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