FYI

[tree_bass]

Ugly stick makes an ultralight casting rod that 7 foot with a lure rating of 1/32-1/4 oz and line rating of 2-6 lb.
II also has 9 guides and a medium fast action. For 50 bones it might not be a bad finesse casting rod.
Just thought I would share, here is a link http://www.uglystik.com/Ugly-Stik%C2%AE ... art=11[url]

[IlliniDawg01]

Indeed. There are spinning and casting versions. I will probably try one out with maybe a New Shimano Brenious our an Old TDZ 105 at some point next year. Should make catching small bass on 20lb braid and little lures a ton of fun.

DaveJ

[IlliniDawg01]

Just got the USECA702UL in the mail on Wednesday. I won't fish with it until the spring, but so far I'm pretty impressed with it.

http://www.uglystik.com/Ugly-Stik%C2%AE ... te&start=1

The layout of the rod is very nice. The trigger feels almost identical to a Minima which is my personal favorite. The cork is actually really nice, especially for a rod of this price. The guides are... well durable. They are pretty big and not especially straight. The wrap above the foregrip is very nice. The epoxy work is pretty shoddy, even worse than I normally do with my shaky hands on my customs, but isn't noticeable unless you are looking very close due to the flat black blank and thread. If I like the way it fishes I will probably take off the guides and spiral wrap it with some size 4 or 5 Alconite Black SS K's. I will probably also coat the cork with a thin layer of epoxy to keep it looking nice, enhance the balance, and get rid of the chalky cork feel that I'm not a personal fan of (prefer eva foam or carbon fiber tubes).

The rod is very whippy like all Ugly Sticks are except the MH Lites and Pros (Walmart exclusive). I imagine the MH of the Elite lineup will be similarly Faster in action. I actually think I will like the whippy action since my main reason for getting this was to make fishing for crappie, panfish, walleye, and small bass more fun. The rod feels pretty sensitive in hand which was a concern. Nicely balanced and weighs in the mid 5oz range.

I will be pairing it with a Shimano Brenious which is in the mail and some cheap All American Braid with a light flouro or mono leader.

Seems like a good buy for $60 after shipping and tax. Fingers crossed.

DaveJ

[earthworm77]

5+oz seems extremely heavy for a UL spinning rod.....considering I'm looking at rods barely over 3oz. I think in UL fishing, it matter more than any other type.

[a1712]

5+oz seems extremely heavy for a UL spinning rod.....considering I'm looking at rods barely over 3oz. I think in UL fishing, it matter more than any other type.

Well, it is a 7' cork gripped Ugly Stick, I think 5oz. is pretty good. Brian.

[Smead]

That particular rod launched my effort to find a decent ultralight rod in the same price ballpark.

I found that the Ugly Stik, being two piece, seemed to have a medium lower section, with a very whippy upper...it was disappointing when used to cast very light lures.

It might be useful for heavier lures.

I do have a couple other Ugly Stik Lite Pro rods for when using vintage reels...the power on Ugly Stik rods seems heavier than listed. For example, a light rod being more of a medium light and etc.

Trying to stay around $50; I eventually stumbled across the Daiwa Spinmatic C line and the older style Procyon UL rods. The Spin C's have 7', 7' 6" and 8' models if you desire longer length. The Procyon's seemed more robust of the two, and cost a bit more, but Daiwa promptly did away with that line of UL rods...I do believe that the Presso UL line has taken their place. Others getting the Presso's seemed to have mixed opinions.

Bumping up to around $100-125 got you into a St Croix Premier, or a Fenwick Elite River Runner. The RR seemed to get good reviews, at least better than the Premier, but IIRC, that line was recently redone too.

FishUSA has the Spin C's on sale now:

http://www.fishusa.com/product/Daiwa-Sp ... oCnULw_wcB

You still may find an older Procyon 6"6" or 7' rod on clearance somewhere.

Otherwise, there didn't seem like much out there at the pricepoint...both Okuma and Shimano had some inexpensive stuff, but it wasn't interesting enough for me to try.

[Smead]

Here's the Okuma line that is similar to the Daiwa Spin C's:

http://www.fishusa.com/product/Okuma-Ce ... nning-Rods

[IlliniDawg01]

5+oz seems extremely heavy for a UL spinning rod.....considering I'm looking at rods barely over 3oz. I think in UL fishing, it matter more than any other type.

Yeah, it is probably about an ounce heavy for a low price ultralight rod, but due to its fantastic balance it has a tiny Moment of Inertia so it feels very light and nimble in hand. I essentially decided that the cost, durability, and length were more important to me than super low weight. If it had weighed 7 ounces I likely would have passed.

Finding a true 7'+ UL casting rod that isn't a custom isn't easy. Of course, if the Ugly Elite sucks to fish with it will prove even harder than I thought.

DaveJ

[Smead]

You'll just have to try it.

The older standard 7' 2pc UL rod was about 5 oz. as well. The elite seems to feature less fiberglass and more graphite, from what I can tell.

Maybe being 1 piece will help as well

I do have a GX2 casting rod, as opposed to spinning; same concept of using more graphite, but it is a medium power rod.

Ugly Stik rods didn't seem to evolve much for rather a long time...that seems to be changing

I will say that those that I have for anything but UL are robust. Though using anything with fiberglass in it is rather different feel from what a good number of people are used to these days.

[IlliniDawg01]

Just to be clear, I have the casting version not the spinning. It only comes in a 2 piece version.

Fiberglass is a whole other animal for sure. Other than the weight I have always kind of preferred fiberglass for moving baits, especially when paired up with braid. Not great for everything, but very fun to fish with and if you get a decent hookset you will rarely lose a fish. Couple that with the durability and I'm a big fan.

DaveJ

[Smead]

I saw it after I selected 2 piece rods at the link.

Interesting.

You'll have to let us know how it works...UL with casting gear is difficult/impossible when using to really tiny stuff many use here on spinning gear. What weights do you think you'll be able to throw??

Finding a rod is a boon...I have a Kokanee(sp?) rod since it has a whippy tip...but only play with vintage direct drive casting reels. Though even using a free spool reel would be a challenge really.

[IlliniDawg01]

It was nice out today so I took it out in the back yard with the Brenious and a ~4g / .125 oz trailer on a little hook. Unfortunately I didn't have proper line to spool it up, so I tried to make due with some old 30lb power pro I stole from a TDZ spool needing refilled.

The rod loaded up easily during casts, but I didn't have much luck with the Brenious. It is my first Shimano so I'm no expert with VBS. With 2 clear brakes or even with 2 reds added I would have similar results. The cast would be beautiful for about 40 or so feet then the spool would blow up unless I thumbed it pretty aggressively. I'm hoping the line is the primary culprit. This is my first foray into BFSish casting gear so I'm not sure what my best case scenario even is.

DaveJ

[Smead]

Sounds like you did get a good rod...40' with a bait that light with a BC reel isn't that bad.

I might have tried 1/4 oz. and been happy with whatever I got...so 1/8 oz. is very good.

That tiny lure has to be able to all pull that line out. Good deal that the rod loads well. Vintage distance casters used shallow spools; also very light spools, some made from magnesium. Combined with spools that were as free spinning as possible. In that era, spool control was all on your thumb!!

As with any UL, lure choice helps; you get better distance with jigs and spoons, as opposed to lures that offer more air resistance during the cast.

[uljersey]

Not to insult your line choice, but get rid of that 30 lb dental floss and go down to around 6 or 10 lb ( around .006" - .008" dia.) and you'll see quite a difference. Once you get the new braid broken in and softened up, it gets even better.

[IlliniDawg01]

Not to insult your line choice, but get rid of that 30 lb dental floss and go down to around 6 or 10 lb ( around .006" - .008" dia.) and you'll see quite a difference. Once you get the new braid broken in and softened up, it gets even better.

I'm hoping that will be the case. My plan was to get 10-12lb braid and put on a 6lb mono/flouro leader depending on the lure. I went to Wal-Mart first, but they didn't have the line I was looking for so I ordered some online and used what I had on hand.

I'll report back after the line change.

DaveJ