphite, though it's stiff.)

Now, we're talking about going fishing together again.

I am wondering how modern bass equipment handle catfish. The specific combo I'm considering for this occassional role is my Daiwa 7' MH IM8 fast action with a 5500c3 on it.

I have no doubt the 5500c3 will hold up, but I do wonder about the rod.

I don't really want to invest in a catfish rod because I'd not use it enough.

Thoughts?

Thank you,

Josh

[masterbass]

Are you talking about flathead or channel cat?  I think you'll be fine.  I've caught my fair share of cats with my gear.  I had one heck of a battle with a 25lb flat head once on a medium power rod pflueger president spinning reel.  I also boated a 3 1/2' hammer head shark last month on a 7' medium gander mt rod and 40 size pflueger arbor reel.  It took me 20 minutes and was the funnest fight I've ever had. 

[new2BC4bass]

Josh, one of my biggest fish was a 20# catfish caught on 8# mono and a spinning rod from K-mart many, many moons ago.  Definitely no more powerful than a Medium.  If that rod could handle a catfish that big, I'm sure a MH would have no problem with much larger cats.  SirSnookalot (and quite a few others) land some nice size saltwater fish on Medium power rods.  Now if you are talking 50 plus pound cats, then maybe a more powerful rod would be called for.  However, I see no reason the MH / 5500C3 couldn't handle one that big with a little care on your end.

 

Been an awful long time since I've fished for catfish.  It is something I have been giving thought to lately, because where I fish from shore at the river doesn't have much else in that area.  My rod of choice is going to be a MH casting rod with a 5001C.  The rod is an older model XMLTi rated for 12-25# and 3/8-2 oz.  The 5001C is currently spooled with 17# mono.

[ABW]

I bet it will do just fine. I caught a big ole flathead on a rattle trap a month ago. Took about 10 minutes to get in, but I did.

[a1712]

There's a huge difference between a 6lb. Channel and a 60lb. Flathead. Brian.

[Bluebasser86]

There's a huge difference between a 6lb. Channel and a 60lb. Flathead. Brian.

Exactly. I target channels up to the low to mid teens with a MH Ugly Stick and a 30 size Okuma Avenger baitfeeder spinning reel and 20lb PP, but I wouldn't stand a chance against a big blue or flathead unless I happened to hook it in open water. 

[Jrob78]

If I were going catfishing tomorrow and didn't have a catfishing set up, I would use a casting reel that could hold a decent amount of 20lb mono and a longer rod meant for deep crankbaits.  As long as you aren't expecting 20lb+ fish, you should be fine.

[Turkey sandwich]

Dude, you need to disregard this reason immediately and pick up musky/saltwater rods, ideally with roller guides and Penn casting reels with dual gear drags large enough to spool at least 400 yards of 40lb braid. Why? Because, let's face it, toys are fun.

[Big Bait Fishing]

a good flipping stick or swimbait rod spooled with 20 lb co-poly or 50 + lb. braid and you should be fine , i was catching 15-20 lb. catfish on a rainshadow swimbait rod and 20 lb. Izorline XXX..

[bigbill]

I battled 29" to 32" chain pickerel on my med spinnerbait setup.

Play it don't horse it up. Enjoy the battle.

The first pickerel this size came out of the water parallel to the shoreline with his head on the shoreline rocks and ripped my newly tweaked spinnerbait off my line and took it with him. It was my very first spinnerbait that caught bass.

I upsized the blades added a trailer and trailer hook. I was ripping. Glen here helped me on setting it up and casting it. I was proud it worked on bass. I guess it was more blade thump than the pickerel could handle. What a violent strike his teeth caught the line. I was in shock.

For big cats a 7' /8' baitcaster with the larger inshore baitcaster saltwater reel. I have one and the spinning inshore setups. Fish and save has affordable rods. Being close to long Iland sound we fish for blues and strippers. Not as often as I would like too.