Ultralight Smallmouth Tactics

[drew03cmc]

On 7/2/2019 at 4:57 PM, Smalliebigs said:

I really can’t see the reason for fishing for bass with an Ultralight unless you like to fight fish to exhaustion 

We have hashed this out on here before, but I've seen guys land big fish on UL spin gear in no time flat to no detriment of the fish. Saying that, I don't float or wade fish with less than a M powered rod because I prefer getting them in and releasing as quickly as possible, not to mention, I throw baits that often weigh 1/2oz or better. 

 

Now, with regards to UL smallie tactics, even a 1/32oz head and half a Zero is 3/8oz. You can use 10-15# Power Pro and a 6 to 8# leader on a ML or M rod just fine. Heck, any decent casting gear will sling it forever. True UL tactics are out of place, 2 to 4lb test, etc. Save them for the trout and panfish. 

[fishinwrench]

The old Charlie Brewer Slider technique using 4# line and a short UL spinning rig was the only way we knew how to catch the bigger bass in Crystal clear strip pits when I was a youngster.  Stepping it up to 6# and a light or Med.Lt. action rod just didn't work for some reason. 

I don't believe we killed any bass (except the few we decided to eat) by using it.

[nomolites]

Like any class of rods not all ULs are created equal...I tend to agree some buggy whips have no place in fishing for larger/stronger fish.  There are many ULs that have fast action tips with enough spine when paired with a good reel you can routinely catch large fish quickly and safely.  I have seen others that are so limp they could not turn an average size bluegill.....  

Mike

[Al Agnew]

Braided line has changed the whole ultralight thing a bit.  With a good quality braid with small diameter, like 2 or 4 pound test diameter, you can put some pressure on the fish, get it in quickly, and keep it out of cover if your rod has any backbone at all.  But when people talk about using 4 pound test mono, they darned sure aren't fishing the waters or catching the fish that I am.  At least half the 18 inch plus bass (smallmouth and largemouth) that I catch probably would not have been landed on 4 pound test line, because they were hooked close to cover and tried more than once to get into that cover or other cover on the bottom closer to the boat.  

 

[Ham]

Hoglaw hasn’t even visited the OA forum in two years. 

Or at least didn’t sign in to do so. 

[Al Agnew]

4 hours ago, Ham said:

Hoglaw hasn’t even visited the OA forum in two years. 

Or at least didn’t sign in to do so. 

Yep.  But it's interesting to bring back old topics now and then.  I sometimes find that my views on some subjects have changed at least a little, or at least gone through some evolution, since the original airing of the topic.  And there are always new members who haven't previously seen the discussion of the topic, so further discussion could be useful to them.