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UL Rods; What are you fishing?


706On-a-Stick

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Been using a shakespear stream seeker combo, 20 dollars, for a few years now. It's ridiculous how well this rod and reel has performed for such a low budget. 4'6", fast/ mod. fast action, UL power. Drag on the reel could be better, but landing speeding trout and even pike hasn't caused much of a problem. Looking for some input, now that I'm trying to upgrade. Curious to see what others are using, but personal criteria:


4ft- 5ft 6in.


1/32- 1/4 oz.


No parabolic rods, must be mod. fast or more.


What are you using?

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The cheapo stuff is fine for ul, though you do run the risk of the reel giving out for various reasons.

 

For a first upgrade from that, I would recommend upgrading your reel using the same rod, then upgrading the rod later on. If you want to keep the combo as a second outfit, then a better reel with a cheaper rod would be the way to go.

 

As with bigger reels, you want a quality drive train and a reliable drag. A really good value would be the Orra S, which has a brass drive gear and carbon drag for $70. It's a little heavy, at 7.8 oz, but not too bad. That was the cheapest reel I found that has both characteristics, if you want to go cheaper, you will be sacrificing one or the other. Again, not a problem with ul, but it is hard to get a reliable drag in cheaper reels.

 

With the rod, I wouldn't limit myself to the shorter ones. Unless you regularly cast from under trees, you will find a 6' rod to be more versatile, and many guys are using rods up to 7' now, a radical change from 20 years ago. Longer rods do cast further and you will find more fast blanks to choose from if you open yourself to the extra length.

I have become too old to drink bourbon on the rocks. I will still drink it in the parking lot. 

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A batson sb720-4 (which is four piece, and is also available as a one piece blank) is the best light/ultralight blank I have found for general use. It is six feet long. The tip is very, very light and it will cast trout magnets and 1/12 ounce kastmasters. The lower section is very stiff, allowing the landing of good sized fish as well as confindent hook sets. I enjoy using mine for everything from small sunfish and stream trout to saltwater for little blues and scup. This year I caught a nice weakfish by accident with it.

 

It is only available as a blank, but you could put one together for 50-55 dollars, including guides and grip. Some people wrap them and sell them on fleabay for around 100$.

 

Tim

Rod Building: Its like knitting, but for men
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For UL Trout fishing, I have a 4’6 custom ultra light built on an NFC IM rated 1/32 to 1/8 its mod fast. I also have 2 Loomis’s, one is the older discontinued SR541 GL3 which is 4’6 and a TSR560S which is 4'8. I prefer the older SR541 over the TSR, but like the previous poster said, expensive rods are not usually needed for UL especially if your bait fishing. If I’m throwing UL lures, I use a Major Craft Nextino Area 602SUL, it’s a 6’0 UL that tosses 1/32 up to 1/8 like no other 6’0 I’ve used.

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I am with DalMichaelLas on this one. I use 7 & 7-1/2' fast action ultralights to get me more casting distance, more lure depth control, better hook sets, and more give to keep a larger trout from throwing the hook and breaking off. The downside to a long rod is that you need a good sidearm cast or side backhand cast for the tight spots. The longer rods are also more forgiving if you fish braid which has no stretch to it.

Long rods are not for everyone, but they do have their advantages when trout fishing which is why fly fisherman like them.

"May your travels always take you to where the water meets the shore"

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i use an old fenwick my father built that he gave me, i don't know the specs and what model the blank is but  is but it is a great rod. and the reel paired with it is an old penn 420ss, it's my to-go trout rod all the time.


LIBBA #2445 -- 2010 Ford Ranger Sport 4X4

 

You can find me cruising the beach in the fall.

 

 

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My 2 fav ul rods. St croix premier 4'6. Ive been using this rod for almost 15 years. Ive caught literally thousands of trout on it up to 23". Picked up a 5' avid last year to get a lil more distance in larger streams and I absolutely love it too. It's a lil more sensitive then my premier, and I've caught some nice sized trout on it so far.

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I use a berkley lighting rod 5"6 with a Abu Garcia cardinal and 10# braid. IMO it's the best light tackle combo. I've caught 25 inc stripers some pretty big pike between 20-30 inches and it handled em like a champ. Cast we'll and is very comfortable in my hands. If you can pick one up go for it you won't regret it.

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St croix man said it well, this is not an area to break the bank. several years ago I caught a black friday sale at Galyans (do they still exist?) and got their brand of graphite ultralite rod, and a quantum reel for $50 total (still would have only been $100 total regular). I fished this combo hard without an issue for about 10 years. no maintenance. Reel finally got banged up when I fell in the woods and it hit a fallen tree. I replaced it with a Sienna 500, and like it a lot so far. Rod's still goin'!

 

I think the one key point, maybe because I fish a lot of soft plastics with up to #1 hooks, and small live baits, is the rod is reasonably stiff/fast for hook sets. I had one of those "quantum micro" combos at one point, and felt it was just too floppy.

 

I'm not too worried about the "strength" of the rod, which would turn me off to the faster graphite for most other stuff. After all, what am I fishing, maybe 1.5# of drag? 2?

feeling uncreative today
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