The Dark Knight

Opportunist is a far better description of catfish than scavenger. I have caught them on rooster tails in the past . Rattle baits such as the cotton cordell spot have worked , too, from time to time. Recently, I have caught some nice channel cats on various rapala minnows and the bx swimmer .

Take advantage of the inshore sw and brackish river (example- Indian, Crystal, & St Johns Rivers) fishing opportunities. .. Depending on the location and season, you may get the chance to tangle with anything from redfish to sharks and you won't need to spend a thousand dollars to do it.

I miss fishing for these guys.... My faves were Kastmaster spoons; Rooster Tails (1/8 & 1/6 oz) ; Renosky Super Shads; Cordell Spot; & the Blue Fox Foxee jig.

If you haven't resolved this issue already, St Croix has 8 foot MH and H Tidemaster and Avid inshore salt water rods that would probably work better for your applications.. . I'd also look at the longest swimbait rods, even if that isn't what you are actually tossing.

I think I'd be too busy keeping an eye out for the crocs if I were fishing in Australia... I'm a Florida guy and I am reasonably comfortable with gators, but your critters are bigger and meaner. This year I caught a +3 foot gar on a jointed rapala, lost a 4 footer on a shallow diving shad rap, caught and lost a few others on soft plastic swimbaits such as the storm wild eye shad, the D.O.A. C.A.L, and yum minnows.

Nice donkey! Right now my dream is a tarpon on bass gear. So far I'm o for 1...

I'd probably bump that rod to at least a medium heavy, but of course the gear selection should depend on the size of baits he is tossing and the size of the fish he's targeting. Bass gear is fine in areas where stripers don't get particularly big.... ...Muskie or salt water gear may be necessary in places where you are tossing big baits for monstrous fish in snag filled waters....If you already have a swimbait rod with a wide capacity reel you should be fine in most cases. Shad , skipjack & blueback herring, and shiners are usually the go to baits in the South for stripers. Some guys use sunfish or live trout where legal. Shrimp works, too. Be prepared to catch a fair share of catfish and / or gar using these baits.

I'm no striper expert by any means, but classic techniques typically include v waking floating minnows like the redfin; jigging spoons and bucktails; casting and /or trolling crank baits, rattle baits, and swimbaits; tossing poppers to surface feeders; etc. In many places where legal they troll umbrella rigs w/ jigs &/or soft plastics, too.