The Rod That Survived a Summer of Dropped Tailgates and Channel Cats

Somewhere around the third time I dropped the tailgate on my Ugly Stik catfish combo, I stopped flinching. The first time, I heard the thunk and felt my stomach drop right along with it. I had laid the rod across the gate while I untangled the anchor rope, and the gate came down like it always does, and the rod took the hit square on the blank. I stood there looking at it, waiting for the snap I was sure was coming. Nothing snapped. I picked it up, checked the guides, wiggled the tip, and went back to fishing.

That was early June, on the James River not far from Mitchell. By the end of August, that same rod had been dropped on gravel, stepped on in the bottom of the boat, leaned against a dock post while a 12-pound channel cat made a run for the weeds, and stuffed into the back seat of my pickup with a reel seat full of sand. It still casts straight, still loads up on the hookset, and still sits in the rod holder like nothing ever happened. I am not gentle with gear. I know this about myself. So when I tell you this combo took everything I threw at it, I mean everything.

I fish walleye and pike most of the year, but summer evenings belong to catfish. There is something honest about sitting on a bank with a bucket of cut bait and a rod that does not need babying. My buddy Ray calls it the thinking man's fishing, which is his way of saying you can sit still for two hours and call it productive. I have owned plenty of rods that felt like they needed to be handled with care. This one feels like it was built to be handled with whatever you happen to be doing at the moment.

The Ugly Stik name has been around long enough that most of us have a story about one. My dad had one in the back of his truck for fifteen years, and I do not think he ever once took it out of the rod sleeve. The difference with this combo is that the reel actually holds up too. I have burned through cheap reels in a single season, the drag going rough and the handle getting sloppy. This one has been dunked, dropped, and dragged through a summer of channel cats, and the drag still clicks over smooth when a fish takes line.

I have owned plenty of rods that felt like they needed to be handled with care. This one feels like it was built to be handled with whatever you happen to be doing at the moment.

The thing that surprised me most was the tip. The clear tip design on this Ugly Stik is not just a gimmick. On a slow night, when the bite is light and the catfish are picking at the bait instead of taking it, that tip shows the tick before you feel it in the handle. I caught more fish this summer on the nights when I watched the tip instead of the rod bend. It sounds like a small thing, but it is the difference between sitting there and actually fishing.

I also learned that a 7-foot rod is the right length for bank fishing. It gives you enough reach to keep your line off the weeds, enough backbone to turn a fish away from a snag, and it still fits in the truck without a fight. The two-piece design means I can toss it behind the seat or lay it across the back seat with the windows rolled up. On the nights when I fish from the boat, it handles the same chores. I have used it for walleye on the Missouri River reservoirs too, and it does not complain about the assignment.

Now, I am not going to tell you this is the only rod you will ever need. It is a moderate fast action, which means it bends deeper into the blank than a fast action rod. For catfish, that is exactly what you want. It loads up on the cast, it absorbs the head shakes, and it keeps a big fish pinned without pulling the hook. If you are the kind of angler who wants a stiff rod for pitching jigs all day, this is not that rod. But for what it is made for, it is hard to beat.

The reel is where I was most skeptical. Combo reels have a reputation, and most of it is deserved. This one has held up through a full summer of evenings on the bank and a handful of trips on the river. The drag has not stuck, the bail has not bent, and the handle has not loosened. I am not saying it will outlast a high-end reel, because it will not. I am saying it is good enough that I have not felt the need to swap it out, and that is more than I can say for most combos I have owned.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you were sitting at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee, here is what I would tell you. Buy the rod for the blank, because the blank is the part that takes the abuse. The Ugly Stik construction is the reason this rod survived a summer of dropped tailgates and gravel parking lots. The reel is a bonus, and a decent one, but the rod is the story. If you are looking for a first catfish combo, or a spare rod to keep in the truck for when the bite picks up, this is the one I would hand you.

I would also tell you to be honest about how you fish. If you are careful with your gear, you do not need a rod this tough. You could buy something lighter and save a few dollars. But if you are like me, and your gear lives in the back of a pickup truck between trips, you want the rod that does not make you nervous. You want the rod that you can lay across the tailgate while you untangle the anchor rope, and not flinch when the gate comes down.