ideal catfish set up

[fmoi@D.b._fishing]

looking for multi purpose set up although mainly for big catfish i would also like to have the line capacity and max drag to fish off of the jetties and beaches without a boat. i want something (both spinning and baitcast) that can hold a good amount of 30 pound braid (300 yds at least) and around 20 pounds of drag. i was looking at some abu garcia ambassadeurs but im kind of dissapointed in their max drags (11 to 15 pounds?). dont get me wrong, thats all fine and dandy in open water but most of the time im pulling good size flatheads in and i want to get them up and out of cover as fast as possible so that 20 pound drag is pretty important. as far as spinning reels i think ill probably go with a penn fierce 5 or 6 size, although ive heard they have graphite rotors so im not sure how that would effect the life of the reel.

[aj88kc]

My flathead set up is a MH tiger with a penn fathom 25 lw(30lb drag) with 30 lb big game.  It is a beast of a setup and is pretty over kill but where i fish for flatheads there has been multiple 50-60 lbers caught.  

If I was to buy another setup it would be a penn squall 15 or 20(15lb drag) on a heavy tiger lite. I have the heavy tiger lite with a 70 size ming yang and it handled a 45lb flathead last year. 

Do not discount the 2015 7000 abus I have heard very good things about them. I have several 5000, 6000 abus and if you set the drag right and dont try to over power them big flats they will handle anything you can throw at them. 

Its all about having your drag set correctly and having the right line. If you are trying to pull flats out of heavy cover then i would be looking more towards the 50-80 maybe 100lb test braid and a little faster reel. 

As far as rods go I am a big fan of the tigers but you have many good choices out there. I have heard very good results coming from rippin lips rods. Tangling with catfish rods are always a staple. 

Just get something that you will have confidence in for your area. Not every waterway holds big flatheads. In some places 20lbs is a huge flat. In places like I am at I know there is a good chance that there is multiple 60lb plus  fish swimming around. 

If you are looking for distance I would probably go spinning on a 10-13 ft rod. I am not the person your looking for if you are talking distance though. I can get 60 yards with 3 oz of weight and a cut gill but if I am using live bait I am not lobbing the bait more than 30 yards. 

Hope you can make a little bit of sense out of my rambling. 

 

[soflabasser]

Heavy Action Rod

Size 5000-6000 Spinning Reel or Baitcaster reel of your choice 

30 pound test braid with long topshot of 30-50 pound mono when needed

Use wire leader for sharks

This should be more than good enough for most freshwater catfish and most saltwater fish that can be caught from the shore.

[fmoi@D.b._fishing]

trying to figure out how to delete a post...feeling pretty dumb right now

[fmoi@D.b._fishing]

7 hours ago, fmoi@D.b._fishing said:

looking for multi purpose set up although mainly for big catfish i would also like to have the line capacity and max drag to fish off of the jetties and beaches without a boat. i want something (both spinning and baitcast) that can hold a good amount of 30 pound braid (300 yds at least) and around 20 pounds of drag. i was looking at some abu garcia ambassadeurs but im kind of dissapointed in their max drags (11 to 15 pounds?). dont get me wrong, thats all fine and dandy in open water but most of the time im pulling good size flatheads in and i want to get them up and out of cover as fast as possible so that 20 pound drag is pretty important. as far as spinning reels i think ill probably go with a penn fierce 5 or 6 size, although ive heard they have graphite rotors so im not sure how that would effect the life of the reel.

did more research, had to decide between abu ambassadeur 7000c vs abu ambassadeur c4 6600; 20 vs 15 pound drag, 515 vs 310 yds of 30 lb braid, a difference in weight of about 10 ounces, and 22 inches of line per turn vs 30. i think ill go with the c4 6600 because if im fishing for anything bigger than what that reel could handle, chances are itll be on a charter boat or something and itll be a once in a lifetime chance.

 

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[bluefish1928]

I go with "saltwater conventionals." I use a Daiwa Seagate 50 and Penn Fathom 40 for heavy duty catfishing. They have way more line capacity than you will ever need and powerful drags pressure settings. The only disadvantage is that they will be heavier than typical freshwater baitcasters. Since it is bottom fishing, I do not care about weight. Futhermore, I do a lot of saltwater fishing as well.

For spinning reels, I recommend the Penn Fierce. It is perhaps the cheapest full metal frame spinning reel on the market today.