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An Ultra Light Set-up

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What does a good UL set-up look like?

What should I buy? What should I look out for? The answer is: as long as all the components are in balance, and it fits your budget, you’re golden.

A typical UL rod has a maximum casting weight of 7 grammes (1/4oz.). If you’re looking to catch mostly smaller fish from shallow water, a maximum casting weight of 5 grammes (3/16oz.) might be even better. Conversely, if you’re expecting larger fish, or you have to fish deep water, then 10 or 12 grammes (3/8 or 7/16oz.) might be the way to go.

The most important choice you’ll have to make when selecting a rod is: solid tip or hollow tip?

With a hollow tip rod, the blank goed all the way up to the tip top. This gives the rod a solid feel, and a parabolic (moderate) action. Such rods are perfect for fishing jigs, small crankbaits, blade baits,… baits with a lot of drag or resistance.

With a solid tip rod, the blank is cut off 3 or 4 guides down from the tip, and a solid carbon tip section is spliced in. When done right, there’s almost no hard spot, and the bend is continuous. Solid tip rods are often fast or extra fast. The tip is flexible, but still very sensitive. They’re perfect for finesse techniques like drop shot, split shot, a neko rig, or a light carolina rig.

For spinning reels, a 1000 size is usually the way to go. A 500 size model is even lighter and smaller, but you lose quite a bit or casting distance and torque. There are no real bargains or secrets when it comes to spinning reels: more money gets you a better reel. It’s that simple.

A good braided line is the most important component of a good UL set-up. It should never be too thick.

Most rods have a recommendation for line size printed on the blank, near the handle. Usually, it’s 2 to 6 pounds (lbs), or 4 to 8 pounds. It’s best to select a braid with a breaking strain close to the upper limit of what the label indicates, often you’ll end up around 0.06mm. The thinner you go, the more finesse your presentation will be. But you might get broken off more often when fishing near snags.

Sadly, good braided lines are not cheap. But having good braid is super important, and fortunately, they last a long time.

Fluorocarbon line is the ideal leader material. It’s almost invisible, it has good abrasion resistance, and it’s fairly stiff. You need some stiffness in the line to keep crankbaits from tangling up, and to make a drop shot hook stand out.

Line size is based on the snagginess of the swim. 0.16mm is a common size for streetfishing. When there is rip rap or vegetation around, 0.18mm is a wise choice. You’ll need to keep this within the specifications of your rod: between 2 and 8 pounds in most cases. And again: with lighter line, you’ll hook more fish.

The best knot to connect fluorocarbon leader to a braided main line, is the Alberto knot. It’s easy to tie, very compact, and very strong. Note: it’s only efficient at connecting fluorocarbon and braid of a similar breaking strain!

With the leader, you can tie several different rigs. We’ve reviewed the most important ones.