[BottomBouncer]

Do you know of a place around the central Ohio area that carries the Ugly Stik custom rods? FM.....does Fisherman's ever stock them? I don't remember seeing them.
I think I want to put my 6500 on the 8' custom boat rod. I don't believe it is as beefy as your's FM.

 

[Flatheadmaniac]

nope

Fishermans carries a few of the Ugly Stiks, but not thier heavy boat rods..only place ive seen them is BP's Off Shore Angler.
Nice looking rods for sure and great price.
Yup they arent as heavy as my 8' ugly stiks, but mine are only used in certain conditions where XHeavy is the only way to get them out..lol

 

[BottomBouncer]

Fisherman's has the rod I would like to put it on.....I just don't have the money to spend on it. It is the 8' MH rated up to 36lb. line. It sure has a great action to it. I want an 8' for distance and leverage from shore, but not too long from the boat.

 

[flathunter]

If you are ever in Southern ohio, check out Bills bait house in waverly..They have a large selection of rods and might have the one you are looking for.

 

[george tinkham]

Hey why not use microlite for big cats.I use a 9' micro rod with a light spinning rod and 40-60# spiderwire or fire line.I USE 7" CHUBS on large circle hooks and fish at night with a lit bobber floated down stream to 100yds.deadly.and the micro rod bringing a 15# rivercat 100yds. upstream...

 

[BottomBouncer]

Are you being serious? I'll stick with my heavy gear. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Flatheadmaniac]

George?

I certainly wont knock anyone for thier cattin methods, as long as they are with rod and reel that is..to each is own for sure.
BUT ..MICRO gear?
7" chubs and big circle hooks..OK..but all that for 15lb cats? are we talking channels, blues or flatheads here?
I would love to see that set up in action..would be a heck of a fight for channel cats..but NO WAY for flatheads..!
I do fish light gear(to ME) on the ohio r. consisting of long med. action rods(10-12ft) and anywhere from 17-25lb test..thats light to me.
Now closer to home i ONLY use 50 lb test braided dacron on 8ft one pcs HEAVY rods and 10/0 ,4X-strong hooks for flatheads with baits up to 12-14" at certain times of the year.
That kind of set up might be needed in OPEN water where you can play the fish out awhile..but in most of my cattin...its a knock down, drag them out..before they drag you in

 

[BottomBouncer]

You could probably get by with that rig at a paylake? Not trying to be a Smart "bAss"........but I just don't see it happening in any river? Stranger things have happened though.......I just would hate to lose one because of equipment failure.

Scott always talks about how his 808's fail during flattie fishin' the Scioto........I told him he should try the Abu spincasting reels?

 

[george tinkham]

I have complete confidence in this equipment to handle any size rivercat,channel or blue.and when you are bringing a 15# cat against the current for about 80 to 90 yds. on micro lite its like bringing a fish 2-3 times that size.the strong spider wire is the key and i have never had a break off using a light drag.i have drug fish over and out of snags with this line.I fish for the challenge and release my fish.my micros hold about 100 yds. of line and lot of times i got to walk the banks to regain line when i'm out to 80 yds. and the cat goes for a run farther downstream.like i said its the line that matters in this type of fishing and it is super fun.

 

[dip]

might be fun for you george

but if you were to think about it your "FUN" is EXHAUSTING the fish and probly causing them to die.... that is if you do release 'em... ifn yer a meat hunter, never mind.

 

[Flatheadmaniac]

OH MY...

guess were getting off base here a little..George i love light tackle angling myself..in areas i can get away with it that is..
I say use what you want for cats..i know some look at my X-heavy gear for my local river flatheads and think its over-kill, you got to fish these places to understand what you can and cant get away with..if your having fun using light tackle..amen!
I know how much fun long lighter rods and light line can be for chanel cats and smaller flatheads....i catch a lot this way below tailwaters during spring and back water areas on my local river fr first run channel cats..good luck to ya,
Scot

 

[BottomBouncer]

 

[mrfish/OH]

Now that it's come up

George, I read where you posted you're using 50# spiderwire on a 9' pole ? I guess when I think of micro lite, I think of 4# test on a 4-5' rod. used primarily for crappie, panfish, white bass, bait catching.
If you mean those long microlight rods ( BPS has them- great for throwing light baits & jigs great distances) I guess I'm in the dark here. Is it a micro reel ? Like the spiderwire micro reels for spiderwire?
I know salmon rods catch big fish, but they sure seem to light for my style of fishing. I like the mediums & medium-heavy rods.
Fast current makes it hard to land anyfish. I lost a real nice one because of that in the fall.

 

[george tinkham]

dip i can assure you i am not exhausting the fish anymore than heavy equip,i use both.my set-up is a micro 9' rod ,real is lite wt. that holds 100 yds of heavy duty super braid line.now the problem i see here is the line capacity for real big rivercats.the only change i might make because of this would maybe try 30# super braid or go to a medium action reel and maybe still go with a 30-40# super braid .but i have been doing real good with this set up even though i run the banks sometimes when the line is about 90 yds out and i get a big hit from a river cat to regain some line.i do not use this for bottom fishing but for floating bobbers with large chubs downstream until the bobber goes under.

 

[MadCatter]

George I am having a hard time understanding exactly what you are doing ... as I see it, if you are using heavy line then you are not using light equipment ... So you are using heavy line on very small reels .... and a noodle pole ... I must be way behind the times ... I thought light weight was 4lb test ... The line is what connects you to the fish, if its heavy in my opinion you are using heavy equip .. I am not attacking or picking on you, I am just trying to figure out what you using .. do you have any pics of the rod and reel

 

[george tinkham]

i do use a browning noodle rod on one set up and a bass pro micro on the other.the line doesn't take the micro light action out of the pole but i must cheat a little(line) in fast current, snag infested waters and chances of getting into 40# rivercats.4# test would be ridiculous but you are still getting the feel of the micro light rod and the 9ft length helps to get the fish up and is very useful since the weeds extend out into the river a good bit all along the bank.keep in mind i am using a bobber/float method in the micro lite set up as this aids in bringing the fish from the bottom.i have been doing this now for about three years and outcatch the sinker guys excluding there snags about 10-1 on fish.problem is many are now switching to the bobber/ float method now,but they haven't went to the light stuff,yet.