^^^ Naw. I rarely need to fight and land a mountain bike or a child(though I have met some I wouldn't mind using for bait).
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My current internal debate:
Winds today are supposed to be right around the range when an un-anchored hub-tent can become an un-anchored parachute sailing down the lake with one good gust.
I can use ice screws to anchor, but it is still vulnerable during set-up and tear-down and I don't need that bullshit.
OR
I could take my windy day fold-up shack, but it is small and not nearly as comfy as a big tent.
OR
I could wait until tomorrow when the winds should be a bit more calm.
Problem with that is it's one more day off the ice
and the wind could still end up being stronger than forecast.
That guy Luke (From Cats and Carp YouTube) is a Lawyer, who can actually afford to "stress test" gear without it being a massive issue if something is busted after, so, for me at least, I really like these types of videos, because I then know what a given Rod Blank is capable of handling without me crying over a busted Rod.
He actually has a whole other YouTube channel called "The Outdoor Boys" which is like him and his sons doing backwoods camping and fishing trips, and even his travels (He's apparently from Alaska and has some videos of him visiting his family's property and catching Arctic Greyling and other fish there) and he makes a camp up, fishes, shows you how to do things out in the woods, and, all around I enjoy his videos.
He's got a lot of stuff for Carp fishing, and makes his own pack baits, and of course the catfish stuff which I'm mainly interested in. He does catch Sharks and stuff too, and has gone over to England for Wels Catfish as well. When I got back into fishing some years ago I knew almost nothing about catching a Catfish, and after watching his videos, I've learned a lot, and got the "OK I can do this" to where I could experiment with making my own baits / attractants for fish, and even how to catch the bait itself.
I know you're against brands for gear, but those videos show how each material reacts under stress, which is good, because I need durable materials so I don't break something. I do use Big Cat Fever Rods, but not because they have a logo, but because they are pure S-Glass, and if I do hook into a Sturgeon, I'd prefer to have S-Glass over Carbon Fiber, or Graphite, as I'd be super nervous, and possibly lose a Sturgeon over a Rod busting on me.
he also does a lot of comparison videos, which, I REALLY enjoy those; When I got started up those videos were helpful in deciding what I really wanted with my particular style. What one man uses to land a fish doesn't have to be the same for the next, but I know how I fish, and how I fight a fish, so it's useful for me to know what a given material (Regardless of the brand name stamped on it) is capable of doing without busting.
For example that Berkley Big Game Rod is tubular Fiberglass, so it can flex pretty well, but it's regular fiberglass, and will of course snap under a direct load. The S-Glass and E-Glass Rods though don't normally break unless they have been abused for years. I've only seen one video of a Rod like that busting and the guy said he'd been using it to land Sturgeon for years before it did actually snap. Now, to me, that's quite impressive, and well worth the price.
S-Glass cost a little more than Fiberglass, but has about 20% more strength, and will flex all the way. E-Glass is pretty similar from what I can tell from reading and asking people who use it, and then the normal Fiberglass (Like that Beef Stick from Daiwa) the Reel Seat is the weakest point as that is what broke.
Things like that are what I used to decide what I wanted in a Rod; I don't always like composite Rods, though I have some I do like, and I can't afford a St. Croix Mojo Cat for example, as that cost the same price as my entire setup heh. They use S-Glass Composites on those too but St. Croix Rods cost so much.... I can't afford that so, I instead looked into actual materials, as you can slap a logo on whatever you like and charge out the ass for it, but materials on the other hand, don't lie. Logo won't matter if you know how it was made, and that allows you to get that a lot cheaper.
Now in this video, he has the budget to buy these things and check them out, and isn't paid by any of the Rod Makers, so, it's a bit more legit.
In that one he talks about how much weight you need to cast VS what the Rod can handle, which is really important; There are spots here where I use 6 ounces+ of lead just to keep my place in the water because the current is crazy at times. That is another reason I like the gear I have, as I can toss out a pound of lead without problem, even though the Rod didn't cost much.
He also talks about British Carp Fishing Rods on there which is also cool. I don't have those but they are interesting, as the Brits TOTALLY take Carp seriously (As does the rest of the non American world LOL).
The Reel he has on it is cool because it's got a "bait clicker" type option on a spinning Reel.
This one is a run down of a BUNCH of Catfish Rods....Let me tell you how great this was for someone like me who got into Catfish, and had a limited budget, and looking at what Rod to get..... How do you pick one ? Well, there's thousands of options and I had no idea. So after watching videos like this I was able to narrow it down, and pick something that would work for me.
Then there's another one that's a comparison video:
Now, I know someone may think "Why would he use a 20 pound bucket of water?? How does that help at all?" Well.... When you hook into a 40 - 70+ pound Catfish, that knows where every snag is located, and you actually would like to land that fish.... You don't hunt Elephants with a .22, just like you don't hunt Flatheads with 10 pound test generally.
And lastly, a video showing some of the differences between a Spinning Reel, and a Conventional Reel:
So I do enjoy watching this channel, and he also helps point out the importance of getting kids out there too so they learn to appreciate nature.
Wow I had no intention on writing a book hahaha.
