NavyVet1204

This has been my experience as well using braid and a treble hook

Enjoy that combo. That reel is fantastic if you happen to have gotten a good one. I bought one last year on an impulse and liked it so much that I ordered a second one the next day. The second one couldn’t keep the side plate on for more than a single cast and I drove to bass pro and returned it. The first one hasn’t missed a beat and I love it! It’s on my vendetta rod setup for chatterbaits and jigs.

I’ll also add that if your small creek or “wade” fishing, those will work all day long as well as the tried and true rooster tails.

I was going to say this pretty much. It was fantastic for me last season.

I actually bought that little kit they sale those in one time about 5-7 years ago and they absolutely get destroyed by bass in my local lake! Hidden Walmart gem.

Penn Conflict II spinning reel. My new catfish setup thinking about running 50# braid to a Carolina Rigged 20# mono leader. I’m gonna pair it with an ugly stik rod(not sure exactly which one yet). The ugly stiks have served me rather well in their role of catfishing rods for years and years with general maintenance so I see no need to go higher up the $ food chain. I’ve tried to post pics, but all of my iPhone 11 pics of it seem to be too large. Here’s a stock pic of it: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/penn-conflict-ii-spinning-reel?ds_e=MICROSOFT&ds_c=Shop|Generic|AllProducts|High|SSCCatchAll&msclkid=6cb0e30c737712d7e1c882c5a18ad049&gclid=6cb0e30c737712d7e1c882c5a18ad049&gclsrc=3p.ds This isn’t a Stradic by any means, but my lord it is the smoothest spinning reel I have ever bought to date. It is my very first penn reel to boot. I feel pretty good about it especially with having gift cards for bass pro and not having to pay a dime for the reel. edit: I got the 4000 size.

Outside of June bug, black and watermelon red…pb&j did really well this past season.

Thank you friend and I am already checking on your suggestions as we speak! I may have blown it out a bit by using the terms “heavy freshwater”. Down here in Bama, it’s not uncommon to land cats as far north as 25+ lbs on a rod and reel. Generally though, that happens for me on trotline or bush hooks while my wife has the ability to just look at a body of water and the fish just jump onto the bank. Is what it is I reckon. I typically run 10-15lb mono on the reel ending with a Carolina rig that has 20lb mono. This setup has served me well for over 20 years in my neck of the woods and has brought in and honestly the $75-$100 dollar combos fill this role pretty well and last a good long while simply due to the lack of use they see compared to my baitcasters.

Hey guys/gals, I’ve been gone from here for awhile with helping my wife take care of our new baby boy and it has been a blast! As the title says, I am looking for ideas and suggestions on some new spinning setups for heavy freshwater catfishing. The two current setups that my wife and I have(shimano reels on ugly stik rods) are beyond their prime in terms of wear. I have taken great care of them, but 15 years of heavy use has taken their toll. I got a few basspro gift cards for Christmas so I have roughly $350 to spend to get back in the game. edit: I guess I’m looking to spend about $100-$150 on each setup. My baitcasters I have a higher budget for because I use them a whole lot more than these spinners will get used. UPDATE: With my gift cards I ordered a Penn Conflict II in the 4000 size from bass pros app. The reel has great reviews and was on sale for $135 from $169.99 so without a dime out of pocket and free shipping I think I did pretty good. I’ll post a review when it comes in. Thank you all for your suggestions!

I started with 12lb fluro last year on my first bait caster which was a Revo SX as well and it has worked out very well for me. Seaguar Red Label Flurocarbon is my go to line in the FC world. Very affordable and readily available( for me).

And that feeling of a blessing is worth more than any trophy fish on any body of water anywhere in the world. You sir made sure that kid would be able to enjoy his next outing with his dad. God bless you, the dad and the kid.

I hear ya friend. TW takes at least three weeks to ship no matter what I’m ordering. My local Walmart is easily the weakest in terms of fishing inventory in general. They have never had much of a selection at all and what they do have is just enough to aggravate you into wondering why you even bothered walking into the place. That being said, my local mom and pop tackle shop has a very generous selection of zoom and reaction innovations baits….when they actually have stock. They had more stock during COVID last summer than they do now and it’s not even worth the drive. Edit: I did just realize that all the Walmart’s near me that don’t have a body of water near them to necessitate a huge fishing selection for some reason have large fishing sections in their sporting goods departments. My Walmart has a huge lake within swinging distance and they might have a third of what the others do. Not bare shelves, but just a small fishing section. Weird.

I just received an order of some of those Grande Bass Rattlers myself from TW a week ago and I’ve been aching to try them! Great haul.

I picked up a lews xfinity xs30 today with a lews laser 6’ ML rod and three packs of YUM dingers in GP chartreuse, smoke shad, black blue flake with some 10lb Power Pro braid.

That’s a healthy deposit in the karma bank right there my friend. You did good.

Update: After thinking on it for awhile, I took the pflueger back and swapped it for a lews xfinity xs30 with the bigger spool and picked up a 6’ ML lews laser rod and some YUM senkos and 10lb braid. I appreciate all of your advice and the time you took to give it, I just couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting the setup to be for weightless senkos and weightless T-Rigs and the larger lews reel will accommodate that better than the smaller pflueger. I would’ve opted for a larger pflueger, but they only had the small ones in stock at the Walmart where I picked them up.

Yes I did have the intention of going finesse with it until I realized that it would be better suited for the really small small fish due to its size.

Pres 20 is what I have

Dobyns Fury rod is what I’m going to be buying. For a pflueger president with a 2000 size reel. The reel is easily the smallest spinning reel I’ve ever owned and I’m struggling to decide on whether or not I need a light or medium light rod for small rooster tails, beetle spins and essentially smaller type lures like them. I’m aiming to catch whatever fish will bite whether it’s a pan fish or a small bass or crappie etc.

Your not suppose to judge a book by its cover!! Why do you guys do this to me! (Debit card fell out of my wallet just now and there’s only one thing to do…) thanks guys.

What is this….dark sleeper….y’all speak of?

How do I make a picture to where it’s within the parameters to upload??

I’m eyeballing some 13 rods as we speak actually just trying to get a feel for what I would like. Thank you!

My wife let me pick out a reel for my gift and I chose a Pflueger President PressP20. I’m gonna set it up for finesse such as rooster tails, beetle spins and maybe a smaller shaky head. What rod would you recommend and what length? $100ish budget and I will use braid.

2006 for me lol