What does the term 'fishing' mean to you? Is it about filling your creel or live well with a bunch of fish for dinner? Or maybe about getting away from the wife and kids for an afternoon? To me, fishing has has always been as much about the sport as it is anything else. Having respect for the fish that you are attempting to catch and treating those fish with the respect they deserve is of the utmost importance in my eyes.
When I started my fishing "career" (if you can call it a carer) more than two decades ago the man who taught me many of the basics of fishing introduced me to something called ultralight fishing. Ultralight fishing (for anyone who doesn't know) simply means fishing while using downsized gear, hooks, baits, and line (often referred to as ultralight tackle) when you are fishing. Fishing with this type of gear is not only incredibly productive, it also emphasizes the "sport" in the act of fishing.
As I said earlier, emphasizing the "sport" in fishing is the biggest reason why I personally engage in this type of fishing. My grandfather, who was the person who initially taught me "how to fish", never spooled any of his reels with any fishing line that was lighter than ten pound test, and many times the line that he used was much heavier than this. I realize now that this would have been fine if we regularly hooked and landed fish that were in the 8-15 pound range and larger, but the truth was that fish in the aforementioned size range were rarely caught.
As I became an adult I was introduced to ultralight gear by my best friends father, a man who was renowned for catching very large trout out of heavily fished rivers in Central Pennsylvania, and he used nothing but an ultralight rod and reel that was spooled with four pound test monofilament fishing line. While this manner of catching fish seemed strange to me at first, given my previous experiences with my grandfather, I quickly caught on to this style of fishing and have been an advocate of ultralight tackle every since.
I have learned that the term "ultralight" doesn't have to specifically refer to attempting to catch trout and pan fish. What the term really means is matching your gear and tackle to the species and more importantly the size of the fish that you intend to catch. In other words, if you are fishing in a river that contains trout and small mouth bass and a large fish out of this body of water would be five of six pounds, a five or six foot rod and matching reel that is spooled with four pound test would be a great option. You will not only get more bites because of the light line, the fish that you hook will provide you with a much better "fight" than they would if you were using heavier line and gear. And the same principle holds true if you are fishing for other species of fish, such as steelhead, walleye, or large mouth bass. Match your gear and line to the size of fish that you are most likely to catch and you will not only be "ultralight fishing", you will also experience more fishing success.
Catching our underwater friends while using ultralight tackle is more sporting and productive than using heavier gear and fishing line when attempting to catch fish, there's no doubt about it. What, you don't believe me? Just give ultralight gear a shot and see for yourself how much more productive this way of catching fish can be.
Trevor Kugler is Co-founder of JRWfishing.com and has more than 25 years of fishing experience. He currently raises his seven year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country....Montana. Check out our blog which is focused completely on trout fishing techniques and tips to help you catch more trout.
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