ultralight fishing – Velox Seeker

Interesting Rod from AliExpress…

Some of you may remember that I have been wanting a fiberglass baitcast rod for quite awhile. I have tried the usual BassPro and Shakespeare stuff that was available locally but they weren’t built well enough to hold up very long. I do have a MajorCraft fiberglass baitcast rod but it is quite stiff and designed as a river rod.

I was talking to a friend from Virginia who specializes in ultralight fishing and has tried or owned a lot more rods than I have. He suggested I look at this particular rod since he has fished with it and told me that it had the action I was looking for (I love the fishing community! Especially the ones who are knowledgable and willing to help and offer solid advice based on experience.)

You will find that Chinese rods usually have several different company names on them which makes locating them difficult at times. This particular rod I have was listed as an Angler Stream brand, but when it arrived, the bag says FishPeak while the rod says TEUCER. YMMV!

Anyway… this is a fiberglass rod that is referred to as a Catapult rod or Flick Cast rod designed for throwing light lures and minnow baits by using the natural parabolic flex inherent in the design. It breaks down into 4-pieces with the longest section coming in at 17 inches in length and has a double down-locking reel seat built on a wood handle. Total length is 140cm/1.4m or 4.6ft. The rod weight is 3.1 ounces or 89 grams. Not bad!

Interesting wood handle. It actually feels pretty good in the hand.

I have enjoyed practice casting with this rod. It’s different than what I’m used to, but it sure is fun. I haven’t been able to locate a consistent sweet spot in the rod and for all I know, there may not be one, and that’s OK. For small stream fishing like we do, and smaller fish like we target…this rod will be a lot of fun.

And the best part is that this rod only cost around $36.00 with free shipping. It took about 3 weeks to get here but that wasn’t a big concern. I have cast it for about an hour total so far and have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. I will do an update on it later so stay tuned for that.

As always, thank you for reading and have a great day!

Smith Troutin’ Spin Multiyouse TRMK-423UL Spinning Rod…

I have been looking at this rod for months and decided to just get it. I want a short rod for some of the creek fishing I have planned. What drove me towards this rod is that it’s fiberglass in the last section. This should allow more flexibility in the tip to make several different types of casts with really light lures.

Zippered nylon case with end pockets and velcro keepers for the tip sections.

Tip section ends in fiberglass where the rest are graphite.

Don’t ask me…I have no idea why. Youse-guys??

This is the first 3-piece rod I have owned. Supposedly it is stronger than a 4-piece since it does not have an extra junction. Also, It should be lighter because of that. I think at some point we will be splitting hairs when it comes down to specs. Per the manufacturers website, it lists this rod at 74 grams. Although I will note that their spec sheet says it’s FULL GLASS but also states “with solid glass only in one tip section.” I will probably have to pony up for an Anglo&Co. G411 rod to get the full benefit of fiberglass. Maybe someday…

Also, something that I have been kicking around is doing pictures of bending curves for each of my rods. Not sure if there is any interest in that…if so then I will give it a shot. Take care out there and get out and fish.

Graphite Leader Bellezza RV GLBRS-642UL TW spinning rod…

My wife was looking for an ultralight spinning rod for panfish and opted to try this rod since the price was really good. This was a pre-order rod and arrived in 2 weeks. Neither one of us are familiar with Graphite Leader rods and decided to try it.

I should’ve paid attention to the lure and line rating and noticed it wasn’t what we were looking for.

Balanced with the Shimano Twin Power C2000S perfectly. NOT what we’d use for small panfish.

Fit and finish was superb. It is listed as an Area Trout rod but to me seems more like an Ultralight Saltwater rod as it is pretty stiff. In fact, it is stiffer than what she was looking for. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it fishing in a stream or small river, but for small perch and such, I’d use something else.

She likes my Major Craft Ultralight rod, the FTA-582UL, but I can’t find one for her. I guess they quit making it. We might look at the Daiwa Iprimi line of rods for an ultralight rod for summer panfish. Lesson learned. Stay tuned to see what she decides…

The Rumors Weren’t True…

I had read various posts on the forums about Shimano discontinuing the Soare 500 size reel. I was over on http://www.jpfishingtacklenews.com and noticed that Shimano WILL release this reel in March 2022. UPDATE: The reel has been delayed until May.

I own the CI4+ version of this reel and it is a little beast. The new 2022 Shimano Soare XR 500SPG reel should be even better.

We spend time each year chasing perch for the fun of it and this size reel is perfect.

I just might have to order one of these when they become available. I know that the wife needs one!

Ultralight Fishing Kit…

Years ago, I was doing ultralight backpacking and thought it would be wise to incorporate an ultralight fishing kit into my setup. I found out about Zimmerbuilt through a friend of mine so I purchased a Zimmerbuilt Tenkara Strap Pack. This was designed for Tenkara fishing but I thought it would work really well for what I had in mind. It stays in my vehicle since I tend to stop at ponds and creeks a lot so I wanted something small yet handy.

This Strap Pack has quite a few mounting options. It was obviously intended to be worn on a backpack of some sort, but I just use the lanyard it came with and just sling it over my shoulder. It works perfectly for my intended purpose and is highly functional.

Here is a link to his site: (no affiliation)

https://www.zimmerbuilt.com/store/p20/Tenkara_Strap_Pack.html

Major Craft Finetail Stream Switch Style#FTX-46/505UL*Spin 5 pc rod…

I have wanted a decent “pack rod” for a long time and finally found one that’s really good.

So let’s get the specs out of the way first:

-Rod length is 4ft 6in up to 5ft when adding the “switch section”

-Lure rating is: 1-8 grams

-Line rating is: 2-6 lbs or 0.3-0.8 #PE

-Weight is: complete package – 12 oz/340 grams

– rod and sleeve- 3.6 oz/102 grams

– rod only- 2.4 oz/68 grams

-Length is: full case- 16 5/8ths inches

-butt section- 14 3/4 inches

It has a wood reel seat, double up-locking rings, wood spacers, cork grips, Fuji K-frames with SiC inserts and an EVA foam butt cap. As far as power goes…its rated as an UL or ultralight, but since its a “stream” rod, it feels more like an LL or Light-Light rod to me. It’s definitely stiffer than an “area” ultralight rod. Fit and finish is as expected from a Major Craft rod.

I can confirm that this rod (in it’s complete package) fits inside a Patagonia Stormfront/Stormsurge as well as a Yeti Panga 28 pack. More than likely I will just carry the rod and sleeve to save weight.

I am extremely excited to try this rod out. I have a couple of rivers in mind where this rod will be perfect.