Summer doldrums seem to be here in my neighborhood. Been in the 80's and I got skunked yesterday. Today I went to ultra light gear and finesse fishing. Not a whole lot better but got one little 12" fellow. Got it after I got bored with drop shot, wacky rig, ned rig, real slow jigs and said, darn the torpedos I am going to have some practice casting and put on some very small crankbaits, spinners and swimbaits. Funny thing is I actually enjoyed fishing with that little stuff once I gave up on finesse. Maybe I just enjoyed a shorter lighter rod and low expectations.

My bass was ultra light itself but I had some fun with the small and light rig. Anyone else enjoy the light gear or do you just use it when nothing else works?

I actually fish with Light powered spinning rods paired with 4-6 lb monofilament quite often in my favorite retention ponds. For me it’s more enjoyable to catch the small bass along with the crappie rather than being skunked. As for the bluegills I generally speaking drop down to one of my ultralight setups and downsize my hooks but still wind up getting a few bass as well and it’s definitely a lot of fun. This is also the reason I picked up a new for me BFS rod to use this season.

I have turned into a finesse fisherman. I use 8# fluorocarbon line on most setups for light jigs, Ned rigs and Shaky. I rarely pull out a standard setup.

I couldn't use ultralight gear where I fish because of the weeds. I just returned from a little fishing trip and even though the water is cold and there are no green weeds, I still hooked last years weeds on about 40% of my casts.

Jig Man, do you mind sharing what specific jigs you like and how you fish them?

Eric 26, what baitcasting reel is that?

Outside of spinnerbaits which I love to throw,

I'll have 3 ML rods on deck throwing finesse baits usually 1/16.

Ned, drop-shot, Shakey and Flickshake catch fish in clear water.

Prefer it over " power fishing " .

There is a retention pond about five minutes from me where the bass are small, but aggressive. For a quick fix, I'll grab my ultralite and head there. I had it in my Jeep and stopped at a local lake and decided to make a few casts from the public docks. I was rewarded with a nice 16in. bass and I gotta tell you, it was a blast fighting that fish. Now I keep it in the boat. On a slow day, I can always count on a few crappie, or bluegill and may get a surprise bass, too.

I only fish UL gear. Short rods and small light spinning reels. No baits over 1/8 oz.

@SJS That reel is an older Piscifun Saex Elite, I don’t know if it’s still available but if so it would be on Ali Express. It’s basically a rebrand of an Ardent Apex Elite with red instead of blue accent colors and a dual brake system vs just magnetic. At the time I bought the reel it came with a spare BFS spool that they marketed as a spare shallow spool. I had it paired with an old Mitchell Fulcrum rod but I recently bought a BPS Carbonlite technique specific super finesse rod to pair it with.

I'll use ultra light gear, but it depends on the body of water where I'm fishing. I'll have something tied on that won't get snagged on the bottom like a small floating minnow or a 1/16 oz. spinnerbait.

In my younger years I began using light tackle and moved to heavier, and now in my 60's I am moving back towards the middle and lighter tackle again.

Rather than using heavy rods and 50 pound braid line making it an unfair fight between the fish and I, I prefer a more balanced fishing experience as being more fun.

Old Ray Scott also spent his life and career promoting and even selling light and ultralight tackle as the way to go...

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/recollections-of-ray-scotts-presidents-lake/

"...Not coincidentally, Scott had developed a line of ultralight rods meant for fishing spider web-thin mono. Called Ray Scott Tackle rods, they were actually good light-action sticks. I use mine to this day. He likened the light-line challenge to bowhunting for deer, and he proved it could be done by landing an 8-pounder from his lake on the gear."

https://www.rayscott.net/news/cr/rodandreel.html

Bassers Catch More Fish On New 
Sportackle™ System For Light-LineInnovative Rod and Reel Designs
Improve Casting Performance and
Sensitivity to Feel More Strikes...

 

PINTLALA, Alabama-If as a bass fisherman, you're spending too much time between bites, Ray Scott, the founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.), has an answer to the problem.

"You'll get more bites on light-line," swears Scott, who says, "increased fishing pressure has made black bass more hook shy of artificial lures fished on heavy lines."

Ironically, Scott, who built the popularity of bass fishing with his B.A.S.S. organization and its over 600,000 dedicated bass anglers membership, sees too many fishermen chasing too fewer fish as the reason. And, using "well-rope size line" the culprit.

Scott believes, "Downsize your line. The smaller the better and more difficult for bass to see, and light-line makes lures action more natural."

Scott is behind a campaign to "put the sport back into sportfishing." He thinks such a move will recharge interest in bass fishing, and, perhaps, reverse the decline in fishing overall."

Ray Scott was a man ahead of his time. He thought it was important decades ago, and this thread shows its alive and well to this day!

FloridaFishinMan, my one complaint is that my ultralight rod fails to set the hook often. I saw from your link that Scott's line of rods talks about that and that his rods give you the light action for handling light line and lures but also the backbone to set a hook and play a large bass.

I didn't do exhaustive research but my quick check of rods that claim to be good BFS rods are either too whippy or are not listed for lines smaller than 8lb test. Are there some currently made rods known for having the right combo of features?

I’ve been using ultra lite gear since the early 70’s. 4# test on a Mitchell 308. Line, rod and reel have changed the the years due to equipment changes but still using the same basic equipment. I catch 99% spotted bass and every fish feels like a big one.

16 minutes ago, SJS said:

FloridaFishinMan, my one complaint is that my ultralight rod fails to set the hook often. I saw from your link that Scott's line of rods talks about that and that his rods give you the light action for handling light line and lures but also the backbone to set a hook and play a large bass.

I didn't do exhaustive research but my quick check of rods that claim to be good BFS rods are either too whippy or are not listed for lines smaller than 8lb test. Are there some currently made rods known for having the right combo of features?

In order to help with hook set, I only use light wire hooks when fishing soft plastics. I find the thinner, needle-like hooks don't need a heavy hook set. I even crush the barbs and don't lose a significant number of fish.

I can't help with the BFS rod question since I only fish spin and fly gear. On my spin gear, I normally fish either 4 or 2 pound copolymer line (mostly four).

TLHSS, specifically, which thin wire hooks; i.e. brand, type, size?

I fish Light tackle exclusively.

In my backyard I fish an ultralight, 1/16 oz jig head and a Bobby Garland minnow on 6 lb test mono a LOT. It’s addictive.

I get better BFS hookups with light wire sabre type hooks.

@SJS I'm on my 3rd season using BFS and some longer 2 piece salt rods for black porgy//rock fish mainly to extend casting distance for my shore bound smallmouths in the city. It has been fantastic for what I want to do, but I had to modify my hookset. I find it necessary to incorporate a reeling sweep set to drive the hook home. I don't reel down and then swing, it's reel down to tension, keep reeling, then stay reeling while I lift and turn. My drag is still pretty tight, 5-6ish pounds, until I'm fully loaded up and fighting the fish, only then do I back off a quick 1/4-1/2 turn of the drag. This combined with most reputable modern thin/medium wire hooks and braid to leader has given me a fantastic hook up ratio. @WRB-2.0 was instrumental in teaching me to use the reel more in my hooksetting.

scott

Got this one the other day about 40 yards out in 15 fow on a 7'9 L rod with a 10g underspin, she was just a few shiners short of 5lbs...

On 4/13/2026 at 12:16 PM, SJS said:

TLHSS, specifically, which thin wire hooks; i.e. brand, type, size?

I mainly fish a Texas Rig with small (3 inch) soft plastics. Weightless or as a Jika rig.

I like the Gamakatsu thin wire hooks. Offset shank worm EWG size 4. St#58308 (red) and St#58408 (black).

I remove the barbs and keep them very sharp.

Thank you, TLHSS