Deeper into UL territory

For the past twenty five years my go to panfish rig has been a 6 ft. Berkley Lightning Rod in lightweight using 2 lb. test mono. It was a rod I never would have bought for myself that was given to me on our first Christmas by my wife who was helped by her father in picking it out. That cheap Lightning Rod has been my favorite. Worked great as long as I remembered not to set the hook (bad habit from my green trout days) and had my back reel timing down. But occasionally a hard strike from a fish, or my reflex action, would pop the light line. Recently I tried an ultralight rod to see if there was any noticeable protection given to the line with the more flexible action and found that it was convincingly better even with the cheap Cherrywood rod I used to conduct the experiment.

Now a believer, I just bought a TFO Trout-Panfish UL in a one-piece 6'2" length. Also a two-piece Diawa Presso UL at 6 feet. Bought a Diawa Revros LT 1000 to go on the Presso. Just going to move my Diawa SS700 reel over from another rod to the TFO. For the Lightning Rod I bought some 6 lb. braid so as not to have to be so careful with it in the future. Looking forward to putting a bend in the TFO and Presso hopefully sooner rather than later. Not ready for the JDM stuff just yet though.

Congrats !
Nothing wrong with those combos .
JDM tackle is not a need , it’s a want .

Good luck! Sounds like you are in for a lot of fun! UL, given some patience, will land big fish.


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Good luck with the transition and the learning curve. Took me a little bit to learn to set the hook from the wrist, if at all, and not from the elbow and shoulder. I’ve had a bunch of UL rods, even back in the day. I still have a favorite 5’6” Lightning Rod that has caught thousands without exaggeration. Still going strong too. Tiny braid from Varivas and a five foot four pound leader is working well for me and line breaking doesn’t happen often. Those combos you’ve chosen will work very well. Look into cleaning and lubing the drag washers and they’ll be smooth with the light line. I’m looking forward to your future posts as you dig into this deeper as time goes by. Also, beware of the rabbit hole.

Well, the first outing was just a quick run to the city park. Caught 5 small bluegill on the TFO. One small bass on the Presso. The TFO feels like it’s quite a bit faster action than the Presso and so is more sensitive. Cheated towards the TFO though. Had a bison Trout Magnet on it and tried white and chartreuse 1 inch curly tails on the Presso. The fish very much favored the TM. Both rods cast the 1/64th jigs very well with a slight edge to the Presso. Going to love it when I go to a place with bigger fish.

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Very pretty fish. Glad to hear you are having fun.

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Glad it all worked well for ya. Softer action rods load better during the cast and should cast a bit further. Good Job Mister!!

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