Gear for catfish

I am looking in to start fishing for catfish. What type of rod/reel? How heavy line? What to use for bait?

Any ideas. Thanks

Help us out with a little more info Tyler.

What area are you planning on fishing? River/Lake?
Channel cats or Flatheads?

Are you looking for a Good, Better or Best set up. Price follows quality.

Strictly catfish? Multi species, channel and/or flathead? Mainly from boat or shore?

From shore. Minnesota,le sueur rivers. Channel catfish.

Lots of options. Here’s what has worked out really well for me thus far.
Rod over 7′, I got the 72mh sellus for $60 close to, has a nice soft tip to detect those light spring and winter bites, and let’s the rod load up nicely for circles. And being longer with some good flex on the upper third really let’s me fling that bait far from shore during summer when they occupy deeper water. But still a mh so can set the hook well with some backbone to handle the big momma’s.

I have a president on it right now size 30 with 10# fire line. More than enough line on the spool for long casts and haven’t lost a big fish yet to line snapping, that 10# is tough $hit. Doubles great as a trolling rod for other species.

There was an article in the Infisherman mag that was talking about how fun and different each species is when it comes to their fighting style, this setup I believe really has maximized that good fight we all like in a catfish without putting undue stress on it from playing it forever. What fun is it just bringing these guys in with a huge rod and 50# test line?

also comes dwn to how much to u wanna spend on a setup.

being that u’ll be fishing in waters that holds sum big channels n flats. i would recommend an 8′ MH fiberglass rod, something with a soft tip will help whip the baits out and if u use circles hooks helps rotate it into flesh.
i’d pair it with at least a 40’s reel if spinning or bait caster similar to an Abu 6500 and at least #50 braid or #20-30 mono

IMH
for the price cabelas KingKat with baitrunner combos are hard to beat. the reels are actually Okuma Avengers which are very good reels.

would using night crawlers on a walleye rig work?

technically u can catch a fish of any size using any set up, but to target a specific species certain setups will give you a better chance at successful landing it.

crawlers will catch any fish in any body of water if theyre hungry. yes a wally setup would wrk depending on the size of the fish and how much area u have to playout the fish.

i think would be more successful to use cut bait like cut suckers, sheepheads, bullheads… when targeting cats

Tyler Schaefer wrote:

would using night crawlers on a walleye rig work?

Yes, been doing it for years. I say go out and have some fun catching them with what ya got, then if it really tickles your fancy go spend some $$ on a combo to fine tune your approach and like others have said, have better chances of bringing them in.

Can’t go wrong with an ugly stick in medium or medium heavy.

Tyler Schaefer wrote:

would using night crawlers on a walleye rig work?

You can, until you tie into a 30″ channel that melts the drag on your walleye reel. I’ll suggest to you what I suggest to every guy that asks this question… Get a Shakespeare WildCat rod for under 20 bucks and the biggest cheap spinning reel you can. You are about 40 bucks invested at this point and it will serve you well for channels for years.

Then you’re hooked and you buy the Shakespeare Tiger rod and Abu 6500, a boat, experiment with making your own stink bait, ruin personal relationships, etc. and you never look back.

What exactly kind of walleye combo do you currently have, and what line is on your reel?

What D said

tyler,
if u get up my way im in south mpls, i have a few old cat rigs that need a good home. i’ll even set ya up with some terminal tackle as well.

Thanks mr-special