First let me say I am an experienced freshwater and saltwater fisherman, that I have little experience in catfishing. That consists of bank fishing and catching 1/2-3lb channels over bait. I am learning a lot here, thanks.

I do have some questions about rods, I'll get to reels in another post. Many posts seem to recommend rods that I consider 2x4s when it comes to sensitivity. I'm not putting them down, I use some as blanks for kingfish trolling rods offshore.

How many sensitive rods does one need, or does one need a sensitive rod at all, when fishing from a boat?

I asume that one throws out a couple of lines and waits for the fish to pick up the bait and set the hook itself, or is set by the fisherman. Have I got this right?

Does one then hold and fish with a sensitive rod? Or, are there situations where one only uses finess in fishing for catfish?

How many of your rods would you consider sensitive as opposed to those that are not?

In general, again fishing from a boat, does one need a rod much longer than 7"?

It would seem to me that a 7" Muskie rod might fit the bill?

thanks again. capt david

You have a good question, but you answered it in your top paragraph, you are fishing for 1/2-3 lb channel cats, and you should have a sencitive rod for that,

Most of us fish for Blue's that weigh up to 60-70 lbs, we dont catch many that size but we fish for them, and catch some pretty respectable fish sometimes.

All my Catfish rods are 7'6' Proanglers, but I do not fish for Channel Cat's, but I do catch them sometimes,

The rod just needs to match what you are trying to catch

I believe most on here use mh 7 to 8 ft rods with circle hooks who are fishing for blues. Most blues will hammer the bait. Need more backbone to get them out of timber than sensitivity. I drift with 8 or 9 poles and still fish with around 14

I have a few bank rigs for channel cats with medium rods, sort of what you would use for bass fishing. Good tip movement to detect the bite. My big boy rigs are all medium-heavy rods. I know a couple guys who use straight-up saltwater rods.

Channel Cat have a tendency to nibble the bait, then a sensitive rod would be appropriate. Blue Cat seem to hit the bait on the run most of the time, and are normally larger. That's when you need a strong. sturdy rod with enough backbone so you have more leverage.

Basically what has already been said. Even a 5 or 6 pound blue cat will often bite and double the rod over. No real need for much sensitivity I don't think. Especially since we fish with rods in rod holders. I would think if you were holding a rod when a 60 pound blue hits, you'd have a good chance of that rod being pulled out of your hand. I personally fish 6-8 rods at a time in my boat while drifting. All in rod holders.

Wow!!!!!!!!! I can't imagine 9 or 14 rods. I guess I've got a lot to learn. I have a younger wife, from the Philippines, that is finally getting interested in fishing. Her attention span is a little short, so I suppose we'll start out fishing for numbers and not size. FWIW, I've got some 2x4 ugly siick popping rods with spinning reels set up for her. I'll just change from 12lb to 17 or 20. capt david

Bring her out to Twok next Saturday for the weigh in and let her see what some of these guys catch Saturday. Then she will have you out there Sunday looking for them!!!

ain't that the truth.

'cept I live in Pt isabel and that would be a trip! capt david

It's like this CaptDavid:



And Hopefully alot of this:



Alot of good videos on Youtube....these are CatfishSalsa's videos- TeamStockyards on Youtube..........

Get you some 7' ugly stik catfish rods. They can catch anything from DCM size channels to that big flathead salsa caught the other day.

I use a mixture of spinning and baitcasting rods on my boat. My 12 on the boat are fine when I'm by myself. I can fish up to 20 on the boat with no problem if I've got someone with me. All of my rods are the Pro Angler 7.5' MH rods in Baitcasting and Spinning. Good Luck.

BTW they work great down at the coast too. From Bull Reds to Ling they do the job.

I've got a bunch of what I would call heavy fresh water graphite rods. The're a hodge-podge of 7-71/2 foot worm-flipping-muskie rods. I'm sure that they'll work. capt david

They should be fine.....

Have you ever tried a proangler

No, but I have, literaly, dozens of rods from ultralight to 6-0 offshore. I haven't looked lately, because I don't need anything. I like All-Stars. If I go somewhere that I don't know exactally what to expect I usually take a SJ1/5500 and a SJ2/6500, which covers most inshore or lake fishing. capt david