Ultra Light or Ultra Lame
I grew up fishing small streams in the Sierras where a 12″ brookie was a monster. Back then my father would spool up his Mitchell 300 with 4 pound mono. I remember walking beside him as he would make short but accurate casts. He was a teaching me how to read the stream where the fish were hiding and how important it is to make the right cast so that the lure would pass directly through the strike zone of the fish.
After several years, my dad felt I had the small streams figured out. We moved onto bigger streams, rivers and lakes. When I started fishing the Truckee River located in Nevada and California, I moved up to 6 and 8 pound test, not because of the size of fish I was catching, but because I was constantly snagging something and loosing another one of my dad’s shrinking supply of lures that had taken him a lifetime to build. Sadly, in time I would loose all but a handful of his lures. Side note here; if you are fortunate enough to catch a trophy on a certain lure, retire it and put it somewhere safe or suffer the consequences of it being lost forever. There is nothing like having a slow day and you decide to pull out your lucky lure thinking it will surely save the day and you snag up and lose it on your first cast. We have all done it. Your bad day just got worse.
One day my dad took me back to the small stream where I first learned to fish. He said, “It’s time to change out your line to 4 pound test.” Being the know it all 12year old, I replied, “No, I like the 8 pound test and I can cast just fine with it.” With a concerned look on his face he said, “We are going to be casting some light stuff.” I replied with something like, “I know what I’m doing DAD,” and so we left to go fishing.
Soon after we got to the stream I tied on a Mepps Size 0 thinking how much smaller it was than the Mepps Size 2 that I had been casting for the last couple of years. I was now ready to make my first cast. Whipping my rod through the air, my first cast flew about 15 feet and landed nowhere near my intended target. “Hmmm,” I thought. My second cast ended with the same results. I turned around to see my dad still standing at the truck and acting like he didn’t notice my first two failed attempts. Then he asked, “Do you want to fish together or split up?” Feeling embarrassed that I didn’t take his advice by choosing the lighter line I replied, “Lets split up and meet at the beaver ponds.” As he agreed, I remember thinking to myself that he just gave me an out because we rarely split up and we normally would not do so on a stream this size. You see, in all the years growing up with my dad, I never heard him say, “I told you so,” not once! I managed to catch a few fish by the time we met up at the beaver pond, but I had to work hard at landing my lure in the vicinity of the target. My dad asked, “How’s the fishing?” to which I replied, “A little slow, how did you do?” “Got my limit,” he answered. Now comes my second lesson on fishing with light line. As we sat motionless by the crystal-clear waters of the beaver pond we noticed a large Brown Trout swimming around. Knowing that my cast was not going to be accurate, I decided to tie on a nightcrawler and toss it out into the pond and hoped the fish would find its way over for a meal. My cast with the worm and split shot was totally inaccurate but it did land in the water. “Look,” I whispered to my dad as the trout swam over to the worm. Instead of eating it, the trout just swam around the live wiggling worm looking it over several times and then it just swam away. I remember thinking back from the shore, I could easily see my 8 pound test attached to the hook and worm and I bet the trout could see it too plus the heavy line was putting an unnatural drag on the worm as it slowly floated downstream in the beaver pond. “He didn’t want the worm, must not be hungry,” I said knowing that it was my line that spooked him. Saying nothing, my dad picked up a worm and tossed it in front of the Brooke Trout. Without hesitation the trout ate the worm. Next, my dad put a worm on his rod and asked me to cast it out. I made a perfect cast with his 4 pound test and the weight of the worm. This time, when the trout approached the live worm it wasn’t spooked by the fishing line and he engulfed it.
Technology has come along way regarding the Mitchell 300 and the Garcia 3000 spinning reels the we used to use. These reels were made decades ago and there was nothing ultra light about them. This was the equipment that I learned to fish with. Although I fished 4 pound line,the reel wasn’t built for the use of such light line. The drag setting was either to light or to heavy. I guess the 4.1 gear ratio was ok due to the fact that I was a teenager and could crank the handle a mile a minute for hours. With the reel weighing in at 13 ounces there was nothing ultra light about it.
My second attempt to go ultra light was in the late 90s. I picked out the Shimano fx100. This reel was specifically designed for ultra light use, weighing in at 8 ounces, Shimano’s newest rear drag system, and the quick fire 2 casting system. I must have been on a budget when I purchased this hunk of junk. In the future, no matter what the salesman says, I will never, I mean NEVER, buy a reel with stick on decals all over it. Yes, I should have spent more money on a reel, but the salesman said he had one and loved it. Now looking back I think he walked over from the hunting department. Anyway, the drag system was a “drag” and the quick fire2 casting system just got in the way of my fat fingers. Ya I’m done with this ultra-lame fishing!
Just the last few years, after talking to a bunch of really good young trophy trout anglers about different fishing techniques, I kept hearing them talk about fishing ultra light techniques they were using to catch huge highly pressured trout. I was enlightened during more than one conversation with my friend Rich. He is an ultra light expert who fishes 2 and 4 pound test exclusively. Rich has caught everything from 5 pound Brook Trout to a giant 20 pound Brown Trout on ultra light equipment. Other friends of mine who fish Pyramid Lake, Nevada, are catching Cutthroat from 10 to 20 pounds with ultra light gear.
If there is a fishing technique that is catching trophy trout then I’m going to spend the time to learn how to do it. I talked to one of my buddies at Shimano and I told him that I need to come up with the equipment to fish with 1/32 to 1/8 jigs. I informed them that I wanted a real reel. One that was built to last and will work in the saltwater conditions similar to the water at Pyramid Lake. I asked for a drag system that was powerful enough to land a 10 pound trout and still be smooth enough to control the trout’s run without breaking the line.
Without hesitation my buddy at Shimano recommended the Shimano Stradic 1000 Ci4. The Ci4 is made of reinforced carbon fiber with the “Ci” standing for Carbon Infusion and the number “4” refers to the amount of electrons in the Carbon Atom. Ci4 material is over one and a half times stronger and more than 20% lighter than standard carbon fiber. Because the Ci4 material does not contain any metal, it is resistant to rust. The Stradic Ci4 also features 6A-RB + 1A-RB rust and corrosion proof bearings. With the alkaline water of Pyramid Lake, a corrosion proof fishing reel is a definite bonus. The spool is optimized to hold 420 feet of 4 pound “mono” diameter PowerPro Microline. As far as being light weight, it’s a mere 6 ounces so my decision was made and within a few days I would have my new ultra light reel.
I have fished the Ci4 for over a season now and it has performed perfectly under every condition I put it though. I have a new found faith in “ultra light” fishing. I have taken ultra light fishing back to the small streams where my dad first taught me the value of fishing with 4 pound line. Fished a drop shot for lake trout. I found out that I love fishing from shore at Pyramid Lake after catching an 11 pound Cutthroat Trout on a tiny jig. So it looks like I jumped back on the ultra light bandwagon. What about you? Give it a try. I bet you love it!
