Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Cat rods

Got a buy on a couple really nice Penn Mag210s the other day to add to my catfish arsenal. Now I need to add some rods to put them on. What do you guys use and or prefer?

For background we fish primarily from the bank for catfish, have boats but enjoy kicking back under the stars in front of a lantern for big blues on spring and summer nights. Most fishing takes place at a reservoir we live 2 miles from. Most fish are in the 3-8lb range but we manage some 20-30lbers every year and someone is always catching a 40-90lber out of there, old record blue was 97 IIRC and came from there. I use primarily cut baits, shad and perch and some crappie heads. Reels will be spooled with 40lb mono backing joined with a uni to uni to 150yds of 80lb braid. Rigs are usually Carolina rigs consisting of a 6oz sinker, barrel swivel, to a 24” leader made of 50lb mono snelled to a 8/0-10/0 wide gap circle.

I have a Meat hunter and it’s an awesome rod but a little stiff in the tip for circles. Looking right now at more Meat Hunters or the B&M Silvercat Magnum. Whatever I buy will be 9’-10’”6 Med Hvy or Hvy. I prefer glass for durability and action for circle hooks.

Any of you guys bank fishers for big cats? Any experience with the rods I’ve listed? Any other ideas for a good glass rod with sturdy guides and reel seat?

Check out the Tangle With Catfish brand Extender rods. I do some bank fishing here in central MO. but most of my serious cat fishing is done while drifting the Osage.

Those Penns are great reels for drifting. I've got one and it is built sturdier than the 7000s on my other rods though I see many times more Ambassadeurs in use around here than Penns. I really prefer a lever activated freespool over a push-button release for drift fishing.

I have a B&M Silvercat Magnum 7'6" casting that I bought for a boat rod but I have not used it yet. It's got an aluminium reel seat and good heavy reinforced guides without inserts and should be a good rod.

We rig with a 3 way swivel and put a 2" peg float about 6" from the hook. 8/0-9/0 circles with shad-perch-drum in that order of preference.

For cats I don't think there's a better rod than the 7 to 7 1/2ft Ugly Stix by Shakespeare. They are almost destructible and are inexpensive for what one gets. powdr

This ^^^^^^^^

7 to 7 1/2 foot rods won’t cut it for my uses. It would be almost impossible to make 60-75 yard casts with a 7’ rod for starters. Secondly, if they’re stiff enough to sling a heavy enough sinker to stick to the bottom in the 20-30mph winds we commonly have it wouldn’t have a limber enough tip for circle hooks.

I have a couple of them I picked up for the reel or as a package deal at a garage sale and they are a good rod for no more than they cost. If we were drifting in a boat or back bouncing a river they’d probably be great. For bank fishing I need the long rods though.

I’ve tried Ugly stick, rippin lips, tangling with catfish, and now I use whisker seekers..

I’d recommend Whisker seekers 9ft 6” rods for bank.... they make them in MH and Heavy... the heavy they have isn’t anything like the meat hunters - those suckers are really heavy.

That’s the only thing I don’t care for in the Meathunter I have is the stiff tip. I was hoping someone with experience with their 10’ rods would chime in to say whether the tip section is a little less stiff on the longer rods.

Where do you get your Whisker Seekers?

The balance between enough backbone to launch big weights and baits while still having a soft enough action to effectively use circle hooks is tough to find in a bank rod. Since cat fishing has kinda taken off and become popular in the last few years a lot of good rod builders have started making some excellent stuff but most of them cater to the drift fishing crowd.

I like the 7 ft. med. Heavy Pro Angler catfish rods. I have two set up with bait casters and one for a spinning reel. A 3 to 6 ounce no roll sinker and a 6-0 to 7-0 circle hook. It's a good set up for 20-30lb blues.

I will second TWC Extenders for bank rods. Awesome rods. I've tossed some big baits and weights a great distance with them. My biggest on them was a 30 pound flathead and it wasn't an issue.


From a boat I run TWC Extemes or M/H or heavy Big Cat Fevers. Though I have used my Extenders on a boat. The extra length can be nice to have on outside rods actually.

Ended up getting a good deal on a 9’ two piece Meathunter. FYI for any interested, the 9’ and longer Meathunters are built on a bigger blank. I really like the blank on the 8’ rods and was hoping that the 9’ would be the same blank with a slightly softer tip. Turns out they are the 14’ blanks cut down and have the same tip diameter and action as the 8’.

Oh well, I clamped a reel on it an loaded it with fresh line last night, I bet we can catch some fish on it here soon.

I like them just a bit shorter, 8'6 St. Croix rods are my choice. Same actions you mention. I have them in the Avid series and they do great double duty for pike and musky fishing.

Osky

Okuma Longitude 9ft. casting model.