I’ve recently had the chance to to try out some polarized sunglasses from BTB Sport Optics. I’ve tested them for about a month in some of the most rugged conditions, interior Alaska in the beginning of “winter”. This is what I think about them.

At first glance, the sunglasses I got from BTB seemed very average. I would know, since I’ve owned about 10-15 pairs of sunglasses in the last few years. But after a few fishing and hunting trips, I really started to like them.

Tint: The lenses that I got had the perfect amount of tint. They were dark enough to shade your eyes from the bright sun but yet didn’t compromise your vision. It’s very important, in my opinion, if you’re upland game bird hunting or sight fishing.

Polarization: I found the the polarization filter applied to these glasses did a great job of reducing the blinding glare when I was salmon fishing (pic above). It helped me clearly see the fish so I could place the lure right in its face, therefor increasing strikes.

Quality: After using these glasses for about a month, I realized that they are well built. I dropped them a few times and even stepped on them once. All that caused only minor scuffs on the frame with no damage to the lenses. The lenses are actually ballistic grade polycarbonate, and can handle a direct hit from a 12 gauge shotgun a 50 feet. Tough Lenses! Check out the video:

Conclusion: I would definitely recommend these glasses to a friend. At under $50, you can’t beat them. To get glasses this nice you would have to pay more than $100. Here is their official website: Fishing Sunglasses

I have never heard of back reeling until I came across this video on myoutdoortv.com. It’s an interesting concept, where instead of relying on your drag, you reel backwards to give the fish line, when it makes a strong run.

I can’t believe I never though of this myself. I’ll have to try this next time I hook a large fish, to see if it has all the benefits mentioned in the video.

Watch the video here: Back Reeling to Success by Wade Bourne

Here is another video from YouTube that demonstrates the Technique:

I searched Google for the “world’s smallest game fish”, and came across an interesting article on Fishing Fury. The article is about tanago fishing in Japan. Tanago are tiny freshwater fish that are targeted by anglers using super light bamboo rods, human hair as fishing line, and micro hooks. The point is not to catch the largest one, but rather the smallest. The smaller the tanago you catch, the more skilled you are considered. This is surely ultralight fishing taken to the extreme.

Anyway, I don’t want to ruin the article for you. It’s definitely worth a read. Here’s the link:

Tanago Fishing in Japan – Fishing Fury

Check out the size of this brown trout, caught on Lake Michigan. This would be the perfect sized fish to test out your ultralight fishing skills. If you can get a fish like this in, on 4 pound line, that would make you the king of all UL anglers. Anyway, enjoy the vid.

Based on personal experience and a few fishing forums I visited, the “release vs. keep” subject seems to be a touchy one. There are anglers on both sides of the spectrum that have extreme views on this matter.

The catch-and-release extremists believe that all fish caught should be released immediately. And if you want to eat fish, you should go out any buy it, rather than depleting a resource. These people have a problem with others that keep their full legal limits and may even confront those anglers with verbal out-lashes.

On the other side, there are those anglers that keep every single fish they catch. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 2 incher or a state record, they are keeping the fish “to eat”. Yet, their freezers are packed full of them. Many of these anglers believe that there is no point fishing if you don’t keep the fish.

Put two of these extremes into one room together and you’re sure to get a fist fight.

What do I think? I fall somewhere in the middle. I believe that as long as the angler follows the law, it’s none of my business if they keep or release. I think that the state fish and game departments do a good job of determining the limits of the fish you can catch. Therefore, I don’t really care if you decide to keep every fish you catch (within the limit) or release them all.

What do I do? I catch and release about 70% of the time, and keep about 30%. I would probably release all of my fish caught because I really don’t like to clean them, but MY WIFE CAN COOK. Every fish I catch is a potential gourmet meal (Pan-Fried Trout with Orange, Mint, and Fried Capers), so you can see why I would keep them. Just thinking about it gets me hungry, even though I just ate.

Plus, I like the idea of providing for my family and having fun at the same time. I go out fishing and bring back food for the table. There is a certain satisfaction I get from that.

What do you think about Catch and Release vs. Catch and Keep? Share your opinion in the comment section below.

Check out this funny/cute video of a 3 year old boy catching his first fish. It definitely brought a smile to my face. I though you guys would like the video as much as I did. Enjoy.

A few evenings ago, I was searching around for the newest ultralight rods and reels to see what’s available on the market today. I found a few good ones that were within my budget and also have great reviews. Throughout the whole researching process, I couldn’t help but notice all the rods and reels that cost into the hundreds of dollars. I started clicking on and reading about them.

Then it crossed my mind… What’s the most expensive ultralight rod and reel combination that is possible to buy today? Not that I would buy one, just though it would be interesting to know.

After searching around for a few hours I came up with a number. That number was $1140. Wooooow! That’s the price of the most expensive ultralight combo I could find. Crazy, isn’t it? That’s just the rod and reel, no line or anything else.

I bet you want to know what they are. Well I’ll tell you.

The Rod – $440

The G. Loomis Trout Series GLX model TSR801-2 GLX is the highest priced rod I could find. This 6′ 8″, fast action, ultralight rod is priced at an eye-popping $440. For that amount, this rod better be the best… and it is. G. Loomis makes the best production rods in the world. You “might” be able to get something better from skilled custom rod builder.

(official website)

The Reel – $700

The Shimano Stella FE model STL1000FE is the priciest spinning reel that comes in UL sizes. It has a whole laundry list of top-of-the-line, premium features. It was actually voted as the BEST freshwater spinning reel in the 2010 ICAST Awards. Some people think this means it’s worth the $700 price tag.

(official website)

What I think…

While this ultralight combo may be considered “the best”, I don’t believe it’s even close to a necessity to fully enjoy ultralight fishing. My whole family’s yearly fishing budget doesn’t come close to the price of this, one combo. It would be nice to have, but I would rather try out more new fishing lines and lures. Plus, the $50 – $100 ultralight combos I own suit me perfectly.

This mini crankbait has been out for a few years now, but I have never heard of it. So, it’s new to me. It’s called the ScatBack and it’s made by Storm. It seems like a great tiny crankbait to add to my ultralight fishing arsenal. Watch the video, and you can see for yourself.

Have any of you had the chance to try this one out? If so, what do you think about it and would you recommend it?

If you’ve ever broken off a fish because of poor line selection, or old, used line, you may want to think about spooling a hundred yards, or so, of braided line onto your ultralight reel. Braid offers some of the highest levels of sensitivity of all the types of lines, incredibly thin diameters, making it super-easy to cast, and, as technology has advanced, even prevents wind knots, tangling in the rod tip, and losing its dye over a few short fishing sessions. Listed below are five of the different types of braids that I have used with high levels of success.

Suffix Performance Braid

One of my favorite braids for ultralight fishing has to be the Suffix Performance Braid. The line is slightly on the expensive side, but the old adage “You get what you pay for” rings true every time I purchase another spool. Suffix tests their braided lines in some of the harshest conditions to ensure that even us lowly ultralight anglers will get the best use from it. Their Y6 digital braiding technology and smooth coating make it last, almost, forever, no matter what punishment you can put it through. When I’m using Suffix Braid I will actually tie on a Suffix Siege leader.

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PowerPro Spectra

It is hard for me to decide which I like more, the Suffix line above, or a spool of PowerPro Spectra. In the end, the PowerPro came in second because I have been using the Suffix line on my reels this season and haven’t had any problems with it. The Spectra boasts one of the highest diameter to strength ratios of any braided line, and features a smooth texture, instead of the waxy coating on other lines, which makes it easy to tie knots, and leaders.

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Berkley Fireline

Berkley Fireline is excellent for making long casts, and not having to worry about your knots slipping as easily as other types of braid or fused lines. The 6lb test operates flawlessly under all fishing conditions, from super cold fall and winter afternoons, to some of the hottest, muggiest days in the bright summer sun.

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SpiderWire Stealth

SpiderWire comes into the ultralight fishing market with a 6lb test line that features a 1lb test diameter, making it incredibly thin. A unique Teflon coating on the line helps maintain a reliable cross section and makes it super quiet during casting and retrieving. One thing I like about SpiderWire the most is that it does not usually bleed its colors onto your clothing, or lose its coloring over the course of the season like other, lower quality, lines will.

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Tuf-Line Dura Cast

Tuf-Line understands the problems anglers have when they are trying to spool braided lines onto their ultralight spinning reels. From slipping, to creating loose loops, the problems are taken care of with the extensive engineering that goes into each spool of Tuf-Line Dura Cast braided lines. The line helps to reduce the line guide noise, wind knots, and wrapping around the rod tip.

While this doesn’t have much to do with ultralight fishing, it’s an interesting video I’d like to share with you. It’s a video of a pike ambushing and eating a duckling. This video is a little sad, but it shows the grim reality of predator vs. prey.

Larger trout, bass, pike, and muskies are known to eat small mammals and birds that find their way into the water. I’ve heard of trout picking off mice that fall in the water and pike are known to snag a duckling or two once in a while (like in the video). Some manufacturers even make lures to look like ducklings and rodents to take advantage of this.

Have you seen anything like this with your own eyes? I sure haven’t. Have you caught fish on duckling or rodent lures? Let me know.

I’m known as an ultralight fishing promoter in my local area. When I strike up a conversation with a fellow fisherman/woman, either on the water or at a tackle shop, I almost always mention that I’m an ultralight angler. The most common question I get from non-ultralight anglers is: “Why?”. Why do I choose ultralight fishing over conventional methods of angling? For those of you who may be wondering the same thing, I will answer the question for you, right here.

There are two main reasons why I choose ultralight fishing. Here they are:

Ultralight Fishing Helps Catch More Fish.

UL fishing allows me to fish with tiny, lightweight lures. I have found that fish will more readily strike these downsized lures. Most of the lures that I use, look nothing like the natural food that fish eat. So, I think using a smaller lure helps the fish feel more comfortable in eating something unusual, therefore more strikes.

One of my buddies, who insists on using heavier tackle, has never caught more fish than me. Our fishing methods and techniques are practically identical. He just uses larger lures, thicker line, and a heavier rod. I get about twice as many strikes and catch about twice as many fish. This is not a one time thing, either. This happens constantly. Why does he still use heavier tackle? Well, he’s stubborn in his ways. Don’t worry though, I’m slowly converting him over to the other, better side.

I’ve noticed that the lighter the lure the more life-like the action is. I strongly believe this is also a contributing factor to getting more strikes from finicky fish.

Ultralight Fishing is More Challenging.

Catching a small fish on ultralight tackle is definitely not more challenging than on conventional tackle. It’s when you hook into the larger fish that things get more challenging. You get to test the limits of your tackle, knowing that with one wrong move you can loose that lunker forever. With ultralight fishing it’s more of a “fight” to get the larger fish in, and that’s why I love it. I love the high and adrenaline rush I get from that experience.

If you’re an ultralight angler, why do you choose ultralight fishing?

For as long as I have been ultralight fishing, I’ve always had problems with split shot sinkers. I got to the point that I started using different kinds of sinkers, but NONE were as convenient as the split shot. Just pinch one on and go. Easy! If only they didn’t have this one problem…

The problem that I experienced was: the splitshot would hold its place on the line for only a few casts. After that it would start sliding down the line until it was too close to the lure. Since I always used super thin diameter lines (4 pound test), it was very easy for the sinker to slip. This happened to me just about every time I when fishing.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Water Gremlin, a sinker manufacturer, asking me if I wanted to try out their sinkers for free. Since I love fishing tackle, especially free fishing tackle, I said “Of Course”. They didn’t ask me to write a review or promote their sinkers in any way. All they wanted was for me to tell them what I though about them.

About a week later, I got the sinkers in the mail. They looked like the regular split shots I was used to. Nothing Special, i thought. They sat there for about two weeks before I decided to try them out.

When I got to the lake, I tied on a Trout Magnet jig and pinched on a Water Gremlin split shot about two feet up the line. I was fishing for over an hour when I realized that the split shot was not slipping. I mentioned this to my two brothers, who were also using Water Gremlin splitshots. They noticed the same thing. I used three split shots that day, and my brothers used about the same. So that’s 9-10 different sinkers. And guess what? No Slipping!

Later that evening, when I got home, I compared WG sinkers to the other ones I usually used. Right away, I noticed that the Water Gremlins were made from harder lead, while the others were much softer. The WG’s were harder to crimp onto the line, but when you did, they stayed put.

This is why Water Gremlin split shot sinkers are now my favorite for ultralight fishing. I would definitely recommend them to anyone with sinker slippage problems. And if you’re looking for a more environmentally friendly option, they also make non-toxic sinkers out of tin. I have not tested them though, yet.

Check out their website: WaterGremlin.com

* Note: I always crimp my split shots using pliers for maximum hold. I used my teeth, until I found out lead was toxic. No wonder I’m a little slow sometimes. Lol.