I have 6 Okuma classic 300LA's for 4 years now. Not a hiccup. $48 a piece. Love them.

Dieter years ago back in the very early 70's I remember fishing with my brother on Lake Wylie for Buffalo Carp. We used the old big Zebco's back then.

I have 3 of those Lew’s and I love them. Catfish Connection has the Lew’s under $60 now. Those catfish pros look cool too.

This guys videos make me so desperate to fish.

I use old Penn saltwater reels. They work great.

I bought a Catfish Pro on black Friday sale and I love it.

That was fun, very nice on how you explained the different reels. 👍

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching and commenting!!

I love the Lews xl60s. They're great reels.

For catfish, i use all penn rival 20's. Great reel, cheap, and the best factory installed power handle on the market.

received an ABU Ambassadeur 5500c in 1979 still going strong today its the only reel i use for catfish. 17lb mono.

I have reels mostly under $100 for catfish and carp fishing but my cheapest ones are the ix reels from shimano. Rear adjusting drag, barely $14 but the 4000 size has enough drag to handle the 10-15 lb carp and catfish i usually catch.

I’ve tried out a few cheap reels. Lews Sc600 and catmaxx 3000c. Both work and have the ability to bring in BIG fish, the catmaxx levelwind broke on 2/5 of the reels I was using. My Lews are still working strong. But out of what I’ve used the 6500c3’s, pro rockets, and penn squall 2 are worth every dollar.

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Great feedback!

I got a catfish Pro couple yrs ago n have landed several 30+ pound flatheads on it. Still casts n retrieves as good as day one😊

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Awesome!! Good reels for the money!

@dboyMMA7100

3 ай бұрын

Can't beat piscifun! Handled a 64 very easily recently.

Not sure if I was going to fish much so bought a couple piscifun 50’s and now 4 years later I have 7 of them and has beef flawless for catching blues in the Mississippi up to 92lbs

I use the shimono TR200 and the catfish pro reels both are good reels for the money

I bought a Catfish Pro rod and reel combo at Walmart and have had issues with the reel not working well. The rod is great but I had to replace the reel because it doesn’t seem to be able to bring the fish in because it keeps slipping no matter how I adjust the settings. I may have got a bad one but got tired of struggling with it.

i have one of the catfish pro reels, first time i used it i caught a 26lb blue

Landed here because I'm looking to get some catfish gear for me and my boy and it's proving to be difficult to decide😅😅 Last year we were staying at the lake of the ozarks and fishing bass. On the last evening of our trip a guy was at the dock cleaning fish and asked if we had a hook because there were some monster cats swimming around. We were mainly fishing whopper ploppers but had one hook. He handed us a chunk of meat and said put this on it and hang on for your life, it'll probably destroy your reel 😅😅 then the fishing angel left. Well we did what he said and tied into the biggest fight I've ever fought being but a humble bass fisherman. I'd reel in 3ft and that cat would drag it back out 5! We battled it out for 20min or so and he finally gave out and let me tug him into shore. The thing was 40 to 50 pounds! A big blue. We snapped some pics and sent him back into the lake. It even landed in the local Lake of the Ozarks paper💯 It was the funnest fishing me and the boy have done and he wants to do more, of course😅😅 So we were using his bass reel, a zebco omega with 12lb line and an ultra lite crappie rod😅😅 Should have never got that beast to shore! So i know for a fact these rods and reels can do MUCH more than you'd think! I'm planning on getting a catfish setup and glad i seen this video... not gonna lie i want an abu garcia buy i also want a new bass reel too, so I'm thinking about going with a cheaper cat setup. In your opinion, which wins out, the Lews or Kastking? Or possibly another or is Abu Garcia king? All we're looking to do is pull in the biggest baddest fish in the lake, monster hunters😉👌 and then send him back in, so looking for a HEAVY setup probably for Blues! Thanks for the video. Blessings 🙏

I've been using the catfish pro reels for a while. The ones in walmart are not like the ones online plastic on the line guide . I have a few lews laser xl. Its a ok reel. One i have is junk. The older catfish pros are very close to my adu garcias.

nice video, were you using just plan chicken, or did you add anything to it,

Got cakes on the griddle! 😂

If the line rating is only up to 20 do you still use 30# ande on them?

@DieterMelhorn

2 ай бұрын

Yes. Do it with caution though. Over stressing the reels is what leads to parts being broken.

Great video and great fishing send me some I am catfishing right now and have not get anything yet

Dieter, I see you've had a Piscifun Chaos reel or two going for a while, but don't think I've ever heard you say much about them? I have two of the 6000's on Berkley Big Game rods and pleased so far, but I haven't used them much or caught anything big.

@R.S.G879

3 ай бұрын

They are great.

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

You may be seeing more of them this year!

@dboyMMA7100

3 ай бұрын

Better than anything in this video

What are your thoughts on low profile reels

Most ppl , can use the less expensive reels n have no issues. IMO if a person is fishing multiple times a week, catching fish over 30lbs on a regular basis, then it is definitely worth it to get the penns, abus, shimanos, etc

I have a ZEBCO 888, and a Berkeley BIG GAME ROD😅😅😅😅

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

They will catch some catfish!!! Use them and enjoy them!

Who ever fishes with bait casters are not ready for this game 😂😂😂😂😂

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Spincasters are for the pros!!

My brother and I started with cheaper reels to get a feel for round reels. On the lower end every brand seemed to have it's own failings or issues. We gradually accumulated some Abu reels and it's nice to have gear that just works as intended and trouble free. There were some piscifun reels I like quite a bit. The Chaos if I recall. Bought a KastKing Royale Legend II to play with and perhaps catch bait with but in our local lake I've been using it for catfish right next to the Abus. Dang thing has been great fun to use and most of my fish have come in on it so far this year.

@R.S.G879

3 ай бұрын

The chaos xs series from picifun is a great reel. If you need to impress someone go ahead and pay those abu prices😂

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Great info....thanks for sharing!

@206pappy

2 ай бұрын

@@R.S.G879 As much as I liked the chaos it did fail. Abu is still going. I could care less about impressing anyone but I do value reliability. I'm on a fixed budget like everyone else so it wasn't without hesitation springing for an abu. In the time frame I've burned through kastkings, piscifun and a Sougayilang while the abu is holding up fine. We fish a lot..lol. Money wise it might only be a slight bit more going abu out the gate. Paid 109ish (on sale) for the abu, which is still working fine, and spent roughly 150ish (all totaled) on the reels that broke down. So that's my reasoning. I like how reliable the abus have been. You do you though. I ain't selling anything.

You ever use treble hooks or think they're better than regular hooks at all? I ask because I was given a decent amount last year. When I was younger, the general theme was to catch catfish with treble hooks but seems a lot of people just use some kind of single hook.

I like cheap reals I usually use Walmart stuff but I just got a couple ancient mariners rod and real combo I’m hoping it was worth the money but I upgraded cause my buddy and I wanna fish the Mississippi

@ahiraband3939

3 ай бұрын

Ugly sticks, kastking spin rods. Cheap stuff and they working just fine. Now when weather stays warmer thebgar can put them to the test.

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Buy what you can afford and save some money for gas and bait!!

@shawnsderbyden1032

3 ай бұрын

@@DieterMelhorn I’ve been able to afford rods like I just got for a long time I’ve just never been able to justify spending 200 bucks or more for one rod and real combo

what about the Ancient Mariner reels you were running? are they still going strong?

Try the Kastking Rover 70

Thanks for another informative post. Lol I’m still in limbo as to which reel to put on a pole I’m rebuilding. I’m not an everyday fisherman. So with what you’ve suggested I’ll narrow it down to the two reels that you’re using in this video. Keep up the great work and the videos coming.

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

The choices can be tough!

I use Zebco 808's outfitted with all bearings (cost about $5 to upgrade), or older (used) Penn 155, True Temper 981e etc.. Not the best for casting (for me) but awesome for cats and cheap ( at yard sales), and will last forever..

@caniaccharlie

3 ай бұрын

I got two of the 808 Boss Hog combos, been kinda thinking about doing the ball bearing thing to them, is it really worth it? The Boss Hog versions already have all steel gears.

@mikecollins8241

3 ай бұрын

@@caniaccharlie I'm not positive but I believe the Boss hog gets steel gears but still has plastic bushings vs bearings, the 888 has all bearings... it cost me less then $10 for a pack of 10 bearings, enough to do several reels :) I don't remember all the details (sizes), as i bought a bunch of bearings and rebuilt/"improved" several of my reels all at once... just measure the bushings for size and buy generic ones from ebay/ Walmart online etc..

@mikecollins8241

3 ай бұрын

@@caniaccharlie bearings took all the slop out of the handle, well worth it IMO...

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Great info!

@OFFICIALBROTHERBOLDLYMUSIC

2 күн бұрын

Mine was $4.99

some of my reels are antiques now. I find that by the time the fish gets a look at my reel or my boat, its too late for his opinion. : )

Nice video

When reels say 210yard/30lb line, should I follow that or could I throw like 60-100lb line on and just fill the reel as it would with any other line

@DieterMelhorn

Ай бұрын

Why would you want 100# line??

@rayvon9614

Ай бұрын

@@DieterMelhorn just for bigger cats. I’m fishing on the Missouri and I’ve seen a handful of huge cats, mainly from bank poles but it’s more of a rather be safe than sorry. Don’t want to potentially lose a big cat. But in regards to the capacity, would I be able to put on heavier line than what’s recommended?

@DieterMelhorn

Ай бұрын

Just use 30# line. Your reel most likely doesn’t have 30 pounds of drag, so there is no reason for line that heavy. That’s how people tear reels up. They load them with heavier line than they’re designed for, and then wonder why their reels tear up when they get snagged and go to break the line.

I bought some Abu Garcia 6500 bait casters and some 4000? Sized spinning reels and they have lasted me almost twenty years. I don't catch anything but channel cats to twenty pounds and carp. I don't know how long they would have lasted me with catfish over twenty pounds.

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

Sounds like they served you well!

I personally use 4 Garcia 5500 C-3 reels and 2 older millionaire reels by daiwa. All have oversized gator grip handles. All are on older ugly sticks rods, been using them since 1988. I don’t see me changing them anytime soon, I fish and hunt using the kiss method. ( keep it simple stupid)

All i can say is inexpensive reels and other fishing gear has its place either for the obvious beginner not knowing if it will be a now and then or a full blown obsession or the less financially fortunate anglers if the “cheap” stuff gets you outside fishing good on you! I will say from personal experience you get what you pay for

Iv ran a few different reels and what Iv come to notice is 90% of these reels coming out like slime cat ‘ catfish pro ‘ rover ‘ mad Katz ect ect are all the same exact identical reels just different paint and names and prices wildly enough.

@DieterMelhorn

3 ай бұрын

While I’ve not found any identical, the fly are VERY SIMILAR in design and components.

Yes. I have every brand from Abu to Kastking. Kastking has served me well. Plenty of big fish with them. They all come from CHINA even the HellCat rods are made in China as the brand ShellCat for 25 bucks same rod.

Blind man be glad to see that cheap reel

Catfish Pro reels suck!!!!!

@j_w-hu9kl

Ай бұрын

Why do they suck

@whiskergetter1986

Ай бұрын

@@j_w-hu9kl caught one 30 lb fish on one and after that it sounded like a screaming eagle and the drag was no longer smooth

Why don't you bye me some rich man

@DieterMelhorn

Ай бұрын

It would mean a lot more to you if you bought it yourself with your hard earned money…😜