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Tom V. If you paid $580 for a custom rod, I hope you got what you wanted. Some might think that is at least 5 times what a rod should cost since it does the same thing a TWC or Rippin Lips would do. That is catch nice catfish.
 
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These fish were all caught on Tom cats. They will handle anything from a 2 pound channel cat to a 100 pound blue cat. I put two pictures of my uncle's Rod in there as well. One with the flash on and one with the flash off. So you could see that reflectivity of the para cord on the handle. All of the rods that I bought from Tommy are featured on the homepage of his website. Mine are the all black and gray rods my uncles is the one with the lightning bolt and my other uncles is the one with the flames.

Check out Northwoods Angling.
you will see all of the fish they catch with tomcat rods and you will get to see the rods in action. Including a 100 pound blue.
 
Tomcat rods are nice. The blank is great on the MH and you get all the options you want. I don't know how much more custom you need. $580 is way more than I'd be willing to spend on a catfish rod. If I were to choose a custom blank, it would be real similar to the tomcat anyways so I'll just chalk that up as a $400 savings.
 
Tom V. If you paid $580 for a custom rod, I hope you got what you wanted. Some might think that is at least 5 times what a rod should cost since it does the same thing a TWC or Rippin Lips would do. That is catch nice catfish.
Thats the nice thing about coughing up the dough. I had FULL custumization....Far beyond color of nail polish, thread/cord wrap. My blank was ordered 1 at a time....I chose to build on a 8' St Croix Premier XH blank. It rated for 4-12 oz. and I max it out with confidance at this point. I then chose an alps machined aluminum reel seat and the burl cork with foam inlays. I chose split grip because I dig that style and feel. I had Paul increase the foregrip to 8", I like the long foregrip. Upgraded from stainless guides to American Tackle guides with blue Nano plasma inserts. It is a custom scale wrap with colors matched to my Revo Toro NaCL 60....
 
Well, if your going to call a rod "junk" you need to be specific. Whats junky about the rod? Have you used one? Bad experience with one? What have you seen about it that would make it a bad rod?
Many of my friends use them....They are a $200 production rod and are of no better quality than any of the top Manufactures. I will get a pic of the crappy work my buddy Serp got done....They are flashy, yes, but not really a custom....I should have specified they are a "junk custom rod"
 
This is all opinion guys...Dont hate me for it!!! There is an old member by the name of Kenny FlameKeeper Price, (still here Kenny)??, he also builds true quality customs and you cant even sniff his blanks for $200....
 
Too rich for my blood.

The last time I caught a big catfish, he didn't ask me how much the rod cost...j/k.

I do have a few rods in the 150 range and I like them...but they ain't catfish rods. Most of my catfish rods are in the 100 bucks or less zone. I haven't found a reason to upgrade them yet...they work just fine.

Nothing wrong with dropping a wad of cash on a rod that you really like. It's no different than people that put expensive rims and tires on their trucks and suv's.
 
I do want to say though, that the Tomcat Rods are for Real.

11 SS guides including tip

Aluminum Reel seat

S-Glass Rod Material

Para Cord handles in a WIDE ASSORTMENT of Colors

* This is a circle hook rod. It is not for those guys that like broom sticks

It has a VERY SOFT tip on this rod. No problem catching a dink channel cat.

This Rod has a FULL Rod bend to it, but if you watch the Tomcat Rod video where the guy lands a possible 100lb. Bluecat on the Medium Heavy, that even though the full rod bends, the S-Glass holds its ground big time.

The combo of how soft the tip is, compared to how strong the rod is, is very impressive.

Great for the initial take down of a flathead. And great load up for circle hooks.

They have a HEAVY also. But my guide didn't have any in the boat. Just the Med/Heavy's.

All the components share all the top quality you see on most of the top Catfish Rods today.

The unique thing is that you can order them in a bunch of crazy colors.

You just want to figure out if you want to pay $155 and possible long shipping times. The website says 8 weeks. But most custom Rods do take a while for the Customer to get them.
I saw that video today and marveled how that rod was in a complete bend u-shaped
 
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Discussion starter · #32 ·
I received my six tomcat rods, First thing I want to say is they were packaged far better then any factory rods I have every ordered, plenty of bubble wrap so I was thrilled they made it to me safe. They flat out look awesome, I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Tom sent me pics through the whole process and he kept me updated and I got all of them in less then eight weeks. Jworth kept pushing me to get the medium heavy even though I was bent on getting the heavy's and I am glad I listened. Now if it will quit raining so our rivers can go down so I can get out and use them.
 
I was gonna say they sound similar to the War Rods MH blank. Anyone ever compared them? The Meat Hunter from RF Sports has a nice blank like that as well. It's slightly stiffer than the War Rods though. Wish I knew someone local in Va that had the Tom Cat to do a comparison. I would buy one but $200 is not in my future lol I did pick up a BCF MH last week and matted it to a Fathom 25N and they are perfect for one another. No fish caught on it yet
 
This has a slightly different action that the war rod. I only remember my r2 vaguely but it had a good tip but felt heavy. I hadn’t handled anything other than twc extremes when I sold that off but remember thinking it was heavier and more rod than I needed for what I was catching at the time. I’d pick one up to compare if any showed up. For what I do though, the tomcats fit the bill perfect. Price is a little steeper than I prefer, but I fish enough to make it worth using something I really like.
 
Thats the nice thing about coughing up the dough. I had FULL custumization....Far beyond color of nail polish, thread/cord wrap. My blank was ordered 1 at a time....I chose to build on a 8' St Croix Premier XH blank. It rated for 4-12 oz. and I max it out with confidance at this point. I then chose an alps machined aluminum reel seat and the burl cork with foam inlays. I chose split grip because I dig that style and feel. I had Paul increase the foregrip to 8", I like the long foregrip. Upgraded from stainless guides to American Tackle guides with blue Nano plasma inserts. It is a custom scale wrap with colors matched to my Revo Toro NaCL 60....
Agree 100% and if and when I go that route, I'll be doing it myself
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Eric74 those are some nice rods. Enjoy.
 
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