I have both short and long ultralights, but my favorite will always be the little five footer I call the Magic Wand because of all of the fish I have caught with it over the last 40 years.
The first thing I noticed about this reel is its weight ru-vid.comUgkxM68VkfsQhHaabDce1IwOCXuvumcpbZ_k . I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable but it was a little heavier than other similarly sized reels. However, that didn't deter my enjoyment of how smooth this reel is. I spooled it with 20lb. Tuf-Line XP and it's perfect for what I use it for. I have it paired with an 8'6" Medium/Fast Okuma SST Salmon/Steelhead rod. The combination is perfect for casting and even drifting. I used the reel all day and didn't experience any arm or hand fatigue except when fighting a few fish! The bail is solid and feels strong when engaging by reeling and manually closing the bail by hand. The large rubber handle grip is very comfortable. It's got a powerful drag, silky smooth reeling, and feels very comfortable in the hands. I recommend it!
I have use for years a 6 foot light Shakespeare Ugly Stick with a Penn 2500 and never been happier. UL fishing outclass everything else, mastering fishing with 4 pound line is really something but landing the occasional 5 pounder king of the creek from the bank is priceless.
Putting together a TPO trout and panfish 6’6” pairing with a diawa revros lt 1000. Thank you and Ethan for the excitement. Been a bass fishing most of my life. I have been missing out. Can’t wait to get out with this set up.
Several years ago, I was so into tournament bass fishing that I never took the time to switch to ultralight tackle. I passed so many little streams and creeks to speed off in my bass boat. Today, I’ve diversified not only my fishing tackle, the species of fish has expanded. Now I spend most of my time bank fishing or wading the smallest creeks and streams. I’m usually after anything that swims and bites. Bream, crappie, small bass, catfish I enjoy catching them all. My favorite setup- Eagle Claw 5’6” Fiberglass Ultralight Spinning Rod, Abu Garcia REVO Size 10 spinning reel, Mr Crappie 4 pound blue mono, #6 Aberdeen hook for bait or dough balls, or 1/32 round jig head with # 8 hook for soft plastics. I will throw a 1/16 ounce Rooster Tail, and I’ve been known to use some salmon eggs on a #12 hook under a small float. Lots of fun.
I get plenty of enjoyment out of my 5ft ultralight shakespeare durango rod paired with a pflueger trion size 20 reel spooled with zebco omni flex 4lb mono
I have a vintage 6' 6" Berkley Lightning Rod paired up with a Abu Garcia Max Z10 reel for my ultralight rig. It is my trout set up period. It's a lot of fun fighting a 2-3 lb. trout with it.
Really good information, thank you! I think a cheap light action will be perfect for me so the Shakespeare Micro 5’6” or 7’ should do the trick. I’m just needing a do it all smaller fishing rod for when I want to catch panfish or trout. So much ultralight content out there but you did the best job presenting the information in a clear professional way.
The panfish magnet kit and some trout magnet S.O.S- 2 lb test pairs well. I have a 13 fishing Defy Silver 6 1/2 ft UL rod and I have it paired with a Pflueger President. I caught a nice 14 inch smallie on it Saturday and alot of panfish and rockbass. Its hard to beat catching fish on an ultralight. 👊👍
You got me into ultralight fishing. I get so much more entertainment out of it . kayaking or walking down a creek and hunting fish rather then sitting somewhere and waiting on a fish. I got to lews laser speed stick with a Shimano 1000, 8 lb j braid ,6 lb liter . I love this setup.
Great video. I’m looking to get more pan fish gear as I’m pretty heavy into bass gear right now. One suggestion. It would be helpful for us viewers if you would hold the items up until they are in focus and hold them long enough for us to read what they are.
Ultralight fishing is a blast! I use spinning and spincast gear for all kinds of panfish. The tiny lures and jigs fly off the spinning gear and Beetle Spins and little crankbaits with the Zebco or vintage Daiwa Gold combo. You're on the money about no more than 4# mono and tiny braided line. I'm currently experimenting with 5 & 6 pound braids. That gear makes every fish and fight a gas. Thanks for sharing this video brother John.
I bought a couple '5 rods years ago. I put 500 size on one of them. That was a mistake. The first nice sized Rainbow hooked changed my mind about small reels at least. I hardly use 5' rods either. Most....at all 200 size reels are the same size of 1000 size it seems . Only the spool is larger. Which is good if it matches up with your rod well.
Thanks to John and his videos I got into Ultralite fishing a few years back and have been having a blast! Often I am using 1/200th ounce jigs on my 2lb. test line and Cabelas ultralite combo rod & reel... I never knew fishing can be so fun! Then I also added another Ultralite combo with 4 lb. test line for throwing the 1/64th Trout magnet jigs & just used it on a new creek wading adventure here in the Pocono Mt.s of PA and hammered 7-11" Smallies and bluegills for two hours! Never would have tried it if it wasn't for John! Thanks Bro!! :-)
You'll be surprised what'll bite these tiny baits. Just the other day at Carters Lake I caught my biggest Spotted bass. Using the Micro-Series Ultralight 5ft. rod, Phleugar (sic) reel, 2lb. line with green/ red metalflake trout magnet. Cast to the logjam up in every cove and figured at least I won't get skunked before heading home. Felt the weight on the lure,leaned into a bit and 3lb 2oz. Spotted Bass. Never saw it coming...
I actually have 2 setup. 1 for 1/64 and smaller and one up to 3/8. The 64th's: St Croix panfish series 6' ultralight fast with a Johnny Morrison carbonlite 2.0 Limited edition 1500, 6lb Jbraid 8 island blue with 4lb invizx leader. 64th-3/8: St Croix panfish series 6'9" ultralight fast Abu Garcia Revo ike20, 20lb Jbraid 8 island blue with 8lb invizx leader. I use the heavier test Jbraid but it still the same dia. as the 8lb leader. Gives me options if I need to go to a heavier leader, to drop in heavier cover. I know they are kind of pricey but after 40 years you can improve on equipment if you want to. Started with solid fiberglass rod & zebco33 and my 1st upgrade is when they started with blue stren mono. So have fun and keep casting.🎣🎣🎣
Awesome Video. I went bluegill fishing today caught twelve in the rain using a 8ft fly rod with a crappie reel with 4lb test line . Ultra-light / light fishing is a blast!
Bought an Okuma Ceymar Graphite Lightweight 8BB Spinning Reel in C-10 size back in April to equip on my 4'6" Shakespeare Micro Ultralite Graphite, loaded it with Spiderwire 6-lb (I wanted 4-lb but couldn't find it at the time). Bought the rod at a yard sale. I think I gave about $41 for the reel. The reel has been okay, but I miss my old outfit that I donated to a friend when I was in Canada years ago. I do not like the full-time anti-reverse. I got accustomed to turning the handle backward to put the bail trip under my finger. The line is small, but really tough. Seems like it's a lot stronger than 6-lb. Casts okay, but mono might be more manageable. I have caught a number of 2lb+ smallmouth on this outfit, and it seems to handle it okay.
*_It's a well-known fact that most lures are designed to catch fishermen._* I do not like buying consumable lures, like soft baits and swim baits. I'm not being critical here; I'm sure the author knows what works and what doesn't. My complaint with the industry is that retailers are only stocking/promoting a handful of new, pricey hard baits ($11 for a Rebel Crickhopper), and at the same time stocking tons of different soft baits (consumables).
TFO panfish series is the bomb. I have the 7' light and ultra light. I use the light with 6lb fluoro to fish my favorite 4" Senkos. They cast a mile and I get all kinds of fish on them. The best so far has been a 6 lb largemouth, 19" smallie, 13 lb carp and 2 9" bluegills. The rods are very sensitive as well. Love those Senkos but I have to give your bubblegum lemon swirl Yum Dinger a try
Good information John. My ultralight/light action setup I have for now is a cheap Ugly Stik GX2 6 ft light rod and a Mitchell 310 reel spooled with 4lb monofilament. I only fish with monofilament. Such a forgiving and easy to use line for any kind of fishing. I could go cheaper, but I run the risk of usage time with such cheap setup. I had started off with a Bass Pro Micro Lite spinning combo, but the reel gave me problems after 3 months of use. Seemed like the reel was off balance and wobbly. The rod finally snapped when I hooked on a large bass in a creek. Hated that I couldn't reel in the bass. Luckily the hook came out of the bass's mouth when I retrieved the line back. ADDED: Funny, I usually catch much larger fish with my light action setup more than what I catch on my medium action general purpose setup. Not sure if it's a coincidence or not. Or maybe I just love using my light action rod and reel. Lightweight and not bulky at all.
That 6 foot tfo trout and panfish 1 piece rod paired with a smooth reel is a great combo I have caught fish so underdeveloped you can see through all the way to 10 pound snakehead. The casting is only good for about 50 feet
Some creeks I fish with a micro lite Daiwa 500c on a 5.5ft ultralight rod and 2lb fluorocarbon. Depends on the target fish and how the trees hang over the stream
Miro lite is a great rod for the money. The one that will surprise you is Dicks Field and Steam rod I have one for about 10 years and Abu Garcia X10 2 to 8 lb test I use 4lb test on for trout I have caught 20 in plus trout with the somewhat larger reel I can cast a bit further the rig is a lot lighter than you think people who picked up could not believe how lite it is it's round $100 .00 have tried more expensive models still wouldn't trade it
The 7ft microlight is super nice for the money, Walmart also has a pfleuger ultralight combo that’s pretty good. I like a whip like rod for micro cranks and inline spinners and beetle spins
NEw to ultralight fishing Just paired a lews mr trout spinner with st croix 5'6" trout series ul rod caught a 2 lb larry and a few rainbow 1st time out thought i was snagged, i love hearing the drag scream. Today i got a shimano sedona 500 paired it with sensalite 6'6" ul rod can wait to try this one out.
1.68m with 4 to 15g lure weight is the sweet spot for my tackle box. can probably do with a separate one for 05 to 4g with a BFS reel too, with maybe 2 or 3g spools.
+1 for the experience of catching "big" fish on 2# line. There really is no bigger challenge to yhe skill of a fisherman. The most extreme ivebtakem it is size 28 midges on 7x tippet
Very informative! I’m in a pickle.. I do a lot of backpacking so I need something that breaks down or collapses. The telescoping rods are all medium/heavy I’m focusing on mostly trout in the Alpine lakes I hike to. Trying to pick the perfect rod that can do it all. I see lots of ultralight 4 piece setups but idk if that’s too light for some of these big trout in the mountains can anyone give me their .2 ?
I love ultralight fishing, and watching your videos got me back into it after a too long hiatus! I hate those 4 1/2 and 5' rods, too...I have an Okuma Celilo 6' with a Southbend Microlite reel (500 class) spooled with 4lb. test mono. Probably going to switch to a 6-10 lb test braid pretty soon, though...my hookset is a little robust for that 4 lb! Would you recommend an ultralight or a light rod for the Tamiami Trail? Stay safe!
Hey John .. i really enjoy watching all the content you produce. Please don't get offended, but could i offer a little advice. Try to slow down, you tend to talk too fast at times. I know you are trying to get as much info into a short video as you possibly can, but at times it can be hard to keep up with you. I look forward to watching your next creek adventure, and wish you all the best.
Love the video John and i am thankful that your are sharing your knowledge with us . I think you should try the Daiwa CP-X1 Travel kit . It looks great for creek fishing 🙂.
If you have ever pumped the stomach of Bluegill you have caught, you will see they eat a lot of mosquitoes along with very tiny terrestrial insects. They, of course, also eat small aquatic insects too. The thing is the size of their prey. A size 22 trout fly, or nymph would not be too small for Bluegill. Their mouths are not much larger than a Cheerio, just to give you a size picture. Unless you are out just to catch anything, or are catch bait for live bait fishing, then I would not go lower than a #8 hook maybe even a #6 if you have large Bluegill in your waters because it will eliminate catching the tiny fish because they will be unable to get the bait in their mouths.
Thank you for this video I have been looking for something like this and then you make a video for this subject. That JBraid you have is it the 4lb mono diameter equivalent? Or the 6lb mono diameter equivalent?
You keep moving your hands when you talk, but in order for people to see the product clearly, it would be nice if you held the product still and zoomed in.
@@morecreekfishingadventures thanks for your input! I think I’m gonna get one and set up a spinning rig I’ve used a zebco 33 rod and reel combo my whole life
Miro lite is a great rod for the money. The one that will surprise you is Dicks Field and Steam rod I have one for about 10 years and Abu Garcia X10 2 to 8 lb test I use 4lb test on for trout I have caught 20 in plus trout with the somewhat larger reel I can cast a bit further the rig is a lot lighter than you think people who picked up could not believe how lite it is it's round $100 .00 have tried more expensive models still wouldn't trade it