Mantua Report.

[Springbuck1]

Ever try a Bream Buster? Basically a modern take on a cane pole. Usually telescoping long lite rod no guides. You tie a 4 to 6 foot length of leader then whatever lure or bait to it . Then just reach out and dip it into the pockets where the fish are holding. It is very stealthy so you don’t spook them and can stay pretty far away with the length of the rod. I think mine is about 12 feet long. They make longer ones even. Used it for many years at pelican and caught tons of bluegills that way. You can reach out over weeds and fish very small pockets without spooking fish, you could not very easily fish those spots with conventional gear. I caught a bass on it at Pelican that’s was about 4 pounds once, I thought for sure it would break it but it handled it. Mine are made by Lews and Zebco, Sportsmans Warehouse might sell them or you could find online they are a blast to use and very effective. They used to be pretty cheap not sure about now.
Mildog out

 I have a couple of similar poles; a $12.00 Walmart version, and a very nice 20' bamboo job given to me on my LDS mission to Taiwan.  They are a blast. I have used them at Mantua from my kayak at the edge of the willows, etc.

On this trip, I would have struggled with the length in the trees, but I don't love say, a 5' ultralight rod, either. Some places I wouldn't have been able to lift a fish, and I was spooking fish at 20 feet or more, too. Normal casting is tough, too. Lots of creative flipping, skipping, and lot's of failed casts. .

I laugh at how much I put in to this two-day-per-year affair, sometimes, but it's usually my first good spring trip of the year. I'm usually packing an 8 ft, 4 wt fly rod I sawed the reel seat off of, trimmed off half the line guides, and I tape one of those goofy "under-spin" reels to it. I used to have a 7' ultralight rod with an ultra-fast taper starting halfway out its length, so the tip was really responsive and bendy, but I left that on the roof of my car once, and it was sucked into the void.