Gear Discussion

 

 

MY CATFISHING EQUIPMENT

 

Bass Pro Catmaxx 7'6" Heavy Fast Action rod paired with an Abu Garcia Big Game 10000
-This is my bruiser rod.  I use this setup to go after the biggest, baddest fish in the water.  It also has the biggest bait on the other end, usually a whole 12 inch shad with the tail cut off.

Bass Pro Catmaxx 7'6" Heavy Fast Action rod paired with a Penn 220GTO
-This is my second bruiser rod.  It usually has a big bait but smaller than the above rod.  Normally a shad head or big 4-6 inch chunk of shad.

Bass Pro Catmaxx 7'6" Heavy Fast Action rod paired with an Abu Garcia Big Game 9000
-Yet another bruiser rod.  Generally has the same as the above rod, a shad head or a big 4-6 inch chunk of shad.

St. Croix Classic Cat 7'6" Heavy Fast Action rod paired with the Abu Garcia 6500 TCCF
-My "fish finder" rod.  Generally has a smaller shad head, whole 6 inch or less shad, or 3-4 inch chunk of shad.  I'll usually recast this rod several times per hole trying to locate fish alternating between channel edges, drop offs, and other likely locations.  After catching fish off of certain structures that pattern can be reproduced throughout the day.

St. Croix Classic Cat 7'6" Medium Fast Action rod paired with the Abu Garcia 6500 TCCF
-My "action" rod.  I'll put the smallest piece of bait on this rod just to catch a couple fish.  Usually it will be a small fillet or chunk of shad a little bigger than a cork. 

Line - Fireline XDS and Ande Mono
-The 2 larger rods get 80lb test XDS and the 2 smaller rods get 65lb test XDS.
-The Ande Mono is used for my leader line.  The 2 larger rods get 80lb test Ande and the 2 smaller rods get 60lb test Ande.

Hooks - Daiichi Chunk Lite Circles in 7/0 and Owner Octopus Circles in 10/0
-I use the Daiichi hooks about 90% of the time.  Occasionally when I feel I'm not hooking up the fish correctly, be it finicky fish or my own personal doubts, I'll throw on the Owner hooks for a change.  Both are great and you can't go wrong with either

Weights - 6 to 10oz Pyramid or Tear Drop Sinkers
-I experimented with flat no-roll sinkers, pyramid, and tear drop bass casting weights and settled on these.  I feel they stick better into the mud holding my presentation where I cast it to.  It is of course of huge importance for the bait to stay where I put it since I'm casting to where I think the fish are.  I'm generally using the 8oz sinkers almost exclusivley but when I head upriver to where the tides don't pull the current as much I'll switch to 6oz sinkers.