# Best Ultra Light Set-up?



## SMBHooker

What do the Crappie/ Gill fisherman here think a great ultra light setup is rod/reel. Looking for suggestions on make and model, will be purchasing soon!

Thanks.


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## zipperneck52

I purchased a shakespeare UL setup @ walmart last year and have had a blast with it. No problems with panfish an it will handle the bigger smallies at Rocky River. Good outfit for 20$.


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## fakebait

When I younger I was looking to buy a stereo system. A salesman told me I had to figure out what I could afford. Once I did that then go around and find the best sounding one in that price range. I have used that same thought over the years for everything I purchase. We can name all sorts of equipment rods, reels, combo sets and line choice. It is all subjective to whom you talk to. Thats why Chevy, Ford, and all the others are a personal choice. Do the research pick some equipment see if it will do what you want it to. Once you narrow your choices down go lay hands on them, see if they appeal to you. Then do the deed. It is so hard to suggest equipment to someone else not knowing what they can afford.


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## sbreech

I've always been a St. Croix rod/Shimano reel type of guy, and I still love the products, but my nicest, lightest UL spinning rod/reel (which I just bought this year) is a G.Loomis 6' rod (SR720) with Tennessee handle, Pflueger Patriarch 9525x reel, and Cabelas Ripcord SI+ braided 15# line (4# diameter). With the Tennessee handle, I could balance it out perfectly. This setup is VERY light and casts tiny lures like a dream.


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## Lundfish

I use a Shimano Symetre 500 reel with an ESP powerlite 6'6". I love this setup for casting for crappies and gills. I use 4lb floro with it. I landed a 20 1/2" smallie on it. You just have to take your time if you get a big fish!

For jigging from docks I have a 5ft (I think but it may be 4'6") Bass Pro rod and reel combo (ultralite). It has a small reel and it works great. It was about $40 or so. The setup above with the Shimano reel was about $200. I don't recommend going cheap but if you don't have the cash so be it.

I also have a combo called a Teton Trout. It's a 7ft. 2pc. rod that works good too. It has a lot of flex so I don't like to use it for setting the hook on lite biting crappies. Get an ESP rod! The action in the tip is fast and I couldn't find another rod out there like it. There may be one but I don't know who makes it.


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## Biodude

Best? Hard to beat a 6'6" St Croix legend elite w/ a stella 1000. Couldn't afford to buy that now, lol, but glad I got it when I did. The combo is pure fishing bliss.


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## sbreech

Biodude said:


> Best? Hard to beat a 6'6" St Croix legend elite w/ a stella 1000. Couldn't afford to buy that now, lol, but glad I got it when I did. The combo is pure fishing bliss.


I liked my stella 1000, but I wanted a faster retrieve, so I sold and got a sustain 1000, another St. Croix rod and a fly rod/reel. Now I wish I would have gotten the Stella in a 3000 for heavier fishing... To be honest, in the 1000 class, I couldn't tell much difference b/w the Stella and Sustain (except for the faster retrieve of the Sustain and the $400 price difference), but one thing IS for sure, these top shelf Shimanos are the smoothest out there.


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## Guest

6 foot st. croix light (chose to bump up one level because of smallmouth) paired with a quantum 10 series catalyst pt. i like the wider spools on the 10 series as opposed to the true ul reels for the longer casting distances.


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## BassBlaster

zipperneck52 said:


> I purchased a shakespeare UL setup @ walmart last year and have had a blast with it. No problems with panfish an it will handle the bigger smallies at Rocky River. Good outfit for 20$.


I have 2 of them. Have had them several years and have yet to have a problem with them. I love them for Crappie and they are a blast when you hook into something a little bigger. Ive started using them when I wade the creek for smallies too. Cant remember the last time I went fishing and used a combo other than those. I have a couple nicer, much pricier Shimana reels mounted on Galyans rods but I still find myself grabbing those cheap ultra lights every trip!!


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## tybo

Hard to beat the Pflueger President UL models. Price isn't overboard and they work great, as well as feel comfortable for a long days fishing. Hard for me to pay top dollar for panfish with 7 kids to feed. Not to mention easier to afford decent equipment for their excitement also.


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## barf

zipperneck52 said:


> I purchased a shakespeare UL setup @ walmart last year and have had a blast with it. No problems with panfish an it will handle the bigger smallies at Rocky River. Good outfit for 20$.


ive had my 20$ wallmart u/l for 3 yrs now.....i upgraged the reel and clipped the hook holder, it has been trouble free every since. i have caught a LOT of gills on it.....also a few 17" bass and a few 14" channels. it is still the one I use the most...


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## Ruminator

SMB, it really makes a difference how you plan to use the setup.

I have 14' rods for reaching back and dipping into shallows or trolling. But also have all the way down to 4'6" rods for dock shooting techniques. 

I for one, definitely prefer open- faced spinning reels in the 1000 size of whatever you can afford. 

Sensitivity is also a major factor you have to consider... some techniques don't need high sensitivity- like crankbaits, and slip-floats; while with other techniques you will definitely catch more fish with a highly sensitive rod/line setup- tightline casting minnows on bare hooks; jigs/minnows/tubes/etc.. 

What method(s) do you want to use your considered setup for?


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## JimmyMac

I bought a shakespeare ugly stik lite UL combo from BPS about 5 years ago, I've owned several ultra lights over the years and broke then all some way or another. This little combo cost me like $35 and has withstood lots of careless handling. Though I don't think they offer the same reel anymore, as this one is actually very smooth and built of quality material, the reels now seem like plastic junk. 

The ugly stik lite UL rods are hard to beat though IMO. Hard to find a UL rod that will take any kind of abuse. Mines been stepped on dozens of times, thrown down from frustration and had all kinds of things fall on top of it in the back of the van.


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## Photog

I picked up a Shakespeare/Ugly Stok combo at Meijer for $35 and LOVE it. The Shakespeare UL combo I bought at Walmart for $20 was nice, but after 4 broken poles I went to the Ugly Stik. The broken poles were a result of a 285 lb man thinking he had a surf rod in his hands.... I can be a little rough on equipment....


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