So you think you have done ultra-light fishing- I bet you haven't. I say that because of my trip to the World Championships of fishing in Coimbra, Portugal where I learned the true meaning of ultralight. When I fished against 185 anglers from 37 different nations, I learned that ultralight meant line that is around 1/2 pound, fishing a hook the size of an eyelash, using a bait the thickness of 2 eyelashes - ultralight !

Ok, so you have not fished ultralight, I win the bet. When I fished in the World Championships, I too thought a little 4' ultralight with 4 lb. test or wow, 2 lb. test was the stealth way to fish. This was quickly dispelled as I fished local competitions with 1 lb. fishing line and until my trip to Portugal, that was pretty stealthy.

The competition in Portugal was vs. the top anglers in the world- guys that would make our Bassmasters look like AmeteurMasters - (many of them). The fishing competions there are intense with all 185 anglers lining the shores of this canal and many using 42 foot poles with 1/2 lb. test line. The fish that were available to us were pretty delicate feeders that eat very tiny organisms. Yes, there were larger fish in the river, but those that were available in large numbers, were the smaller fish.

World-level competitions are 3 hours long and are fished from shore where anglers attempt to fill their keep nets (live fish bags that go down into the water) with as much weight as possible. One spot to fish from, catch as many fish as you can to build your weight. If these anglers tried to go just for big fish, the results would be bad for most.

When using ultralight hooks, we employed size 22 & size 24 hooks. Hook sizes get smaller as the numbers go higher so to get an idea of how small this hook is- find your largest eyelash. The hooks we used were a very thin wire and yes, they are very delicate. Twice during my first 3 hours of World Championship competition, I broke the point off of my hook and had to get a fresh hook and leader rigged up. A good idea when you are catching a lot of fish- I had 36 the first day, change your hooks often to keep them very sharp when using ultralight hooks. One of the major factors in the hooks breaking was the tough beaks that the mullets had. Their jaws are built for pinching and plucking bits of food from between rocks-

The line was an entirely different story. When people say their line is as thin as spider-web, they have never truly fished ultralight. The line we used was so thin that one bump of the pole would snap it in half. The diameter of the line was .07 and your average 4 lb. line is .20 and falls outside of the ultralight category. This is not to say that 4 lb. test is not light when dealing with cover, toothy fish or larger fish, but for my money, .20 line is really thick line.

Why the need for ultralight equipment so extreme? I wanted to go fly fishing. No, not with a giant hairy fly, but an actual fly larva. Midge fly larva or "bloodworm" were the key bait in our competition. I said earlier the hook was thinner than an eyelash, the bait was not much more thick than an eyelash. These tiny red larvae are delicate to put on the hook. While I didn't need a microscope- I did need to lean over and get real close to put a couple on the hook. Getting the hook in without popping their skin was key as a successful hookup meant that the bait would wiggle around and the fish would respond. A midge fly larva looks much like a mosquito larva and if you have never seen that- picture a half a pencil lead (ultralight).

While the average angler will never experience ultralight fishing, out there lies many tactics and techniques that are available to you. One thing I did learn was to not get settled in with my fishing knowledge and to always keep looking for new ways to go fishing. The one thing I did learn is that sometimes if you fish heavy, you may be tipping off the fish. When I fish near home in Chicago, I now fish light and some of my biggest fish caught including a 9 lb. walleye were taken on 3 lb. line and size 14 hook- ultralight.