CATFISHSAFARI LAKE ROD.( M/H ) ACTION.  RIVER ROD . (HVY) ACTION   

I think this is the best production rod on the market today. To find a better catfish rod you will have to have them custom made. There are a lot of good custom rod builders out there, but they can get expensive( many are well worth the money). However if you compare my rods with the other so called "catfish rods "on the market  you will soon see there is a big difference.

1. To began with, these rods were designed by catfisherman with years of experience on the water. They are professional grade equipment not $39.99 combos ( TOYS ) the super stores sell. Make no mistake there is a difference. They are made to last for years  (not fall apart 6mos.later ). Every component on this rod is there for a reason nothing was just put on.

2.THE BLANK..I use a 7.6 ft. 1 piece e-glass rod made by sumo. They are extremely strong and lightwieght. I have sold hundreds of rods without a single return for breakage (or any other reason ) as of 08/31/07. The blank is whats known as a parabolic bend.Simply, it bends from tip to the butt kind of like a rainbow. There are several reasons for this. One when a catfish first bites and pulls your rod down you want it to"LOAD UP" Like the picture above. It dosen't matter if you use a J/hook or a circle hook ( I prefer circle hooks ). I have heard alot about stiff rods with a soft tip are better for circle hooks, this is just not true. First remember we are not after small fish, however I have caught thousands of small catfish ( less than 1lb ) that load up a rod. Once a catfish pulls a rod over like in the picture It Is much harder for him to "spit" a hook there is just to much pressure.

Lets talk about rods with a stiff butt and a soft tip like you see so much of in todays market. For one they are a"SALES GIMMICK" what they are trying to do is convince you, Is that one rod can do it all ( THATS THE SALES PITCH ). What they tell you is the soft tip will detect the softest bites. A parabolic rod will do the same thing. Then they tell you the stiff butt will handle the biggest fish. So will a parabolic rod only a lot better. The problem Is If you break down their rod, first you have a butt section stiff as a pool cue.That part of the rod would make a terrible fishing rod. Second the tip is too soft and limber that dosen't make a good rod. So if you think about it why would it make a good catfish rod by putting the two parts together. It doesent.

There are basically two rods you need. Depends on where you fish.     

1. A lake rod. M/H action for drifting, ancoring, tight lining, spider rigging, ect.

2. A River rod. heavy action for fighting current with heavy sinkers and for fighting big fish aginst current.

Now how about color?Golden yellow is the best color I have found ( BLACK IS THE WORST you cannot see it at night ). Golden yellow is very high visibilty but doesen't CHALK like white does. I have never figured out why anyone would make a fishing rod that was going to be used at night BLACK. Every one I have ever seen has been sprayed white on the tip or has some kind of glow stick hanging off the end of it.     

3.THE EYES... I use salt water  grade stainless steel eyes. Cheaper rods use

   chrome plated brass eyes with ss feet. They can say they are ss becuse 50% of   

  the eye is stainless. The problem is the chrome will chip or wear out. When that     

  happens you might as well throw the rod away or have it rewrapped. Cheap

  rods are not  worth rewrapping. Now connecting the eye to the rod. I double

  wrap all eyes. Cheaper rods are single wrapped. Double wrapping Is not  just 
  for looks (allthough they do look much better ). If you think about it the eye is a          
  slick surface and rod is a slick surface its hard to connect two slick surfaces together. Thats where the double wrapping comes in. The first wrap is like putting grip tape on the rod for the eye to stick to. So now you have slick / rough /slick. They wrap the color put on a coat of epoxy ( CHEAP RODS WOULD BE DONE BY NOW THATS WHY THEY SINGLE WRAP ) then set the eye. When thats done they wrap the eye and put on several coats of epoxy. Double wrapping is double the labor but its well worth it.

4.THE REEL SEAT...I use a heavy duty "benchmark" reel seat. A few things about reel seats. One make sure It is a blank through design or a  big catfish will break it sooner or later. Two it should have stainless steel feet. Three it should screw foward. When you fight a big cat you will have your hand above the reel seat you dont want to unscrew your reel.    

          Pricing

 Lake Rod        Yellow with Blue wrap                                       $79.99
 River Rod        Yellow with Red  wrap                                       $79.99
 Spin  Rod        Yellow with Green Wrap                                    $79.99
 Flathead Rod   Yellow with green wrap and camo cord grip    $79.99

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