I like my ultralight rod. I’d love to start catching bass on it but I’m not sure if it’s capable of throwing anything large enough to catch bass (other than Neds and small senkos). Does anyone else here fish for bass on an ultralight? What do you throw.

I use a BFS setup with Panther Martins.

10 minutes ago, Buzzbaiter said:

I like my ultralight rod. I’d love to start catching bass on it but I’m not sure if it’s capable of throwing anything large enough to catch bass (other than Neds and small senkos). Does anyone else here fish for bass on an ultralight? What do you throw.

Heck yes! It’s so much fun. Just like regular bass fishing but everything is scaled down. One other difference is that it isn’t recommended you fish heavier cover. Other than that, even a 6# bass could be brought in on 4# test in open water easily, if the angler knows how to use his or her gear properly. 
 

My UL has caught more fish than all of my other rods combined. 

6 minutes ago, ike8120 said:

I use a BFS setup with Panther Martins.

That sounds like a blast. ?

I use BFS also and heaviest I cast was 1/8oz and I catch 2lb bass with it(on 9lb braided line).

   I have a set of lures I call "giant killers", and among them are the 1/8 oz. Rapala Ultralight cranks and the Mini Fat Rap, and the 3/16 oz. Dardevle spoons. Knockout on BFS!        jj

Slider, whirley bee, small-crank baits, hair jig, 1/8oz spinner bait, 1/8 buzz bait.

This is on 6 lb test. 

I throw small poppers, jerkbaits, crankbaits, spinners, spinnerbaits, tiny worms and craws. Pretty much, most things i can throw on a heavier outfit. I usually use #4 line on my reels. Somestimes #6 line around more cover.

One of my bigger bass, 8 lbs was caught on #4 mono and 4" T-rig worm.

21 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

Slider, whirley bee, small-crank baits, hair jig, 1/8oz spinner bait, 1/8 buzz bait.

This is on 6 lb test. 

That’s just screams Tennessee 

19 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s just screams Tennessee 

At the Holler we call it "that B".   (Whirley Bee by Slider)

 

Wading with UL on the Juniata river with a Rebel wee craw all the time. It’s a blast. Every SM feels like a 4lb. Rebel wee craw in 1/10 and 1/5 on 4lb. Trilene XL.

 

if you take your ultra light a 2 or 3 inch grub on an 1/8 ounce head and fish it by swimming it or hopping it along bottom or swimming it through the water mid depth you will catch any species of fish that swims in the lake. they may not all be whoppers but everything will bite them

4 hours ago, ike8120 said:

I use a BFS setup with Panther Martins.

what size panthers, and what size bass?

 

what other lures do people use, and weights? kastmasters? mepps spinners??? at the lake i fish at, people don't think much of small lures for bass... they said it, i didn't.... don't shoot or hook the messenger............

 

saw a guy using a 13' tenkara rod where i fish... he said he was catching the odd small fry...

Here in south Florida there is so much vegetation of all types, if you don’t get their head up quickly a big bass will rap you up and make recovery near impossible. I will use light tackle sometimes when I fish my daughters lake in Georgia which is deep with a lot less weed.  

59 minutes ago, fishhugger said:

what other lures do people use, and weights?

 

 

You mentioned a lake... so this might or might not be relevant.

 

If you've got decent current in a stream, a UL rig can zing a near weightless popper fly out into the current, where you can let it drift (maybe not as naturally as the fly-fishing crowd likes, but naturally enough) down a ways, and then retrieve. A "casting bubble" will get you more distance, but it always seemed to me to just complicate what can be simple.

 

Same goes for a 1-2 inch worm, basically a curly tail without the tail (or a micro-ned, if you want to think of it that way). The UL usually has enough snap to cast really light lures/bait like that, even without a jig head. If you want depth, a crappie jig head is in my experience more than enough.

 

As others have said, sometimes light and tiny is what the bass want. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tackle box from high school.  Almost everything is 1/4oz or less.  Haven't fished it recently because everything is pretty much irreplaceable (other than occasionally on e-bay).  But the modern ned rig, 4" wacky senkos, and <= 1/4oz chatterbaits work fine for the same basic light/UL presentations.

 

7 hours ago, fishhugger said:

what size panthers, and what size bass?

 

what other lures do people use, and weights? kastmasters? mepps spinners??? at the lake i fish at, people don't think much of small lures for bass... they said it, i didn't.... don't shoot or hook the messenger............

 

saw a guy using a 13' tenkara rod where i fish... he said he was catching the odd small fry...

The PM i started with are 1/4oz and the bass are 1lb or less. All my fishing is bank fishing and the lakes are usually highly pressured

Even though I’m not a fan of using UL rod for bass, but often time I catch them with tiny lure. I don’t use these very often, but when I use them I have those palm size bluegill and 12” crappie in mind and in the area. These are in 1/16oz and 1/8oz but to me 1.5” and 1/8oz is perfect size to target both species. Also Rapala ultralight series is pretty good, I like rippin rap from this series.

 

I'm not a fan of wimpy fishing rods and tiny reels, but there was a time when I experimented with 4 and 6 pound line for bass fishing.  My favorite lures were 3 inch Rapalas, tiny torpedos and small crank baits. They caught fish like crazy.  If you like a lot of action and pure fun, this is the way to go.  Obviously, you are not going to use this tackle in a field of thick hydrilla or pads.   It's a great way to fish canals.  Canals are often overlooked.  They hold resident fish year round and fishing pressure is light.  Every now and then you get surprised by a big fish.  Landing a 6 pound largemouth on 4 pound test is a thrill of a lifetime.

 

When I was 19, caught a 6-1/2-lb bass on Daiwa Minicast. 

I suckered her out to the middle of a deep, bowl-shaped cove using a Jitterbug - slow retrieve with many stop/start - she ate the lure at rest. 

My dad came unglued over her several runs, and the time it took to get her into the boat. 

 

But in the lumber where she was nested, there would have been no way to bring her out on that tackle. 

Fishing the Frio Sendero with fly rods, three of us lost lifetime bass because they turned back into lumber.  (it's ok, between us, caught 400 bass that day). 

 

My PB bass was sight-fished on the fly rod, cats whisker, and it was a chore stopping her backing run before the watercress stand at the far end of the pool. 

As a rule, big bass in little rivers are eating nickel-sized crayfish and dime-sized minnows, with the occasional bluegill meal. 

 

speaking of Panther-Martin, when I bought my first fly rod at 16, both P-M and Rooster Tail offered 1/64-oz spinners.  They were a fly rod mainstay for me. 

19 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s just screams Tennessee 

Well I recently purchased a BFS rig. It DEFINITELY does NOT scream Tennessee.

 

 

1/8 oz Kastmaster and the 1/8 oz Strike King Bitsy Minnow crankbait work well for me.

Ray Scott retired from B.A.S.S. and started on a campaign to promote UL bass fishing endorsing rods & reels. The products didn’t catch on with mainstream bass anglers.

Reason may be the environment LMB bass live in isn’t open water, they tend to be near structure/cover elements where UL tackle isn’t effective. 

Finesse tackle using Medium light with 4 to 5 lb line can be effective, UL simply gets over powered by the bass to the point you loose control of the fish from getting into cover/structure breaking your line.

Tom

22 minutes ago, WRB said:

Ray Scott retired from B.A.S.S. and started on a campaign to promote UL bass fishing endorsing rods & reels. The products didn’t catch on with mainstream bass anglers.

Reason may be the environment LMB bass live in isn’t open water, they tend to be near structure/cover elements where UL tackle isn’t effective. 

Finesse tackle using Medium light with 4 to 5 lb line can be effective, UL simply gets over powered by the bass to the point you loose control of the fish from getting into cover/structure breaking your line.

Tom

I have 2 of the Ray Scott Sport tackle rods. they are 6"9' long, have Penn 420ssg's on them.Tennesee style handles.Have had them for at least 15 years now and they stay in my truck all the time.4 lb. mono on one and 10 lb. braid on the other. they will flat out catch some fish. use em when I have a couple hours to kill to go pond hopping.

I have a 5'0" ultralight spooled with 4# line.  I'll take a 1/16 jighead and thread on a nightcrawler just like a plastic worm.  Redear and bluegill are a blast on it.  I don't use it for bass fishing for the reasons that @WRB gave above. 

19 hours ago, WRB said:

Reason may be the environment LMB bass live in isn’t open water, they tend to be near structure/cover elements where UL tackle isn’t effective. 

I’m really planning on using my UL for creek smallmouth. I wouldn’t try pulling that off for largemouth in most of the weedy lakes I fish