Sunday, December 31, 2017

The Monster Catfish Tackle System

 

 ***Revisions have been made here on June 1, 2017***

Some products that aren't available have been removed. We also have some recent additions, including a couple budget friendly items.

 

  The System

The key to putting together a tackle system is synergy. In other words, matching all the components in the chain to work optimally together.

Reels

20# of drag should be the minimum for fishing in or near cover. Just a few short years ago, it would have cost much more to put together a true giant fish system. The only reels that had more than 20# of drag were big, costly saltwater reels. Now we have some resonably priced reels to choose from. For fishing where cover isn't an issue, we have a few more options. The reels with lower drag numbers would be best matched to some of the lighter action rods featured here such as the Okuma Makaira.

Okuma Komodo SS

Low profile powerhouse with plenty of drag. Review here.
Okuma Komodo Reel Photo

 

 

Shimano TLD Star

Budget reel for fishing away from cover. Review here.
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Shimano Tekota

A favorite of a couple of the contributors here, the Tek falls a little short of the 20# drag minimum with only 18#,
but is an excellent choice when not fishing directly in cover.
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Non level wind lever drag reels


  

Okuma

For the braid users, the Andros 5-2. With 15# of drag at strike, and 24# at full, this tiny reel (15 oz.) is a real powerhouse.
Gear ratios are 6.4:1 for high, and 3.8:1 for low. It also features a cast control, greased carbonite drag washer,
and helical cut stainless steel gears, and nice sized clicker button. These tiny powerhouse reels are around $350.

 Okuma Makaira 10-2 SEa

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The Okuma Makaira is considered by many to be the finest reel ever made. The Makaira comes in two different series. The gold reels are the original design,
and the gunmetal colored reels are the newest addition to the the line, the SEa. Both models offer absolutely brutal drag numbers with the
smallest models offering 27# at strike, and 34# at full, the bigger models go way past drag numbers we could ever use for catfish.
Greased carbonite dual force drag, machined aluminum frame and forged side plates, helical cut stainless gears, stainless drive and spool shafts,
stainless clicker system, and innovative pull bar system that puts the drag pressure on the handle side of the reel where it is the strongest,
cuppled with a thrust bearing to keep the pressure off the other bearings, and a double dog anti-reverse.
These are just some of what makes these reels the so great. Prices start at around $480 for the 8-2. Review here.


*** Okuma will have a couple new entries for 2015. The Metaloid looks to be very promising. A less expensive lever drag taking some of what was learned on the Andros and Makaira reels dressed in black!  Joe Shaw's review is here.
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Line

A matching line for this system needs to have a few key features. Stand up to the maximum drag being used, have low memory and low stretch.

 

Ande

The company with the most World Record catches of any line manufacturer. Ande Ghost is a reasonably priced line from Ande
, that is said to be nearly invisible under water, similar to Fluorocarbon. It has low stretch, low memory, and exceptional abrasion resistance
and knot strength.In a test done by Sport Fishing Magazine a few years back, the Ande Monster Yellow has the
highest knot break strength of over 70 lines tested, when used with the palomar knot. The Monster also has  very good abrasion resistance.
It also has low memory and low stretch. The yellow is also florescent, for use with the ultraviolet and blacklights.  Ande has also added Blue to the Monster line.
Review here.
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*** Cortland Master Braid ***

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 Superior abrasion resistance, no memory  and only 4% stretch for skull jarring hook sets on those monster catfish. Read the review here.

Sufix Performance Braid and 832.


Sufix is becoming the brand of choice around these parts with several of our contributors using the brand as their mainline of choice.
Joe Shaw reports 100# Performance Braid is now his goto line for fishing around bridge pilings especially, after landing a flathead that ran him around one.
He feels his Ande mono would have been toast.


 

 

Knots

Palomar

Used with the Ande lines listed above, this is the best knot available. Super easy to tie. In the line test mentioned above, the Ande broke at 108%
of the the lines actual break strength. That's right, the knot was actually stronger than the line itself. What more needs to be said. If you use
Ande Monster, Premium, or Ghost, and you aren't using the palomar, you aren't getting the most out of your line. That's it for knots.

 

Snell

A favorite of many of the writers here for connecting hook to leader. So many variations of the snell, finding one that suits you should be easy.


 

 

Swivels

Crane

Crane 4/0 and 6/0 swivels. They do the job, and haven't had any break or distort, even under 30# of drag. The 6/0 are 385# test. The 4/0 are 308# test.
The Crane's work great, unlike the cheap brass swivels you can get at all the mega stores.

 

Hooks


Eagle Claw King Kahle Hooks

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Great hooks used by many contributors here.

Owner K Hooks

 

They are expensive, but then again, top quality usually is.

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*** The Owner K hook. Incredibly sharp! Wicked sharp!  However, incredible sharpness does come at some cost. When they come into
contact with rock or trees or even a flatheads jaw they do dull somewhat.  If you want one of the best hooks available for catfishing
I can't recommend any hook more highly. *** Review here.

 

Charlie Brown Hooks


 Another favorite around here. Used by everyone who uses circles. Wicked sharp and strong as hell.

 

 

Rods

 

 One rod to rule them all

Warrior Cat XH



 

*** Okuma Rods ***

The EV-x Musky 7' 4" Heavy. Review here.  This 30-80 rod offers incredible power, truly incredible!
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Okuma Makaira MK-ST-801MH. Review here.

Amazing all around catfishing rod.
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MudbuM Railsplitter


Custom rod level components on a production rod. Read the review here

 

Warrior Cat Rods


 With an expanding line of badass rods one of the Warrior Cat rods is sure to meet your needs. Read about a few of the models here.

 

 

 

 

Customs

If you can determine the exact components and blank you want, customs can be great. But guessing can be an expensive proposition.
Customs can cost as little as $150 up to the 4 digit range.




That pretty much covers the system for now.  If you match the rods, reels, line, swivels, hooks, listed here together with the palomar knot,
you will have a tackle system that will handle any fish you will encounter in North America. I just want to point out that most of this equipment isn't meant for all around catfishing.
It's meant for monster hunting.
Chuck

chucktatmod

Our Favorite Gear

 

[caption id="attachment_1444" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Chuck Luck[/caption]

Chuck
Favorite rod- Warrior Cat XH
Favorite Reel- Okuma Makaira 8 two speed.
Favorite line- Cortland Master Braid 50#.
Favorite hook- Owner K hook.
Preferred knot- Palomar
Fish type and technique- Flatheads in cover vertical suspended.


Joe Shaw



Favorite Rod: 7'10" Black and blue custom 30-60
Favorite reel: shimano tekota 600
Favorite Line: suffix performance braid 100#
Favorite hook: eagle claw laser sharp King Khale 7/0 or 9/0 depending on bait size
Favorite leader material: 80# ande premium clear monofilament
Favorite knot: Palomar
Favorite technique: strategic positioning of live baits on main lake features
where flatheads are expected to roam and feed given the time of year.

Brittan Battles




Favorite rod - Custom 7'11" s-glass w/ ALPS components and composite grips.
Favorite Reel- Penn Squall-15LW
Favorite line-toro tamer 80lb 16 strand hollow braid
Favorite hook - eagle claw laser sharp Kahle sized according to the bait being used.
Fish type and technique - Flatheads, targeting feeding flats when fish are active

 

 

Scott Ross

[caption id="attachment_1448" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Scott Ross[/caption]
Preferred rod: Denali Bottom Feeder 8ft Heavy.
Preferred reel: Alphamar 16 (2013) Blue shell
Preferred line: Suffix 832 braid superline hi-vis 80lb
Preferred leader: 4ft High seas Mono 60lb
Favorite hook: Charlie Brown Octopus Circle Hook
Preferred knot: snell on hook: Palomar on the rest.
Fish type and technique: Flatheads from bank. Underwater ledges and cover.
Precision casting large baits.

 

Marc Cooper

[caption id="attachment_1443" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Marc Cooper[/caption]
Favorite Rod: Warrior Cat MH
Favorite Reel: Okuma Komodo 450
Favorite Line: Suffix 832 65lb braid
Preferred Knot: Polomar on terminal tackle - snell on hooks
Fish type and technique: Deep water blue catfishing through trolling/dragging,
vertical drifting, and precision anchoring on isolated topographical features.
Joseph Gordon

Favorite rod- Catfight Takedown
Favorite Reel- Penn Fathom 25lw
Favorite line- Ande Mono 40#
Favorite hook- Charlie Brown Circle 9/0 HD
Preferred knot- Palomar & Snell
Fish type and technique- Flatheads, heavy cover - Blues Suspended Drift.
Matt Lynch
[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Matt Lynch[/caption]
Our Favorite Gear:
Favorite rod: Warrior Cat Tackle 7'6" MH (blues)
St Croix Legend Tournament Big Nasty 9' (flathead)
Favorite reel: Penn Torque TRQ25N
Favorite Line: Sufix 832 Neon Lime
Favorite leader: 60-80lb Ande
Favorite hook: Charlie Brown 9/0 HD Big Cat edition
Preferred knot: Snell/palomar
Fish type/technique: Livebaiting flatheads in cover and anchor sets for blues
Jake Houser
[caption id="attachment_1453" align="aligncenter" width="281"] Jake Houser[/caption]
Favorite Rod-Bottom Dwellers Tackle Knock Out
Favorite reel- Shimano Tekotta
Favorite line- Dacron- 50-80
Favorite Hook- 7/0 king kahle
Fish type and technique- flathead bottom fishing tight to cover
Ryan Guffey
Favorite Rod - Bottom Dwellers Knock Out
  • Favorite Reel - Penn Fathom 25N LD
Favorite Line - 150# Tuf Line XP
Favorite Leader - 80# Berkley Vanish
Favorite Hook - Double snelled 9/0 Charlie Brown HD
Palomar knot on everything else
Fish type and technique - Flatheads in heavy current with cutbait
Zakk Royce
Favorite rod - BCF MH
Favorite reel - Accurate Lever drags
Favorite Line - Berkley Pro Spec Chrome
Favorite hook - Charlie Brown for big bait
7/0 Reapers for small bait
Favorite knots - snell on hooks and palomar on swivels
Fish and technique - Drifting and trolling for State Record blues with
planer boards and peg floats

A 20 year search for the perfect flathead rod has ended. Warrior Cat Rods XH review teaser.

I have no idea how many different rods I've tried over the last 20 years trying to find the perfect flathead rod. But it has been a ton of them. The Warrior Cat XH has put an end to that search.

The blank is absolutely perfect. Capable of handling any amount of pressure any sane flathead hunter would want to apply. Want to cast a 2 pound bait, no problem. Absolute power in the butt section coupled with the exact right amount of flex for casting, this rod has achieved the highest possible level of usefulness.

Warrior Cat XH lifting 20 pounds!
To get the full measure of this blank, you must try it. The Warrior Cat XH has been a revelation to me. E-glass blank with the stunning silver paint, stainless guides without inserts, grade A cork grips, aluminum reel seat, nice large hook keeper, everything cat fishermen crave is right here. At a reasonable price of $89.99!

Here's the specs for those so inclined
Specifications:
Length- 7'9"
Blank Material- E-Glass
Power- Extra Heavy
Action- Fast
Lure Rating- 4-24oz
Line Rating- 30-80lb
Handle= Grade A Cork
Reel Seat- Aluminum Posi-Lock with Double Locking Nuts
Fore grip- Grade A Cork
Guides- 9+Tip Under wrapped Double footed and braced Chrome Stainless Steel
Large Hook Tether

There will be more written here about this rod. As I continue to use these I will add updates on separate posts. The 20 year search has cost me thousands of dollars and left me with a bunch of rods I'll never use, now that these Warrior Cat XH's are here. I can't wait to put the hammer on a monster with these. The Warrior Cat XH gets my highest recommendation for a big fish/ big bait/ heavy current rod. They will be my only choice when chasing flatheads in the future. Perfection achieved.
Chuck

Big Cat Fever Heavy rod review. By Ryan Guffey.

I received the BCF Heavy rod as a birthday gift in 2015. Needless to say I was very excited as Catch the Fever and BCF had just recently introduced their line of rods. With the hype comes expectations, and here's how the Heavy measured up to mine.
Right out of the beautiful velvet sleeve the rod proves itself striking in aesthetics. The gloss black finish and silver under wraps look beautiful, as does the fine cork handle. Add in a double locking aluminum reel seat, 9+1 double footed stainless guides, and the components make up a fine piece of equipment that is clearly very well put together.
The action of this rod may not be as "Heavy" as one may expect. The S-glass provides an interesting property. The rod holds up 12-16 oz very well, even when suspending in current. But, apply much load, and you'll get a quick bend to the second guide. 15-18 lbs of drag had it bent pretty much to the cork. This is where my expectations of the rod fell a little short. I had "med/heavy" rated rods in my boat that I felt offered more control under 15+ lbs of drag than this Heavy model. I prefer the feeling of a noticeable backbone on any rod I am targeting large fish with, and with this particular model you will get more of a "full bend" blank. I believe on lakes with BIG blues, and rivers with a more fishable current than I find myself on, most guys will love the casting ability and circle hook setting properties of this blank. However the current I find myself in will sometimes load the rod itself more than I prefer.
Rather than using the 16 oz rating I tend to use this as a med-heavy  application with 8-10 ozs whenever I can get away with it.
As a disclaimer I will say that the area I fish in KS lends itself to some very, very fast current situations that most are not accustomed to. Therefore I always find myself looking for that perfect rod with power, yet reserves some action. For most rivers, this rod will do great, especially for blues! Add in an amazing company (Catch The Fever) that is making leaps and bounds in the catfishing community, industry, and catfish conservation, and you really can't go wrong.
My 68 lb blue I caught with the BCF Heavy in summer of 2016. Was a new PB for me at the time! More reviews coming soon!

The Quest for a custom Penn Jigmaster


by Matt Lynch
So everyone of us needs a hobby, right? Well if you are reading this you are probably already thinking fishing is my hobby. Truth be told fishing encompasses a much wider degree of micro-hobbies set within a primary category. If you catfish you know this better than most in freshwater. Before we can go fishing, we have to go fishing for bait. The art of procuring bait is in itself a small hobby within the envelope of fishing. If you are like me and so many others, fishing gear becomes a hobby all its own. Sometimes for simply its intended use, and sometimes it is for the sake of collection such as antique gear. Fishing equipment fascinates me both in terms of the mechanical complexities that allow it to work, and the employment of these items. For awhile Charles and I have discussed building a custom Penn Jigmaster. Anyone that knows me will attest I am a huge Penn fan and have been since purchasing my first one at age 13.  a Lowly Penn 209M would become my first piece of serious catfish gear and its legacy would reinforce the idea of how great these reels truly are. Being blessed to be on a program with Pure Fishing, I elected to purchase a brand new production Jigmaster 500 rather than an older used one for my first build. The reel arrived and was just as smooth and solid as any other Penn I've handled. I was elated at the thought of the transformation about to take place on it. I cannot take any credit as my own for my knowledge of building the reel though as I first sought out advice from the masters of this craft. Andy Smith, of supertunereels.com, was a tremendous help and guide as I sourced parts I needed. His website has loads of awesome writeups and articles on custom built reels and he is just a great guy to talk to. He steered me to Alan Tani's website alantani.com. I can't describe the wealth of information to be found among the numerous members of his board along with links to most any parts you would ever desire. My parts list consisted of a Tiburon frame as my first part. Next at the advice of Andy and so many others I managed to acquire an excellent specimen of a Newell spool which has been out of production for some time from BerinsonTackle.com. The Newell allows for additional line capacity and enhanced casting ability. I visited ProChallenger where I sourced a 304 Stainless Steel bridge with double dogs and springs, 420 heat treated Stainless Steel eccentric and yoke, 416 graded Stainless Steel gear sleeve, and a 45mm EVA foam knob. I decided to hold off on SS gears for a little while as I cannot decide if I want to stick to my 4:1 ratio or upgrade to 5:1. At some point in the future I do plan to upgrade however. I was referred to Bryan Young who supplies a 5+1 drag kit for the 4:1 gear set. This drag set allows the limits of the Jigmaster to be pushed beyond what most would consider sane. With his kit, it can allow drags to exceed 20lbs with some people seeing 25lbs of drag. This alone puts the Jigmaster into a new class with its more modern counterparts. Be advised though that it is not recommended to do this unless you have upgraded additional parts such as I have. You can see Alan Tani's website for more information on Bryans drag kits and he is a great person to deal with and helped me in choosing the correct drag grease. I used Alan Tani's board again to locate a source for a replacement handle. Member "Three Se7ens" offers many different handle options including titanium, which I elected for my reel. I picked up an anodized drag star from eBay although several interesting and custom options are also available on Alan's board. We now we have a parts list and some guidance! I have serviced reels before but never done anything like this so I apologize in advance for any improper nomenclature and you will notice I had to improvise in some cases.


SO IT BEGINS: To begin disassembly of your Penn Jigmaster on the right sideplate is a thumb-screw. It is so idiot proof, it even instructs you on how to turn it. 

After you have loosened the thumb-screw you will twist the sideplate releasing it leaving you with this assembly. This sideplate houses your bridge, ring/pinion gear, eccentric, yoke, handle, sleeve, etc. Gently place it to the side.

Next the spool will simply slide out of the frame. This feature also demonstrates how quick and easy spool changes can be made if you fish different lines on your Jigmaster.

Stand up the frame and look down at your left sideplate. Here is what contains the bait clicker assembly. You will notice there are 6 screws. I ended up mostly using a Brownells Magnatip screwdriver and a set of bits intended for a Marlin 1895 lever action rifle(remember I said improvised?)

Notice the two removed from the reel foot are shorter than the other four screws. It may not matter but I assumed this to be important-ish when storing them to the side. After removing them you have now removed the reel foot and its frame bars leaving you with the left sideplate. Next locate your Tiburon frame and remember where you placed the screws.

Line up your screw holes on the sideplate with the holes in the Tiburon frame and replace the screws you previously removed.

We now have this assembly completed and are back to 3 major parts. For this side, it is as simple as that, you are done!

Here I fit the Newell Spool into the frame and left sideplate. No clearance issues and a hand rotation told me the clicker worked fantastically. You can set this assembly to the side for now.

Now things will get abit more complicated. I placed the right sideplate down on plastic to keep from getting great everywhere. Using a small screwdriver, locate the small screw pictured. It locks the rotation of your handle's screw and will need to be removed. The supplied handle comes with a new one but be careful not to lose it for future use if needed.

Using the supplied Penn wrench, remove the screw that holds the handle in place.

Now remove the handle from the sleeve and then back off the drag star for removal. You will see the exposed brass sleeve which is a very failure prone part in heavy use. This is a priority part to replace with Stainless Steel on any build.

You will find 4 more screws located in the sideplate. These hold the bridge in place. When removing these screws you want to place your hand on the backside holding the bridge in place. After doing this place it down as you see pictured.  After doing so, you can lift the sideplate up away from the bridge, exposing the remaining internal parts.

Once the bridge is out you can remove the pinion gear along with the ring gear and notice how the factory drag washers are laid out. You will notice the factory weaker bridge in comparison to the beastly Stainless Steel ProChallenger bridge. Also take notice of the double dogs on the SS bridge as opposed to the single weaker dog setup of the factory bridge to its left. My advice especially if you reuse the factory drag set is to place them out in the order removed as pictured. This factory drag can produce around 12lbs of drag.

Now the ProChallenger sleeve is supplied with a new pin, but just for demonstration purposes I will show you removal of the pin allowing the sleeve to be slide off the factory bridge's shaft. Note the state of the art holding fixture for this task.

The pin is quite small so I improvised with a Chad Shad musky lure hook to aid in removal. Gently tapping the bend in the treble moved the pin as you can see as it protrudes from the bottom of the sleeve now.

Here I have now slid the new SS sleeve onto the SS bridge and replaced the pin. You will notice once again the single dog versus the double dogs on the new bridge. You also now have an extra pin if you followed my above photo for future use. Ensure the new sleeve rotates freely and that the dogs catch the sleeve's teeth.

Remove your new drag kit from the bag. Bryan provides a sheet calling out how to set the stack up. First this small disc goes on before the ring gear.

Install the ring gear and follow the instructions to begin inserting the discs and washers. They will need a light coating of Cal's drag grease before assembly.

After greasing your stack will look like this setting inside of the ring gear.

Underneath the right sideplate with the bridge removed you will notice the factory Penn joke and eccentric. The yoke holds your pinion gear. Removing these I worked the lever back and forth until the eccentric key was in position to remove it.

Factory yoke and eccentric are removed

Next place the new SS yoke over the two screws ensuring it is correctly oriented to hold the pinion gear. Then work the new eccentric from the ProChallenger kit into place. You will again have to ensure alignment with two of the screws that we previously loosened on the exterior of the sideplate. I applied a light coating of Yamalube to the surfaces during this assembly.

You will reinsert your pinion gear after greasing it, and carefully slide the bridge back into place. Take your time while doing this and make sure they line up. After doing so you will need to tighten those four screws back up located on the exterior of the right hand sideplate.

We have now made it past the most complex portion of this build. Now we need to remove the ring pictures from the frame/foot pieces. This is the same process as removing them from the left sideplate. Be careful with the hardware and don't lose them.

Align it on your Tiburon frame and replace the screws securing it to the new frame.

I again applied a light coating of Yamalube around the spool shaft, and ring. You will also notice the notches that allow the right hand sideplate to twist and lock into position.

You can now place the sideplate back on by twisting it into place then tightening the thumb-screw back down. Beautiful right?

To install the shaft for the knob on the new Titanium handle I had to slightly open up the hole with a 3/16th drill bit. Do so carefully as to not remove too much material. 

After opening the hole I used a small wrench and torx to tighten it securely into the new handle.

Notice I have already installed the new aluminum drag star on the sleeve and have the 45mm knob disassembled and ready to install on the shaft.

Slide the knob on and install the small phillips head screw snugging it up tight but ensuring it still spins freely.

Place the large washer on top of the knob assembly next then finally the large slotted cap.

With our handle assembled you will notice the tight fit of the new handle on the SS gear sleeve. Almost done.

Pretty straight-forward. Replace the handle screw using your Penn wrench. Then use a 3/32 allen wrench to tighten the new keeper screw.  This is the final step and now we have a complete and functional reel ready to put the absolute smackdown on some cats.


So there we have it. A gorgeous custom Penn Jigmaster that will last indefinately. Easy to maintain, tough as nails, and can be handed down to my son some day. Once I decide on gear ratio, I will crack it open again to install the new SS gear set later. I warn you though, this will indeed become a hobby inside your already extensive fishing hobby. I've already secured a couple 501 Jigmaster Narrows since completing this first build and will be doing similar builds on them. I have invested around $270-300 in this Jigmaster which is alot for a catfish reel by many standards. However I have no question of whether it can fish alongside $500 reels and hold its on. It is a large investment but remember these reels usually have a service life longer than that of our own. If you have any questions feel free to reach me or any of the great guys I mentioned who guided me on this build.
www.alantani.com
www.supertunereels.com
www.prochallenger.com
www.berinsontackle.com
wwww.pennfishing.com