So I want to try my hand at some carp and cat fishing. What setup would you recommend for this? Bonus points if I could use this setup for some sort of bass or other fishing application as well. I don't have a ton of money to spend on fishing stuff right now, so a versatile setup would be really helpful. 

How are you wanting to fish for them? Where/what type of water are you fishing for them? What size fish are you dealing with?

Most any medium spinning rod and reel with 20lb braid will handle most catfish and carp that people catch. The only reason you'll need specialized gear is if you're fishing large baits, heavy current, making long cast, dealing with large fish, or any combination of those. 

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

How are you wanting to fish for them? Where/what type of water are you fishing for them? What size fish are you dealing with?

Most any medium spinning rod and reel with 20lb braid will handle most catfish and carp that people catch. The only reason you'll need specialized gear is if you're fishing large baits, heavy current, making long cast, dealing with large fish, or any combination of those. 

I'm fishing up in MA. In rivers with light current. The fish here will probably be 20 lbs and under. 

Yeah, you'll be fine with most M or MH spinning rods as long as there's not heavy cover. I like baitfeeders but you don't have to have them, they just make your life a lot simpler. If you want something you can use for both those and bass though, I wouldn't go with a baitfeeder. I fish pretty similar situations here for catfish and I use a pair of 7' MH Ugly Stick Lites with Okuma Avenger 30 baitfeeder spinning reels spooled with 20lb PP. I can handle any fish that swims in the places I'm fishing as long as I can keep them away from cover with those setups. In your case, just swap the Ugly Sticks (or don't if you like them for bass fishing), with whatever rod you want and the baitfeeders with a similar sized standard spinning reel. 

I carp and catfish often . I use 7.5 foot flipping rods made for bass fishing and Quantum 1310 mg reels .

Thanks guys!