I am looking for a Ultra Light Rod and Reel for The Saltwater, 4lb, 6lb, 8lb range? I am having a hard time finding an outfit that small? Any suggestions? I caught a 30lb DogFish on 6lb once, I RECOMEND IT HIGHLY!!!
I normally run 8# on Shimano Stratic and Sustain 3000. You can spend more, you can spend less.
Any 6ft med/light action rod. Any 2500 or 1000 sized reel of your choice, spooled with what you want on it… or are you asking for brand suggestions here… or what, exactly?
Fishing Nerd
“No bar, no pinball machines, no bowling alleys, just pool… nothing else.”
…well, some fishing too!
Fishing Nerd
Been using a 2200 030 Sigma, 5’ Ugly Stik Pro. Everything I’m seeing is 6lb, 8lb, 10lb? Bigger? I need two. I guess I’ll have to go with PENN SPINFISHER VI 2500? Bigger than what I want!
I really like the Penn Fierce or Battle 2500 with 10# braid.
I use the 2000 with 4# for bream or creek fishing.
[navy]Sportsman Masters 207 Yamaha F150[/navy]
I saw that. You may need a commission?
Penn metal bodies are heavy, even the VI… and an ultralight setup shouldn’t require a metal body anyway.
If you really wanna go small and don’t have $200 for each reel, I recommend looking at Shimano Sahara 500 or 1000. I have a 500 spooled with 5lb braid on a Sensilite 5’6" UL and really like it so far, but only intend it for bream fishing- can’t vouch for saltwater dependability.
A guy who owned a tackle store told me as i was looking at a shamano why don’t you buy this Dawa for 15$ and throw it away every year instead of the 200 $ reel and you’ll be way ahead! Sure has worked for me!!
While I haven’t fished lately, I have had great success with some of the lower priced Shimanos and Okumas. I have a Sahara and an inexpensive Okuma that have caught plenty of fish and still work fine. The key is cleaning/maintaining them. The most expensive reel I have ever owned cost $100 and my wife thought I had lost my mind. I also have a Fin-Nor Lethal that is light and I really like it. Not generally a Penn fan, they don’t seem to hold up cosmetically as well as other brands. I have a couple that the paint has peeled off badly.
"Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It's Hand", but really, who cares?
I use the same approach with ultralight outfits. I don’t feel that any on the market are better quality enough for what they are, to pay a high price for, and what I’ve used has always lasted for several years. I’m a fan of Daiwa spinning reels anyway, have done well with them.
I also don’t buy an ultralight specifically for saltwater use, never really saw a need. I just posted a question about Pompano jigs that would likely require an ultralight but something like that would be a special situation.
I have a couple of ultralight setups, two inexpensive Quantum Teton Trout 7’ rods, for which I think I paid $25 each, and both have older, and inexpensive Daiwa Samurai reels on them. The reels were probably no more that $25 each, but I don’t recall exactly . I’m not sure without looking, what the model size might be, most likely 1500. They’re my panfish setups, and I’ve had them for several years, but have not used them in saltwater. I would have no issue doing that however, and as boatpoor suggested, they might then become disposable after a year or so if used often in saltwater, but not having a lot invested makes that easier to do.
I take care of what I buy regardless of the price paid, and all I care about is that they do the job, and with how rods & reels are made these days, price IMO, is not a good indicator of how long they may last anyway.
This is why I try to buy “Quality” equipment? I am very hard on my stuff and I want it to be dependable and last a long time! I just had a young lady on my boat lose a ten pound Bonnethead after a fifteen minute fight. I know it was because of cheap equipment! It was heartbreaking!
I spy some cool, old reels in that pic.
Great looking collection! 
I very much agree with you, but the fact is, in some types of fishing reels these days, it’s difficult to find really good quality, even if you do pay a much higher price. I think that’s the case with most ultralight spinning reels.
I’ve got a good number of older reels too, but they’re mostly casting or trolling types. They made them to last back when these reels were made and that’s not the case now with a lot of things. The majority of my casting reels are '70’s era ABU’s, 4600’s to 10000 size, and I have several of the older Penn’s too, from 85’s , 185’s 209’s, 309’s, and a 112. and they all still work.
I’ve read way too many times of folks dropping reels like Stradic’s in the water, and they start making funny noises. For the price, they should never do that! That’s why I’m not inclined to pay a lot for a spinning reel. The most expensive spinning reels I’ve ever owned, was several Daiwa Emcast Plus reels in various sizes that I’ve used on surf rods. They did what I needed from them and didn’t cost a fortune, but were still not cheap reels.
I bought a couple of cheaper Shimano FX series rods & reel outfits one time for two of my sons and I think I only paid $20 each per outfit. They were used primarily in freshwater or brackish water where the salt content was rather low, and the fish caught on them were mostly panfish. However, the rods later many years, and I think I still have one of the rod
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Great looking collection! I very much agree with you, but the fact is, in some types of fishing reels these days, it’s difficult to find really good quality, even if you do pay a much higher price. I think that’s the case with most ultralight spinning reels.
I’ve got a good number of older reels too, but they’re mostly casting or trolling types. They made them to last back when these reels were made and that’s not the case now with a lot of things. The majority of my casting reels are '70’s era ABU’s, 4600’s to 10000 size, and I have several of the older Penn’s too, from 85’s , 185’s 209’s, 309’s, and a 112. and they all still work.
I’ve read way too many times of folks dropping reels like Stradic’s in the water, and they start making funny noises. For the price, they should never do that! That’s why I’m not inclined to pay a lot for a spinning reel. The most expensive spinning reels I’ve ever owned, was several Daiwa Emcast Plus reels in various sizes that I’ve used on surf rods. They did what I needed from them and didn’t cost a fortune, but were still not cheap reels.
I bought a couple of cheaper Shimano FX series rods & reel outfits one time for two of my sons and I think I only paid $20 each per outfit. They were used primarily in freshwater or brackish water where the salt content was rather low, and the fish caught on them were mostly panfish. However, the rods later many years, and I think I still have o
Every cheap reel I buy either gets water and sand in it or a big red destroys the anti reverse
Check out the Shimano nasci for a light reel