I've been asked to build a catfish tournament rod. The only problem is I am far more accustomed to building 2 and 3 wt. fly rods and ultralight spinning rods! My client has asked or a 9 ft., single piece blank that is very tough to stand up against the abuse of the boat and maybe an occasional 100 lb blue cat. As of now, I'm leaning towards a Calstar 550-B, fitted with double footed guides. I'm thinking running guides of about size 6. The question is: is my thinking sound?
Thank you in advance for any and all replies!

I'm not familiar with the blank you mentioned, but as an avid catfish guy, I prefer a mod-fast action over moderate. 50% of the catfish I catch are less than 10lbs, 35% are in the 10-30 lb range, and 15% over 30, with only a few each year over 50lbs. I prefer the slightly faster action for these smaller fish in the majority. I'd ask your client where the majority of his caught fish land on the scales, and ask if the mod-fast action would better suit his needs. If so, I'd check out the Calstar BTG690J. I've not built a rod on this blank, but have been considering it for what I would need.

Ah, yes. I dint notice the flex information. Thank you!

Any well built rod, especially on a Calstar blank will "stand up" to an occasional hundred pound cat assuming the reel and line are appropriately matched. Keep in mind that doesn't mean it will be able to muscle such a fish in, just that it should be doable. Plenty of flatheads over 30lbs get caught up here on 8lb walleye gear, it just isn't an efficient way to do it- and its hard on the fish. The more important piece of information is what his average sized fish he is targeting is, as you can't always size your gear for the worst/best case scenario. Another important question would be what type of reel and line he intends to match the rod with. A rod designed for numbers of eater sized channel cat could use a variety of reels with 30lb line or lighter, while a rod designed for the trophies will probably not use less than 65 or 80lb braid.

Most catfish rods you see use size 8 runners, but that doesn't mean you can't use smaller. If you go that route, make sure you check on availability of a suitable tip top guide. The two blanks mentioned in this thread have 9.0 and 10.0 tips. Good luck finding a size 6 tip for that size tube- especially in a suitable heavy duty guide.

I think action also depends a lot on personal preference and fishing style. I use circle hooks almost exclusively, and for that I prefer a moderate action. A fisherman using J hooks might want a faster action rod with more backbone for driving the hook home. Moderate fast is probably a good compromise for most catfishing situations.

Depending on what you're doing for a grip you might need to make yourself a bigger reamer, these longer saltwater blanks have some pretty thick butts (over an inch on the blank you mentioned). You could also consider using things like cork tape, cord or shrink tube to put a grip on a rode like that, depending on your style preference.

Thank you. Good information!