02-06-2008, 02:25 AM
I'm not a salesman and I have nothing to gain by endorsing fishing equipment in general, but what I can tell you is that the rod you are using can make a substantial difference in certain situations. I think that, for the price, shakespeare's Ugly Stik line is a budget fisherman's dream. If you are fishing for panfish such as Crappie, which are notorious for their, often times, extremely light bite, you have got to have an extremely thin and somewhat stiff rod tip to even feel the bite when you are tight lining. With a cheap flimsy fiberglass rod that flops around like a wet noodle you may not even know that fish are taking your offering.
Perch have a pretty aggressive little nip, even when the weather is cold. However, if you are using a flimsy rod they will often have picked up and dropped your bait before you even set the hook. Even larger predators such as largemouth and smallmouth bass will mouth at a presentation in the cold of winter so lightly that you will want an instant response on the rod to feel what is happening. If it is windy and there is a bow in your line, you can still feel a strike when your line isn't straight between you and the fish. It's also a good idea to have great sensitivity if you need to react quickly to strikes 30-40 ft or even deeper since the vibration travels up the line a distance before you even feel the hit and you will want the shortest reaction time possible.
It's true that G-Loomis, Fenwick, and other high end manufacturers make superior quality rods, but you can get great performance with other rods that don't cost nearly the same. There are 5 reasons I use Ugly Stiks.
1. They cost $35-40 for the basic models and $40-50 for the even better Lite Pro series which has additional stiffness with an even thinner diameter which gives superior performance even over the already excellent basic Ugly Stik. Some Lite Pro models are equipped with metal guides which do not chip or fall out like ceramic guides can.
2. There is an Ugly Stick in every size from ice fishing poles to deep sea game rods and most are available in one or two piece models so that you can fit them in any size vehicle. A one piece is always nice because the front end can't loosen and fly off like a two piece can, but a two piece can be fastened to even a motorcycle for a trip.
3. Ugly Stiks have a wire core and solid fiberglass, and graphite in some cases, that makes them so strong that they are extremely hard to break when they are stepped on, hit against rocks, shut in car doors, etc. Try stepping on a G Loomis and see what happens.
4. They also have enough flexibility to allow really long casts. The great flexibility along with the strength allows you to take very large or hard fighting fish and put alot of the tension on the rod instead of on your line so that you can use your drag to wear a fish down.
5. Most importantly to me, the sensitivity of the Ugly Stik sometimes keeps me in fish even, at times, when nobody around me knows why I am catching fish and they are not.
Yes you can get better performance, but not when cost vs. benefit comes into the equation. Not many rods out there will outlast an Ugly Stik and the only time you'll ever need more sensitivity is in panfish tournaments which have, argueably, been won with Ugly Stiks on more than one occasion. Of Course there are special rod designs which allow you to have versatility in different situations, but for any basic situation it is hard to beat an Ugly Stik. By the way, a 5-6 weight will cover you from small streams to big lakes in UT.
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Perch have a pretty aggressive little nip, even when the weather is cold. However, if you are using a flimsy rod they will often have picked up and dropped your bait before you even set the hook. Even larger predators such as largemouth and smallmouth bass will mouth at a presentation in the cold of winter so lightly that you will want an instant response on the rod to feel what is happening. If it is windy and there is a bow in your line, you can still feel a strike when your line isn't straight between you and the fish. It's also a good idea to have great sensitivity if you need to react quickly to strikes 30-40 ft or even deeper since the vibration travels up the line a distance before you even feel the hit and you will want the shortest reaction time possible.
It's true that G-Loomis, Fenwick, and other high end manufacturers make superior quality rods, but you can get great performance with other rods that don't cost nearly the same. There are 5 reasons I use Ugly Stiks.
1. They cost $35-40 for the basic models and $40-50 for the even better Lite Pro series which has additional stiffness with an even thinner diameter which gives superior performance even over the already excellent basic Ugly Stik. Some Lite Pro models are equipped with metal guides which do not chip or fall out like ceramic guides can.
2. There is an Ugly Stick in every size from ice fishing poles to deep sea game rods and most are available in one or two piece models so that you can fit them in any size vehicle. A one piece is always nice because the front end can't loosen and fly off like a two piece can, but a two piece can be fastened to even a motorcycle for a trip.
3. Ugly Stiks have a wire core and solid fiberglass, and graphite in some cases, that makes them so strong that they are extremely hard to break when they are stepped on, hit against rocks, shut in car doors, etc. Try stepping on a G Loomis and see what happens.
4. They also have enough flexibility to allow really long casts. The great flexibility along with the strength allows you to take very large or hard fighting fish and put alot of the tension on the rod instead of on your line so that you can use your drag to wear a fish down.
5. Most importantly to me, the sensitivity of the Ugly Stik sometimes keeps me in fish even, at times, when nobody around me knows why I am catching fish and they are not.
Yes you can get better performance, but not when cost vs. benefit comes into the equation. Not many rods out there will outlast an Ugly Stik and the only time you'll ever need more sensitivity is in panfish tournaments which have, argueably, been won with Ugly Stiks on more than one occasion. Of Course there are special rod designs which allow you to have versatility in different situations, but for any basic situation it is hard to beat an Ugly Stik. By the way, a 5-6 weight will cover you from small streams to big lakes in UT.
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