Channel catfish rods...

[DitchPanda]

For you guys and gals that routinely target channel cats what are your favorite rods? Looking to add another catfish combo as I've been targeting them often as of late and I'm really enjoying it. For reference my local cats usually top out at 6-8lbs ..channels anyway.

[bowhunter63]

Ugly Stik Catfish rod. Tough lasts for ever and 49 dollars. You can’t beat em .

[Hammer 4]

Probably shoulda put this in the Rods, Reels and Line forum. ?

[DitchPanda]

10 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

Probably shoulda put this in the Rods, Reels and Line forum. ?

Yeah...probably

[mrpao]

I know everyone likes something different and everyone fishes different waters.

From my personal experience, my catfish rods consist of Quantum bluerunner inshore, falcon coastal xg, falcon hd rods, hurricane calico jack, BPS inshore rods.  I prefer the inshore style rods because they are moderate action without being heavy in weight. I dont know why but most rods geared towards catfishing seem to be fiberglass and as sensitive as a pool stick.

The moderate action of most of these rods makes casting soft baits easier and fighting the fish more fun. 

[roadwarrior]

On 9/5/2022 at 12:30 AM, Hammer 4 said:

Probably shoulda put this in the Rods, Reels and Line forum. ?

 

No.

 

"Other Species" is for everything not pertaining to bass. That includes rods, reels, line,

hooks, weights and lures. 

[Hammer 4]

50 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

 

No.

 

"Other Species" is for everything not pertaining to bass. That includes rods, reels, line,

hooks, weights and lures. 

Gotcha. 

[Bluebasser86]

I use 3 Ugly Stick Lite 7' M spinning rods with 3 Okuma 30 Avenger baitfeeder spinning reels. Makes a 2lb channel fun, but I've also landed a 40lb flathead with 1 of them. 

[Deleted account]

Small cats, any Heavy bass rod (or even some MH) with a mod fast action will do. When you move up to cats over 30 lbs or so, then you want more stick than that. An ugly stik is a good choice, I like the Tiger rods for big cats and using bait inshore salt for a good inexpensive rod.

[Bird]

I have a dedicated Catfish rod " mainly because the bait stinks and don't want the mess on my bass rods ".

 

A 7ft med action lightning Rod with a Mitchell 300 reel.......I only use raw shrimp and night crawlers.

Wife and I ate fresh channel cat this past weekend ?

 

[RealtreeByGod]

I just use my bass tackle. I use my bass tackle for blue cats too. 

[MassBass]

I use an ugly stik light spinning rod. M action, graphite. I recently tried a fiberglass rod, and it seemed to have no backbone. You want the rod to bend and absorb shock, but for big fish you need backbone. The rod shouldnt be maxed out all the time fighting big fish. Paired with a cabelas salt striker baitrunner reel.

[DitchPanda]

Finally decided on a rod and got it ordered... Ugly Stik catfish special 8ft medium heavy moderate casting 2 piece. Ordered it from Cabelas and got free express shipping... After tax it was $64.19. I've got a Garcia C4 6600 and some 20lb big game to throw on it.

[jitterbug127]

I have 3 of the 8 foot ugly stik catfish rods. I have abu garcia c3 6501s on the two casting rods and a Shimano Stratic 4000 on my spinning rod. 

[DitchPanda]

9 hours ago, jitterbug127 said:

I have 3 of the 8 foot ugly stik catfish rods. I have abu garcia c3 6501s on the two casting rods and a Shimano Stratic 4000 on my spinning rod. 

Like em?

[jitterbug127]

2 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

Like em?

Oh yeah. I think I’ve had these set ups going on 7-8 years now? They’re sturdy, cast a mile and economical. C3 6500 is as tough as nails and will be given to my kids one day. Just basic maintenance and good to go. I’m 100% settled into my catfish gear, bass gear on the other hand? Haha 

[DitchPanda]

36 minutes ago, jitterbug127 said:

Oh yeah. I think I’ve had these set ups going on 7-8 years now? They’re sturdy, cast a mile and economical. C3 6500 is as tough as nails and will be given to my kids one day. Just basic maintenance and good to go. I’m 100% settled into my catfish gear, bass gear on the other hand? Haha 

Perfect! My other catfish rod is an old ugly stik original 7ft6 medium light casting rod. I love it for smaller channel cats- perfect for fish in the 1-5lb range. That said I caught one in the 7-8lb range last sunday..handled it no problem.

[scaleface]

For  catfish and carp I use my old heavy bass flipping rods paired with old Quantum 1310 MG's . 

[Firstoutfisher]

On 9/6/2022 at 2:39 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I use 3 Ugly Stick Lite 7' M spinning rods with 3 Okuma 30 Avenger baitfeeder spinning reels. Makes a 2lb channel fun, but I've also landed a 40lb flathead with 1 of them. 

Not to derail the thread too much but Im just now getting more into catfishing and I am using similar setups. What kind of rigs do you use on these rods? Everything I read about catfishing almost all the rigs use 2+ oz weights which is way outside of the range for these rods and the rods I have as well. 

[Bluebasser86]

52 minutes ago, Firstoutfisher said:

Not to derail the thread too much but Im just now getting more into catfishing and I am using similar setups. What kind of rigs do you use on these rods? Everything I read about catfishing almost all the rigs use 2+ oz weights which is way outside of the range for these rods and the rods I have as well. 

For channel cats, I rarely use more than a 1/2oz and a lot of the time it's no weight at all. 

[slonezp]

I would just say a rod large enough for the bait. Don't over complicate it. An 8lb cat is really not that big of a fish. Any medium action should be fine. Would be different if you were targeting 50lb kittys using bluegills as bait.

[Firstoutfisher]

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

For channel cats, I rarely use more than a 1/2oz and a lot of the time it's no weight at all. 

oh okay,what kind of rig are you throwing? live bait or artifical? 

[Bluebasser86]

18 hours ago, Firstoutfisher said:

oh okay,what kind of rig are you throwing? live bait or artifical? 

Either cutbait or something like crawlers or grasshoppers. 

[MassBass]

I think 1 oz is good. Bank sinker or pyramid sinker depending on current. On a slider above a swivel, so the fish can take line without feeling the weight. 

[Bluebasser86]

On 10/22/2022 at 10:15 PM, Firstoutfisher said:

oh okay,what kind of rig are you throwing? live bait or artifical? 

With my cutbait in lakes, I'm rarely using any weight. I do what I call "bass fishing for catfish". It's just casting a chunk of cutbait along likely areas and fishing it back very slowly along the bottom like a plastic worm. Super effective along weedlines and rocky banks where weighted rigs get mucked up or snagged. You have to be ready though as the strikes are violent and the fish speed off amazingly fast a lot of the time.