| So you think you have done ultra-light fishing- I bet you | | | | first day, change your hooks |
| haven't. I say that because | | | | often to keep them very sharp when using ultralight |
| of my trip to the World Championships of fishing in | | | | hooks. One of the major factors |
| Coimbra, Portugal where I | | | | in the hooks breaking was the tough beaks that the |
| learned the true meaning of ultralight. When I fished | | | | mullets had. Their jaws are built |
| against 185 anglers from 37 | | | | for pinching and plucking bits of food from between |
| different nations, I learned that ultralight meant line that | | | | rocks-The line was an entirely different story. When |
| is around 1/2 pound, | | | | people say their line is as thin as |
| fishing a hook the size of an eyelash, using a bait the | | | | spider-web, they have never truly fished ultralight. The |
| thickness of 2 eyelashes - | | | | line we used was so thin |
| ultralight !Ok, so you have not fished ultralight, I win the | | | | that one bump of the pole would snap it in half. The |
| bet. When I fished in the World | | | | diameter of the line was .07 |
| Championships, I too thought a little 4' ultralight with 4 | | | | and your average 4 lb. line is .20 and falls outside of |
| lb. test or wow, 2 lb. test | | | | the ultralight category. This is |
| was the stealth way to fish. This was quickly dispelled | | | | not to say that 4 lb. test is not light when dealing with |
| as I fished local competitions | | | | cover, toothy fish or larger |
| with 1 lb. fishing line and until my trip to Portugal, that | | | | fish, but for my money, .20 line is really thick line.Why |
| was pretty stealthy.The competition in Portugal was | | | | the need for ultralight equipment so extreme? I wanted |
| vs. the top anglers in the world- guys that would | | | | to go fly fishing. No, |
| make our Bassmasters look like AmeteurMasters - | | | | not with a giant hairy fly, but an actual fly larva. Midge |
| (many of them). The fishing | | | | fly larva or "bloodworm" were |
| competions there are intense with all 185 anglers lining | | | | the key bait in our competition. I said earlier the hook |
| the shores of this canal and | | | | was thinner than an eyelash, |
| many using 42 foot poles with 1/2 lb. test line. The fish | | | | the bait was not much more thick than an eyelash. |
| that were available to us | | | | These tiny red larvae are delicate |
| were pretty delicate feeders that eat very tiny | | | | to put on the hook. While I didn't need a microscope- I |
| organisms. Yes, there were larger fish | | | | did need to lean over and |
| in the river, but those that were available in large | | | | get real close to put a couple on the hook. Getting the |
| numbers, were the smaller fish.World-level competitions | | | | hook in without popping |
| are 3 hours long and are fished from shore where | | | | their skin was key as a successful hookup meant that |
| anglers | | | | the bait would wiggle around |
| attempt to fill their keep nets (live fish bags that go | | | | and the fish would respond. A midge fly larva looks |
| down into the water) with as | | | | much like a mosquito larva and |
| much weight as possible. One spot to fish from, catch | | | | if you have never seen that- picture a half a pencil |
| as many fish as you can to | | | | lead (ultralight).While the average angler will never |
| build your weight. If these anglers tried to go just for | | | | experience ultralight fishing, out there lies many |
| big fish, the results would be | | | | tactics and techniques that are available to you. One |
| bad for most.When using ultralight hooks, we | | | | thing I did learn was to not get |
| employed size 22 & size 24 hooks. Hook sizes get | | | | settled in with my fishing knowledge and to always |
| smaller as the numbers go higher so to get an idea of | | | | keep looking for new ways to go |
| how small this hook is- find | | | | fishing. The one thing I did learn is that sometimes if |
| your largest eyelash. The hooks we used were a | | | | you fish heavy, you may be |
| very thin wire and yes, they are very | | | | tipping off the fish. When I fish near home in Chicago, I |
| delicate. Twice during my first 3 hours of World | | | | now fish light and some of |
| Championship competition, I broke | | | | my biggest fish caught including a 9 lb. walleye were |
| the point off of my hook and had to get a fresh hook | | | | taken on 3 lb. line and size 14 |
| and leader rigged up. A good | | | | hook- ultralight. |
| idea when you are catching a lot of fish- I had 36 the | | | | |