Ultra Light Rod Advice

[jeepguy]

I am looking to buy a new ultralight @ either Gander or cabelas. I have gift cards to each buring a hole in my pocket. What is a good ultralight rod or rod/reel combo that anyone could suggest.

[hhguide]

I dont really have a type but I would recommend a longer rod than a shorter one! I would go with a 6'6 and a 7'. That way you can cast further and set the hook better when they bite!

[SpecialK]

I have a big trolling rod with a line counting reel from Cabelas that I like and guide series ultralights with reels from Gander that are good as well. I am sure they are not as good as St Croix or other name brand rods but they haven't broken on me. For the price I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[ozzie]

I would look at the St Croix triumph (sp) series and would also look at a 7' rod and up....the triuph series is a nice rod for a little less than the other St. Croix models but it comes with a good backbone yet a sensitive stick to feel the lite grabs.......if you want something really fun to use look at a 10' or 12' crappie rod by B&N...

[titelines]

I have a Berkeley Lightening ultralight rod that I've been very happy with. It's the Cherrywood version and has held up very nicely over the years. Not top-o-the-line, but a good rod at a great price-point.

[fishorgolf]

depends what you are going to be doing with it. But I personaly would never purchase another rod over 6' I went threw the whole longer is better phase like allot of people and now I have some very expensive longer rods that collect dust. in fact one of my favorite rods right now is a 5' UL st croix avid. that I bought to use on Lac Suel for the soft biting early spring walleyes. Going with this rod the last few years has greatly increased my hookset. In fact I don't think I have missed more then a few bites the last two years. I have also landed up to 27" fish and never felt under equipted. I do agree there are places for these extra long rods but for walleyes I see them more as a fad.

[ozzie]

fishorgolf- did you lose a ultra light combo on Lac Seul about 2 maybe 3 years ago? I caught one and wondered what the he!! was an ultra light doing in walleye country!! I lined it up and caught a couple of walleyes on it and it has been in the garage ever since.....I would never use that for walleyes again as it doesn't have enough backbone to set the hook into the mouth....crappies good walleyes not so much!!

[Smellson]

I gotta disagree with the guys saying longer is better. I owned a 6'6" st croix avid ultra light and I absolutely hated it. Unless you plan on never using anything more than a 1/32 oz jig I would limit the lengthof an ultralight to 6' max. The rod was just way to whippy? and lost a ton of sensitivity when using heavier jigs. As far as which brand to go with that would depend on how much you want to spend.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I like the Cabelas Fish Eagle II series.

[mr_jman]

I also like shorter ultra lights. They may not cast as well (as far) but fighting crappies and gills on it are a blast. My dad like to borrow it when the bite is light for walleye's, but I usually go with something a little stronger like a med/light or med action. But I have 2 UL's and always have them with me! I prefer to fish for gills and crappies and setting the hook into a quality fish with a short UL is as good as it gets!

[CraigM]

I used to use the St. Croix Premier and Avid UL rods but all but one of them has snapped while either casting or setting the hook. Not extreem use either as I was crappie fishing so it doesn't take much of a hook set. Seems to be a very brittle rod.

Last year I picked up one of the mid-range Gander UL rods. 5'6" as it was the longest 1 piece I could find, for some reason I don't care for the 2 piece rods. I have to say that I'm really liking this rod. It's a little whippy but is still sensitive enough and is fun to catch gills and crappies with. The longer rods are great for long casts and getting in to hard to reach areas, but my experience has been that they take away a lot of the fun of fighting the fish. Maybe I wasn't using the right longer rod, but I think that I'll stay with the 5'0" and 5'6" rods.

[hamms-scooter]

I have a couple of ugly sticks I just love for panfishin... with the soft tip you can feel every tap.

[waterbound]

I bought a Daiwa ultralight rod and reel combo for about $30 last year for trout fishing. It's 5 feet and it casts far enough for tossing jigs for crappies and bluegills. For the money I absolutely love it.

[zepman]

The Cabelas Tourney Trail IM7 6' UL is a fantastic panfish rod. Not really a short stick but not long enough to be ackward either. I've owned two myself and this spring I picked up two more for my 10 and 12 year old...they were buy one/get one free a few weeks back. Either way, for $59.95 they are an excellent value. Check em out.

[ozzie]

i guess come to think about it I only have 1 ultra light rod the rest are light action as I hate having too whippy of a rod

[fishorgolf]

fishorgolf- did you lose a ultra light combo on Lac Seul about 2 maybe 3 years ago? I caught one and wondered what the he!! was an ultra light doing in walleye country!! I lined it up and caught a couple of walleyes on it and it has been in the garage ever since.....I would never use that for walleyes again as it doesn't have enough backbone to set the hook into the mouth....crappies good walleyes not so much!!

Nope not mine. The trick with using a UL/L rod for walleyes is the rod length (short) and line (not mono and not braid) The right combination is deadly. Would I fish 25' of water no but I am taking shallow spring eyes here. If someone cannot set the hook using and UL/L rod of the proper length and line maybe they need to look at the last time they changed hooks? (I really like owner) I very rarely raise my rod more that a couple feet when setting the hook. The goal is to have the proper "feel" on the bite not try and snag the poor fish as it is spitting out the hook trying to get away

[fishorgolf]

I do agree with the point that a long UL is like fishing with a wet noodle but try a 5' and it is a whole different rod.

Also UL rods are different depending on the manufacture. IMO st croix's tend to have more "backbone" than allot of the others. check it out sometime and you will be amazed at the difference between the brands.

[FutbolGuru]

I bought an ultralight combo from Richard's a couple years ago that I love. Can't remember what I spent... maybe $40-$50... Flueger reel and Berkley rod. I only use the thing post-ice and pre-opener. I'm pretty sure I saw the same combo there this spring already. Regardless of what you buy, go get it now! Early panfish are no fun to catch with anything heavier than an ultralight!

[Norm1980]

Ive used a st croix UL for the past couple years, I bought it at scheels for around $90. I believe its 5'6" long and IMO worth the money. If it ever breaks from a fishing related reason (not a truck/car door) st croix will replace the rod for you. I would suggest not getting the triumph model as im farily sure its a 2 piece rod, especially if your going to use it for anything but pan fish.

[ozzie]

triumphs come in all differet lengths/action and 1 piece and 2 pieces.....

[Bassinbob84]

I've got the loomis gl2 and it's ok. The gl3 has more back bone than the gl2 for about $20 more. I think my old bps bionic ul was better though. It had more back bone. That was a great little rod.

[Pherris]

I have a Loomis GL2 6' UL with a Stella 1000 for my ultralight set up. I would probably let my wife go if I had to make the choice.

[tomfromblaine]

I noticed alot of people are talking alot about high end rod manufactures, You didn't say how much you want to spend, some years ago I bought a Mitchell u/l combo and caught the biggest walleye of my life that very week on it, just over 31", since then I've picked up the rest of their line up because the have good overall balance with pretty decent reels, I've never had a problem and always look forward to fish with them, plus I won't totally loose my mind if 1 goes overboard Hope this helps in your search.

Tom.