Alex from GA Posted August 5, 2023 Posted August 5, 2023 Last weekend I finished an ultra light rod a person on another site bragged about. It's a Mudhole SC72UL blank. I used an Okuma reel with 4 lb mono and Monday I tied a 1/32 oz Beetle Spin on it and went out for bluegill. It casts great and catches bluegill. Tuesday I put a TR worm with a 1/16 oz bullet weight and a finesse worm to try for bass. I caught 1 small bass and couldn't set the hook on a couple more bass. This morning I was determined to catch a decent bass so changed to a lighter wire hook and bent the barb down and caught a small bass and a 2.18 Alabama bass. I couldn't set the hook on a couple more fish. It boils down to don't use a rod that's too soft if you're bass fishing with a worm. 2 Quote
spoonplugger1 Posted August 5, 2023 Posted August 5, 2023 I made a rod many years ago for what you are doing, the part number has changed but the blank is the same, and still striking to look at in it's dark titanium finish. The Batson/Rainshadow IMMP70UL-TC. Won't disappoint on the backbone to sink a light wire hook in anything I ever encountered. Quote
Super User MickD Posted August 6, 2023 Super User Posted August 6, 2023 Poor hook sets, IMHO, are the achilles heel of shorter rods. Which is why I much prefer ultra lights that are at least 6 1/2 feet long. Longer rods provide better hook sets and cast farther. I have a 7 1/2 foot 3 wt fast action fly built as a spin which works well for what you are doing. 1 Quote
Delaware Valley Tackle Posted August 8, 2023 Posted August 8, 2023 On 8/6/2023 at 7:31 AM, MickD said: Poor hook sets, IMHO, are the achilles heel of shorter rods. Which is why I much prefer ultra lights that are at least 6 1/2 feet long. Longer rods provide better hook sets and cast farther. I have a 7 1/2 foot 3 wt fast action fly built as a spin which works well for what you are doing. ? agree. As another example, long soft rods with light line are regularly used to hook steelhead at a distance then fight and land fish up to 10#+. 1 Quote
Alex from GA Posted August 8, 2023 Author Posted August 8, 2023 My regular finesse worm rod is a Rainforrest IMMWS62MXF-TC blank. 6'2" walleye blank 6-15lb line. I use 6lb mono or braid with a 6lb leader and a 1/16th oz weight. I don't have any problem setting the hook with that setup. My heavier T/R setup is a 6' medium baitcaster with 8lb fluorocarbon and a 1/8th oz sinker. The ultra light is still too soft for a solid hookset IMO. The 2.18lb Alabama was fun though. Quote
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