Ugly Stik Catfish Rod vs. Hellcat Catfish Rod

In this video we discuss the similarities and differences between the Ugly Stik catfish rod and the Hellcat catfish rod. Anyone that is fishing for catfish wants a good catfishing rod. The two rods have caught millions of catfish, and I will tell you what I think makes them great, and not so great. The Hellcat rod is made by Catch the Fever, the same company that makes Big Cat Fever rods. The Ugly Stik is made by Shakespeare and is part of the Pure Fishing family of companies.

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#uglystik
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[mikestamper]

Three Ugly Stiks for the price of one Hellcat is a no brainer! It’s all in the drag!

[FishinNStuff]

I think the Ugly stix GX2 s are more of an even comparison to the HellCats . mostly because the blank materials are more similar . I love my HellCats but I like Ugly Stixs too . I think the biggest down side to an ugly Stix is it doesn't have the backbone once to get up past 40lb fish . I mean it will reel em in but the last 50lber I caught on one I had the 1st eye touching the handle nearly lol . which is proof they are one of the strongest rods on the market . but lack the same amount of backbone . but I wouldn't be afraid to use one at all . BCF had the HellCats for 40 dollars off at CatCon too that's when I bought mine

[WindyCityWarden]

The ugly stik original catfishing rod is the GOAT. I've caught every species of catfish on mine, with a $70 reconditioned abu 6500 c3... Anyone just getting into catfishing get the UglyStik with a penn spinning or okuma casting reel. Such an affordable, effective, and easy to use setup. Catfishing is so affordable and so fun.

[matthewanthonyoutdoors]

I'm still using my ugly stiks from back in the 90's....back then we didn't have many to chose still got the yellow eagle got the ugly stik striper

[geraldqualls]

I've got 4 ugly sticks and have caught tons of catfish on them. I recently bought a B&M silver cat 7ft med heavy for 59.99 and love it. There's not a bit of difference between it and my 4 catch the fever rods. I'll take it over a hellcat for price and proformace

[chrisao]

Take the ugly stick all day. Don’t need to spend a fortune to fish

[FishingWithChris_Tv]

Rippin Lips are just a hair up from ugly stick and a hair better. Either way, ugly stick has proven that they are a hard to beat brand.

[brianlopez]

New to the sport. Bought an ugly stik a couple of days ago and I’m in love. Looks very appealing as well, black and red slick design. casts far. Grip feels great especially with the trigger handle. Though I haven’t caught a fish; I’ve been snagged a few times thinking it was a fish and I was pulling hard and I’ll tell you that the rod itself is pretty sturdy for how hard I was pulling 😂😂😂! Excited to continue fishing and hopefully all I have some fish catching experience to share with y’all a few weeks from now! 😂

[dlh]

Nice sales pitch for the hellcat but you have not compared the B&M Silvercat elite that would be a more appropriate comparison and ugly stick rods are still excellent for the money

[shawnoquinn]

Have to disagree on the durability of the hell cat way to many Have been breaking close to the tip

[ctb]

I enjoy my Okuma BattleCat rod alongside my Ugly Stick. Im sure the Hellcats are nice, but $150 just seems a bit steep for a rod that wont do anything to catch more fish.

[pedrocruz]

Im a fan of the uglystik catfish special. Been using ugly stiks for years. They work well for the type of fishing i do. The price is a real big plus. Good comparison Dieter.

[williamtorbert]

Catfish rods have became so expensive, along wit the reels, fishing has became such an expensive hobby

[Frenchbroadcatman.]

Never needed more than and ugly stik but I've got 2 twc extreme rods for giant baits and bigger fish. Had my ugly stik for 15 years. Had one break and called Shakespeare they sent me a replacement awesome warranty with them

[flatheadfletch]

Dieter, I think you have gone to the Dark side ! I’m 62 and have been using Ugly Stiks since they came out ! Mac Daddy Hell cat, laughable ! St Croix mojo better than Hell Cat. I own high end Lamiglass, St Croix Legends ect. The best catfish rod you can buy is not based on features. And yes it’s the older Ugly Stiks (Sigma). The Howald Process. You can NOT beat the Original Ugly Stiks. The Tiger Rods. The newer stuff has been down graded and not by Shakespeare, by their owners ! Johnson Outdoors. They have ruined many companies by purchasing them. Those with great history and quality. Ugly Stik, Penn and many others. All for the sole purpose to make a quick killing because of the names of these great companies. Turned what we loved into Chinese Crap !!
Ps. Iv never, never since 1978 had an Ugly stik reel seat fail !!

[thatguy]

Being on a budget, I've never had anything nicer then a ugly stick. New GX2 works great on carp soft enough to play and stiff enough to fight. We pulled in a 50lbs blue on a old ugly S. Cat rod Last yr. At Wylie. If had to $ to just spend maybe would up grade. But the rod is definitely up to the task !
Catch & release- take a pic to brag!

[primal_inc]

i'll stick to my whisker seeker rods right in the middle of the price range of ugly stik and hellcat rods
plus whisker seeker are also 1 or 2 two-piece rods

[texasplumr]

Tl;Dr.
To me, this topic is like off road tires on a 4X4 pickup. I have a Toyota Tundra that had BF Goodrich off road tires on it when I bought it used. But when it needed new tires I bought good All Season tires because over 90% of my driving is on paved roads. It makes no sense to me to buy a softer tire that won't last as long for that small percentage of the time I'm off road. The all season tires have taken me anywhere I want to go. People buy them because they look cool and the advertising world has convinced them that they need them.

Hellcat rods and others like them look cool and sound cool. Do most people need them? No. No they don't. However, you can buy top of the line equipment for about the same as an Ugly Stick if you shop carefully and wait for a sale. B&M sells Catfish rods for about half the price of the Hellcat every day, you don't even have to wait for a sale.
This is all just one guy's opinion, of course. But for most of us, if we're going to spend big money on catfish equipment we'd be way ahead if we concentrated those dollars on the reels we buy. Spend the money on the reel because that's the equipment that'll let you down when you need it most. A good reel that is cleaned and oiled at least every year will most likely last a lifetime for most of us.

None of this applies to professional fishermen and women who guide for a living. If I'm paying a guide then I want to see the best equipment known to man on that boat! I want to feel confident that if they put me on that fish of a lifetime that I'll land that fish. Their equipment takes a beating and many times by folks who have no idea what they're doing. For someone like a guide, who fishes every day, I can see something like a Hellcat actually paying for itself. If I were a guide I'd have a whole rack of them right out in the open where people would see them and they might even be part of my advertising program. But I'm not a guide and I don't fish every day.

I'll admit that I still own a few Ugly Sticks and use one of them occasionally. But I mostly buy B&M rods. Even their most expensive "catfish" rod is under $100.00 and you can still buy one for under $50.00, if that's your budget. I can buy 2 of their 10' rods for bank fishing for the price of a Hellcat. Catfish Sumo has been known to run a special every now and then so I have 2 of their rods. Whisker Seeker makes a really good rod that comes in right at $100.00 they call Full Metal Jacket or FMJ. I've seen Spenser Bauer bend those over double with big Flatheads and I doubt he ever worried about them breaking. Of course, Spenser is a guide and no longer just a YouTube star so he needs top of the line equipment and I'll bet Whisker Seeker sends him rods at no cost to him because of his YouTube channel and the exposure they get there. I don't know that to be true but I suspect that most of the bigger catfish channels get support from manufacturers for exposure. It's good business sense.

Sorry for the long drawn out response Dieter. Bottom line is to buy as good of equipment as you can afford. Good equipment will outlast and out perform cheaper equipment. But even the cheaper equipment will land big fish if you take care of it. Sadly, most people don't take good care of their gear. Then, when it fails they blame it on the gear. Clean your gear folks!

[CaptDavesSportfishing]

binding reel seat? LOOKS like ya need to clean your tackle once in BUCKS? I thought kat fishermen like cheapy tackle only 😏😏

[conrailfan]

I've had my 4 Ugly Stiks for about
15 years, they have always come
thru here in Central Indiana!! The best part was when I bought them
from Walmart Dieter, the lady back
in sporting goods was there when I
was checking them for flex and I did
bend them backwards and her eyes
where as big as silver dollars!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣