Tackle

My Ultralight journey has followed a natural progression tackle-wise. The great thing about Ultralight / LRF fishing is that you only need very simple tackle to get started, and you can really enjoy your fishing without needing to spend much money. Of course, as with all discplines of angling, the temptation to upgrade and buy better, more expensive gear is always there...

I started off making do with gear that I already had. For the first few months I used an old Garbolino match picker rod with a modified (stiffer) tip. Paired up with my Shimano Cazna 2500 reel, it was a nice balance and worked fine. I had great fun catching perch as you can see in the blog.

After a while, I decided it was time to invest in a purpose-designed LRF rod. Being thrifty, I opted for a cheap Japanese import rod that I found on Ebay - a Fishzone Makoto for just £30. The difference was amazing, especially in bite detection, and rated at 5-20g, the rod was still strong enough to cope with the odd pike that take a liking to my little lures.

Recently I upgraded again, and am currently using a HTO Rockfish Rover rod, which is another league ahead in terms of weight and sensitivity. It's a fantastic little rod, and has the added bonus of being a 4-piece, so it will fit in my suitcase when I go on holiday. I still use the Makoto rod for heavier lures and on the canal when I am expecting pike to put in an appearance.
 
Rods: 
HTO Rockfish Rover 6'11" (2-7g)
Fishzone Makoto 7' (5-20g)

Reels:
Shimano Stradic C14+ 1000FA
Spro Addiction Micro Cast 1000
Shimano Cazna 2500

Braid: YGK G-Soul 6lbs / HTO Rockfish 6lbs