Due to a hectic weekend and having my car in the shop, I left my gear at home this weekend. No biggy ... its only a box with about 300 bucks worth of junk in it. I dropped the gf off at work and wondered how I was going to pass the almost 2 hours of time so she could finish off paperwork. Hmmm ... bar ... not my style. Fishing ... DING DING!! I didnt have my equipment so I had to drop by academy and do the only the sport that rivals my gfs shoe shopping obsession - fishing equipment shopping. Not sure why it entered my head but I decided to try out this ultralight stuff ive been passing by for years. Normally I go after bluegill with my bass equipment. Cast, hook, yank em out ... woohoooo? I opt for this in the off hours when im fishing usually to at least pass the time. I went ahead and grabbed a shakespeare microcast telescoping kit to see what this ultralight stuff was all about. Getting down to my little pond and parking close to save 2 minutes of walking I started setting up only to hear one of the regs I normally fish with ask me if i killed the gf to get her car and the kiddie pole. The jokes were worth it! 3 bluegill and 5 minutes later the line started running and I felt butterflies in my stomach thinking I had hit a small bass on this little thing and was going to lose it. No fishing story ... it took me no less than a minute of fighting to land this bluegill of just over 8 inches. With my medium equipment on 8-10 lb test it would have just been another boring 5-10 second joke. Good to pass the off hours but no sport by any stretch of the imagination like im not finding out about. Im convinced that on a bad bass day I can pull out ultralight now and bring any grouchyness to a quick end.

Any suggestions on some good ultralight equipment? I gotta burn a new hold in the wallet to match the old one.

Just wait till you latch onto and land a 7+ lb. largemouth on your new kiddie pole. Those biguns will grab a little bluegill jig just fine. Monster Flatheads also make for some major excitement, and they will eat those little jigs too!!. You've made a discovery that's going to bring you lots of great fun in the years to come.

Between bluegill and carp I might abandon bass. ok ... I didnt mean that. I sounded like I might as well have been on tv each time I landed one over 8" on it. Had the gf been there and seen me kiss them before I tossed them back she might have been jealous. Somewhere in that pond are 4 bluegill waiting by the phone for me to call back for a date.

Been fishing with ultra lite gear for bream for years. What a blast on the lite stuff.

I love the cheap Bass Pro Shops Microlite stuff. I bought a 4'8" Bass Pro Microlite Supreme Combo , fully expecting it to explode after a few months. 2 years and still going strong. It lives behind the truck seat with my "bluegill bag". It's always ready and has seen more use than any other rod. I just got back from the creek with it. Found some longear beds and had a blast.

I also use a 6'6" Bass Pro Microlite Rod (ultralight) for trout fishing. It's also brought in the accidental carp and hybrid striped bass. That was fun. They go on sale for $29.99 every now and then.

With 4 lb line and a small reel (Shimano Sedona 500 if you can find a good used one - it's a discontinued size) you'll love it.

I have that bass pro supreme combo (about a year now) and no problems. Great anti reverse. I do have a problem with line twists every now and then, but that has nothing to do with the setup. I caught a 20 plus flathead the other day and on the ultralight talk about a blast. I do have 10 pound braid with a 6 pound florocarbon leader, it seems to help with the line twisting.

Sounds like im not giving ultralight enough credit... I was afraid it was going to break on bluegill. Im going to give spinning equipment a chance but ive always preferred baitcast and spincast.

I built a UL rig a few months back with an American Tackle Matrix 5-6 two piece blank. It has a cork handle with graphite slip rings.

This has become my go-to rod. I can fling 1/32 or 1/16 oz jigs on a spinner rig and catch both bream and bass. It is hard to beat the fun of a bream making the drag sing.

I have a Shimano AXUL-SA 500 loaded with 4 lb Stren. It may become a spare reel - I've had too many problems with the line finding its way under the spool.

I ALWAYS make time to do several ultralight sessions every season. Nothing better than catching bream and the occasional lunker on light gear. I've landed Longnose Gar, 20lb Carp, on 4lb test and it's by far some of the best fishing experiences I've ever had. If you know of a local pond with Carp in it, put some corn or bread on your ultralight gear and prepare to have some fun!

If you ever find a nice UL reel that's not prone to do that, please let me know what kind it is!!. The best thing I've found is to pick one that the spool comes off quick because I spend way too much time getting the dam line un curled from around that shaft. Almost seems like there's some sort of invisible force field that makes the line run down in that little crack and wrap itself up!

took my 2 year old son fihing on sunday. we tore up some bluegills on my ultralight and his finding nemo poles. good times and good fun.... i have a Bill Dance crappie combo #10 it is currently on sale at bps for about $35. I have not experienced much line going under spool yet. Have had setup almost 1year.

in my experience the tiny ultralight reels have problems because of such small spool diameter, i use shimano 750 & 1000 with 4 & 6 lb on 6 1/2 " eagle claw featherlite x-stream ul rod...you can really cast a lot further with 6 or 6 1/2 than the 5' rods that are so common. good luck

get a fly rod that is even more fun!

Rats! Oh Well. I'll have to find another excuse for a new reel.

I seem to discover these snags after several cranks of the handle. By the time I pull the spool, there is a real mess wrapped around the shaft.

Quantum Matrix 10 Reel, Bill Dance UL 5 ft graphite, Trilene XL 6lb test: bluegills over a pound each, black bass to 7 lbs, hybrid stripers, 17-18 inch sandbass, 2 lb plus crappie, 7 lb plus channel and blue cat, carp to 10-12 lbs, freshwater drum up to 8-9 lbs, the list goes on! Put it together at BPS for less than 40 bucks.

Have had and have fished the hell outta them for over 5 yrs now and still looking for that first "major" problem!

Rudy

I bought a Pinnacle Deadbolt from Academy about 2 years ago. It was less than $20 and is in the same shape it was in when I bought it, although I have caught easily 1000 perch on it so far. It has a great drag and can really fling those light 1/32 baits

I never go bass fishing in summer without at least having an ultralite and some beatle spins...

most days I take a box of red worms just in case.

I USUALLY fish bass at lowlight and find some bluegill beds in the late morning/midday.

Basspro just had a sale on beetlespins and I loaded up.

For a cheap combo I've been using the two piece 9' zebco slap seeker spinning reel combo. The reel is nothing great but it is just big enough it doesn't wrap up. I have much better luck with a longer rod and no bobber.

Thanks for the information especially about the BPS combo specials.

Just what I needed, more stuff I want to get from BPS. };o)