ST CROIX

Park Falls, WI– Warm sun-filled days coupled with crisp, cool nighttime temperatures start bringing temperatures down on Arkansas’s Lake Ouachita. With it, leaves begin turning, imparting the annual telltale sign that catfish are going on the prowl.

The fish can feel the fall transformation, too, and their behaviors start to change. Shad begin stampeding into coves and creek channels. Big fish are on the hunt, feeding to put on their winter weight.

And this same phenomenon happens on reservoirs and rivers from coast to coast.

The monster blues, flatheads and channels follow, feasting on the spooky shad, making it the perfect time for you to experience the “Whomp”. You’re going to need a superb rod to fight the good fight, though; St. CroixMojo Cat, to be more specific.

Winner of Field & Stream’s Best Catfish Rod in 2016, Mojo Cat rods provide exceptional strength and lifting power, plus enhanced sensitivity and tip flex. The rods are built on blanks with a dynamic blend of premium SCII graphite and 100-percent linear S-Glass and are perfect for grappling a 50-plus pound blues and overweight flatheads.

A successful autumn cat pattern involves a nice sized shad or cut baitfish on a ½-ounce jig head. Motor or paddle in along the rocky shoreline, bouncing just off the bottom, dropping and lifting as you slide along the drop. If there’s a cat hanging on the rocks or on the prowl, you’re sure to find him.

The seven Mojo Cat models include five casting and two spinning rods. Built specifically for channel, blue and flathead catfish specialists – and ideal for die-hard tournament anglers – the individual models are matched to specific line and bait/sinker weight designations.

Both 7-foot medium power, fast action casting (MCC70MF) and spinning (MCS70MF) rods are rated for 10- to 25-pound test and ½- to 3-ounces of weight – tailor made for medium-duty channel catfish applications. The 7-foot 6-inch (MCC76HF) casting rod perfectly matches drift fishing approaches, including walking bait in rivers. And at 8-feet in length, the extra-heavy power (MCC80XHF) casting rod is ready to waylay the next world-record, beefy enough to handle 50- to 100-pound test line and up to 32-ounces of weight (or the equivalent of a 1-pound skipjack fillet plus a 16-ounce sinker.) Lastly, for packing small but biting big are a pair of 2-piece, 8-foot medium power models (MCC80MF2–casting and MCS80MF2–spinning).