witch rod do you prefer for bait cast reels a rod with a long or short handle and with or without finger trigger? any suggestions?

all depends on the reel, the rod length, and the intended purpose.

I am very much a poor quality fisherman and I was in Academy the other day ... like most of us, somehow we can't seem to have enough tackle. I looked at the rods and saw poles in excess of $200. I ended up getting a rod/reel combo for $19.99. Having never fished EVER with an expensive pole, I am curious what the difference would be between $20 and $200.

Neil

fools status. roflmao

and I am one of those fools, when I go fishn just one of my r/r costs around $500.00 each.
Cliff told me one time he wanted one but not on his dollar ha ha

I would get an ugly styk with a long cork handle and a finger trigger

It all boils down to what you like. I build all my poles now and the shortest I own for catfishing is 8 1/2ft. I have both casting and spinning rods and have just about gotten rid of all those with "finger triggers".

I already told ya what I'd recommend on your other thread about abu's ... I'd get the uglystick 7 ft medium heavy for fishing from a boat $30 or if I was a bank fisherman I'd get the basspro oceanmaster 12.5 ft in the medium which is rated for throwing 3oz to 6oz sinkers or heavy which is rated for throwing 6oz to 12oz sinkers. I can cast the heavy oceanmaster rods over 240 yds and they cost about $120. to get a little better rod than those you'd have to pay $350 for a breakaway rod. the cheap surf rods you will be able to cast about 100 yds with.

I've got 7ft MH ugly sticks and 7ft MH Jarvis Walker Tuff Tips. Both hold up well to my abuse and both are glass rods. The Tuff Tips come with cork handles and are about $10 cheaper than the Ugly's are with the foam handles. Both have the trigger handles. You can get the Tuff Tips at Academy.

I am a previous employee of Academy and cam tell you that a lot of the poles that they sell that are intended for catfishing are slightly over priced. Of course the cat pole that Ugly Stick puts out is probably my favorite, then probably the Berkeley big game pole. The only problem with them is that they cost at least an arm, maybe a leg. Before I left Academy, my manager, a man who knows way more about fishing than I could hope to, showed my an ugly yellow 7' foot poppin rod made by Tournament Choice that handles 10-25lb line and is about $12. I bought it and it has performed great for small cats up to 20 lb ones. It is a baitcasting pole with a trigger grip.

I love my Breakaways but, then too, I did not pay $350 for them. Seems more like about $200 off their website. I started with some cheaper rigs but they do not make the trip any longer. The Breakaways make a huge difference to me. Getting 240 yds. out of the cheaper ones, that's impressive. I think that is all I'm getting out of my Breakaways.

Ugly sticks are pretty good all around cat rods , the have a soft tip so you dont throw off your bait...but enough backbone to put some muscle on the fish when you need too. I prefer a long cork handle, cork because I dont care for foam much, and long so I can brace it with my forearm and not rely on wrist strength to put pressure on the fish, and I personally prefer a shorter rod, gives you more leverage on the big fish (longer rod actually gives the fish more leverage, contrary to what you might think)..you will lose some casting distance with a shorter rod, but I usually dont cast far out from the bank or far from shore anyways because I have found I catch my best cats pretty close to shore! good luck with whatever you choose!

I personally use 8 ft. graphite rods with long trigger finger handles. This is so if I need to cast it for a long distance I can do so easier than with a short handle. This is using my Garcia 7000c reel also. Spinning reels I still like the 8 ft. models with long handle also for the casting distance leverage.
This is also because I do alot of bank fishing when the wind is more that what I want to put up with in the boat. I will probably go to a 7 ft. model of a pole for use in a boat. But no shorter.