# Ultralight Spinning Rod Recommendations



## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Hey y’all,
I’ve become very fond of creek fishing for bass and panfish with an ultralight setup and I’d like to upgrade. I’m thinking around 5’6”, graphite, 2-pieces for trunk transport, lightweight, fast or moderate action, and with a nice cork handle. Rods I’m looking at include the BPS Micro Lite Graphite, the St. Croix Triumph, the Fenwick Eagle, and the Cabela’s Fish Eagle. That said, I’m open to suggestion. I’m willing to spend around 100 bucks but I’m hesitant to go too much higher for such a fragile instrument meant for tromping through creeks. However if someone makes a good case for splurging, I’m open to constructive criticism lol. Thanks!
Oh yeah I’ll probably pair it with a Pflueger President reel, though I’m open for ideas on this front as well.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

kingofamberley said:


> Hey y’all,
> I’ve become very fond of creek fishing for bass and panfish with an ultralight setup and I’d like to upgrade. I’m thinking around 5’6”, graphite, 2-pieces for trunk transport, lightweight, fast or moderate action, and with a nice cork handle. Rods I’m looking at include the BPS Micro Lite Graphite, the St. Croix Triumph, the Fenwick Eagle, and the Cabela’s Fish Eagle. That said, I’m open to suggestion. I’m willing to spend around 100 bucks but I’m hesitant to go too much higher for such a fragile instrument meant for tromping through creeks. However if someone makes a good case for splurging, I’m open to constructive criticism lol. Thanks!
> Oh yeah I’ll probably pair it with a Pflueger President reel, though I’m open for ideas on this front as well.


I have had all of the above rods in a light action except the bps rod. And liked the truimp an Fenwick the most as far as performance. I used them for crappie fishing with light jigs and occasionally saugeye fish with light twisters
Imo the triumph is the most indestructible rod,for the money. Imo Fenwicks Break easy.
I like ultra light but have a hard time sinking the hook in to fish with them so use light action for my crappie/bluegill fishing. But thats strictly personal preference...


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Saugeyefisher said:


> I have had all of the above rods in a light action except the bps rod. And liked the truimp an Fenwick the most as far as performance. I used them for crappie fishing with light jigs and occasionally saugeye fish with light twisters
> Imo the triumph is the most indestructible rod,for the money. Imo Fenwicks Break easy.
> I like ultra light but have a hard time sinking the hook in to fish with them so use light action for my crappie/bluegill fishing. But thats strictly personal preference...


 Thanks for the input! Yeah I’ve been reading reviews that the Fenwick is fragile, which is a shame because it has the most attractive cork handle lol. The St Croix is probably the way to go. I like the UL for flinging little tiny spinners and such, and making pan fish fun to catch, but I’ve been thinking that a light action might be slightly more versatile. I’m sure I’ll eventually end up with both lol.


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

This past summer I purchased a 2 piece Fenwick HMX for my wife. She likes to have a rod rigged with small inline spinners most of the time (Panther Martins, Roostertails, etc). I had been looking at ultralights for while & felt that this rod was the best option in the < $ 100.00 price range. The model she has is a HMX56UL-MFS- 2. It's 5 1/2', 2 piece, moderate action, & is rated for 1/32 - 1/4 oz baits. I've fished it with 1/16 - 3/16 oz lures & it handles handles them very nicely. It has a little stiffer butt section than some of of the other similarly priced rods I looked at in the ultralight category. Some of the other UL options I tried felt more like a noodle when I simulated a cast. It's a fine option IMO. She really liked the action & feel of the Fenwick UL when trout fishing out in CA & NV on vacation. My wife landed several nice trout & she felt the rod performed well casting the small inlines. Since then I happened to purchase a lightly used St. Croix Avid from another OGF member. It is a 6' UL but happens to be a 1 piece model which won't work for airline travel. It is an awesome litle rod with excellent backbone for a UL but they are kinda pricey & well above the budget you had in mind. The Fenwick HMX gets my vote. Mike


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

firemanmike2127 said:


> This past summer I purchased a 2 piece Fenwick HMX for my wife. She likes to have a rod rigged with small inline spinners most of the time (Panther Martins, Roostertails, etc). I had been looking at ultralights for while & felt that this rod was the best option in the < $ 100.00 price range. The model she has is a HMX56UL-MFS- 2. It's 5 1/2', 2 piece, moderate action, & is rated for 1/32 - 1/4 oz baits. I've fished it with 1/16 - 3/16 oz lures & it handles handles them very nicely. It has a little stiffer butt section than some of of the other similarly priced rods I looked at in the ultralight category. Some of the other UL options I tried felt more like a noodle when I simulated a cast. It's a fine option IMO. She really liked the action & feel of the Fenwick UL when trout fishing out in CA & NV on vacation. My wife landed several nice trout & she felt the rod performed well casting the small inlines. Since then I happened to purchase a lightly used St. Croix Avid from another OGF member. It is a 6' UL but happens to be a 1 piece model which won't work for airline travel. It is an awesome litle rod with excellent backbone for a UL but they are kinda pricey & well above the budget you had in mind. The Fenwick HMX gets my vote. Mike


I knew nothing of this rod but the handle is beautiful lol, definitely a contender now, thanks!


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

I'm by no means an expert on rods but I'm a pretty picky buyer. I really like my selection of other St. Croix rods but didn't care for their panfish series UL. I don't own any of the Triumph models but looked at them when I was shopping for my wife. I've saved up over time & now have several Avids which are some of my tools to fish with. I'm not trying to sound like some sort of know-it-all or high roller when I say that St. Croix rods are my favorite. I have made it a priority to save up & buy SOME really good equipment. I have a blue collar budget & appreciate the quality that's available in some of the excellent lower priced options out there. Mike


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I have a St Croix fly rod that is a nice tool, so I get the draw. I’m just worried that UL rods are so thin and fragile that if I slip in a creek or something and snap it, I’m out all that cash. I know that’s true for any rod but UL rods seem especially vulnerable. I do have a glass rod for when I truly just need a beater though I prefer the feel and weight of graphite.


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

Saugeyefisher said:


> I have had all of the above rods in a light action except the bps rod. And liked the truimp an Fenwick the most as far as performance. I used them for crappie fishing with light jigs and occasionally saugeye fish with light twisters
> Imo the triumph is the most indestructible rod,for the money. Imo Fenwicks Break easy.
> I like ultra light but have a hard time sinking the hook in to fish with them so use light action for my crappie/bluegill fishing. But thats strictly personal preference...


I second that. I creek fish alot for smallies and whatever else hits and won’t use ultra lites anymore. Strictly lites 6-7’ for me. Hard to set the hook on such a whippy rod plus IMO they aren’t as sensitive when using jigs and such.


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

kingofamberley said:


> I have a St Croix fly rod that is a nice tool, so I get the draw. I’m just worried that UL rods are so thin and fragile that if I slip in a creek or something and snap it, I’m out all that cash. I know that’s true for any rod but UL rods seem especially vulnerable. I do have a glass rod for when I truly just need a beater though I prefer the feel and weight of graphite.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Or when that 15# carp hits lol check out what this sucker did to my buddies UL ugly stik


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I honestly don't have trouble getting hook sets on ultralights. I make sure my hooks are sharp and it's never been a problem. The only thing I could see that might be difficult is if you have a weedless rigged plastic worm or something that needs a stronger hook set, but I generally don't do that when I'm creek fishing. As long as it's fast or mod-fast action (as in NOT whippy) then it's good to go!

That is an enormous sucker, I bet that was fun on the UL (at least until it broke lol). I brought in a huge buffalo fish on the glass ultralight once and it was bent clear to the handle.


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## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

kingofamberley said:


> I honestly don't have trouble getting hook sets on ultralights. I make sure my hooks are sharp and it's never been a problem. The only thing I could see that might be difficult is if you have a weedless rigged plastic worm or something that needs a stronger hook set, but I generally don't do that when I'm creek fishing. As long as it's fast or mod-fast action (as in NOT whippy) then it's good to go!
> 
> That is an enormous sucker, I bet that was fun on the UL (at least until it broke lol). I brought in a huge buffalo fish on the glass ultralight once and it was bent clear to the handle.


i would get St Croix 6'6" cork handle ,medium,light,fast tip,you can work with that rod everywhere.
you can cast same think what ultralight cast and have beter control and you can use that for casting for eyes catch crapie and perch you can lift 6# fish from water.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

HappySnag said:


> i would get St Croix 6'6" cork handle ,medium,light,fast tip,you can work with that rod everywhere.
> you can cast same think what ultralight cast and have beter control and you can use that for casting for eyes catch crapie and perch you can lift 6# fish from water.


Eh I have medium rods but they don't throw the tiny stuff the same. I’m talking 1/32, 1/16, 7/64, etc. Also I’m not in the business of lifting heavy fish out of the water by the rod.


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## Workingman (Jan 21, 2016)

Mike, I love how that carp appears to be giving your buddy the "stinkeye".
Cool pic. I know nothing of these rods as I am a cheap bas**rd!


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

Also don’t forget line diameter and


kingofamberley said:


> Eh I have medium rods but they don't throw the tiny stuff the same. I’m talking 1/32, 1/16, 7/64, etc. Also I’m not in the business of lifting heavy fish out of the water by the rod.


 reel size has as much if not more to do with casting distance. I have no trouble throwing a 1/64oz tube head on my 7’ lite with a 1000 series reel spooled with 8# power pro (2# mono equivalent). My son switched out his UL for the same Lite rod I have cuz he was tired of me being able to cast further upstream than him and getting first shot at the smallies lol.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

You have a great point about line diameter! I'm a monofilament guy, and I recently became a convert of Stren Magnathin. The 4 lb has 2 lb diameter and it casts beautifully on my ultralight. I have the 8 lb on my medium and I was throwing 1/6 oz spinners clear across the river and catching trees on the other side lol. My main hangup about getting a light instead of ultralight is I don't want to just muscle in the little creek fish; playing them is part of the fun of fishing the little creeks. However, a light would make it more versatile for ponds and whatnot. I really just need both lol.


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

kingofamberley said:


> You have a great point about line diameter! I'm a monofilament guy, and I recently became a convert of Stren Magnathin. The 4 lb has 2 lb diameter and it casts beautifully on my ultralight. I have the 8 lb on my medium and I was throwing 1/6 oz spinners clear across the river and catching trees on the other side lol. My main hangup about getting a light instead of ultralight is I don't want to just muscle in the little creek fish; playing them is part of the fun of fishing the little creeks. However, a light would make it more versatile for ponds and whatnot. I really just need both lol.


Guess I understand there are differences in creeks too. The one behind my house is roughly 30-50’ wide but we pull 5+# smallies out of it every year. With the occasional carp, sucker and channel cat. Your not gonna horse any of them in with a lite. But if your main species are rock bass and such a


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I use and love the eagle claw featherlight in 6 ft. they are 19.99 on amazon. these are cheap glass rods that are featherlight when fighting pan fish. but back in the 80' when we drifted erie's western basin I used then for bringing in some nice sized walleye. I used 8# line and set my drag accordingly.
sherman


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

kingofamberley said:


> You have a great point about line diameter! I'm a monofilament guy, and I recently became a convert of Stren Magnathin. The 4 lb has 2 lb diameter and it casts beautifully on my ultralight. I have the 8 lb on my medium and I was throwing 1/6 oz spinners clear across the river and catching trees on the other side lol. My main hangup about getting a light instead of ultralight is I don't want to just muscle in the little creek fish; playing them is part of the fun of fishing the little creeks. However, a light would make it more versatile for ponds and whatnot. I really just need both lol.


I don't use mono to often anymore but have always liked stren magnatgin


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

sherman51 said:


> I use and love the eagle claw featherlight in 6 ft. they are 19.99 on amazon. these are cheap glass rods that are featherlight when fighting pan fish. but back in the 80' when we drifted erie's western basin I used then for bringing in some nice sized walleye. I used 8# line and set my drag accordingly.
> sherman


I have a Featherlight fly rod and a BPS Micro Lite Glass spinning rod (which is very similar) and I like them for what they are, but I think I much prefer modern graphite for spinning rods. The sensitivity and light weight are great. The only things I miss are the ruggedness of the glass and the ability to self load the rod while casting to fling little tiny baits, though a more moderate action graphite can do that too.


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## PapaMike (Jul 12, 2017)

Take a look at the F&S TEC-LITE.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Morrowtucky Mike said:


> Guess I understand there are differences in creeks too. The one behind my house is roughly 30-50’ wide but we pull 5+# smallies out of it every year. With the occasional carp, sucker and channel cat. Your not gonna horse any of them in with a lite. But if your main species are rock bass and such a


A 5 lb smallie would be enormous for the creeks I fish. A 3 lb is about as big as I've caught in them. I've seen some huge carp and suckers in there though that would put the bend on any rod.



PapaMike said:


> Take a look at the F&S TEC-LITE.


You know, I've never been to Field & Stream, and have no experience with their products. I'll have to go check one out sometime. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## PapaMike (Jul 12, 2017)

The TEC-LITE has 10 guides, plus tip. A lot of line control.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I ended up finding a good deal on a “used” (new but repackaged) Fenwick Eagle, 6’ in light power. This way I can get an ultralight as well. Now I’m just deciding if 500 or 1000 size reel is better for light action. I’m leaning towards 1000 size with 6 lb Stren Magnathin (4 lb diameter).


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

kingofamberley said:


> I ended up finding a good deal on a “used” (new but repackaged) Fenwick Eagle, 6’ in light power. This way I can get an ultralight as well. Now I’m just deciding if 500 or 1000 size reel is better for light action. I’m leaning towards 1000 size with 6 lb Stren Magnathin (4 lb diameter).


Go with a 1000, save the 500’s for ice rods


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Morrowtucky Mike said:


> Go with a 1000, save the 500’s for ice rods


Lol man you hate ultralight gear don’t you 


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

kingofamberley said:


> Lol man you hate ultralight gear don’t you
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Naw my (strictly panfish) rods are UL but if there’s much chance for something over bout 2# I’m using my light. Not much difference between 500 and 1000 series reels other than spool size and I’d rather have the greater line capacity and casting distance is my only reason for that.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Morrowtucky Mike said:


> Naw my (strictly panfish) rods are UL but if there’s much chance for something over bout 2# I’m using my light. Not much difference between 500 and 1000 series reels other than spool size and I’d rather have the greater line capacity and casting distance is my only reason for that.


That’s fair. I like the 500 size on my little 5 foot UL but for a 6’ light I’m leaning towards the 1000 series. My friend mentioned that BPS is having a sale on Pflueger Summits next week so that’s probably the one to get.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Welp the rod arrived broken, so I said screw it and went to Cabela's and left with a 5'5" Fenwick Eagle UL. I tried lots of rods and I think soon I'll also get a St. Croix Premier in Light, 6'6" or 7'. I think the UL and the L really compliment each other with a similar set of tackle, and between the two one could cover a very wide variety of waters and habitats.
I liked the Cabela's Fish Eagle a lot too, but the UL was incredibly stiff, even more so than other brands' light rods. I feel like it would be really sensitive but wouldn't cast the super small lures well.

Edit: let me just add that it was really bizarre seeing BPS branded stuff at Cabela's... they were such competitors, it just feels dirty somehow..


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

When I started getting back into creek fishing a couple years ago I bought the St. Croix Trout series spinning UL 5'4". Its the same as the Panfish series, just a little different color scheme. Its an awesome rod but quickly found out that a smallmouth of any size is gonna kick your butt in the summer, especially in the creek. I landed a few nice ones but lost my fair share to thrown hooks, just not enough backbone.

I decided to buy the St. Croix 6' light action Triumph and it was a much better alternative. I was still able to throw small spinners, jigs and cranks, but had some more backbone for hook sets and fighting fish. I wanted the Premiere but the Cabelas by me is always out of stock of it and didn't feel like waiting.

I still use the UL for small streams where a big fish might be 14-16" but my go-to creek rod is the 6' light action. Its also a great rod for white bass and crappie too.


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