Big catfish reel

I’m needing some advice. I live 7 minutes from Lake Tawakoni and I’m on the lake every chance I get(unfortunately this is only like 1-2 times per month). I want to go after the big trophy blues by the dam but I am pretty sure my rigs won’t do the trick. What I need to know is, what reels are recommended when going after these monster catfish. I am sure the cheap ugly stick combo from Walmart that I have will burn out on the first one to hook up.

I've seen Steve Douglas swear by those CatMaxx reels sold at BPS. He considers anything under 50bls a dink. Last time I saw them they were on sale for $50.

It depends on you budget. 2 of my friends bought the cat maxx and I bought abu 6500. The Abu cast better and have held up better but the cat maxx have held up to some really nice fish also. I just got a shimano tekota for Christmas and it is far superior to the abu in my opinion but they are costly.

I would recommend pro angler rods or catfish ugly stik. They are both good rods and priced right.

I had really good luck with the Shakespeare tide water reels. They are built for light salt water. I used 40 lb test big game and they never failed me. I used them on a 7’ heavy action rod. They are pretty cheap as far as reels go to. I have the tw 10 and TW 20 reels

We see them all and the Shimano Tekota would be what I would recommend to anyone targeting trophy catfish. A more budget friendly but solid reel would be the Okuma coldwater.

Neighbor has the ABU Garcia 6500s with clicker. He got the bigger reels only because the 5600s are no longer made with bait clickers. We fish mainly live bait for striper/hybrid and they have done well. The one In the pic was caught on my 5600.

I saw a really good guide review on the Shimano tekota vs the Abu 7500s.