Whats your biggest fish on light tackle?

[skekoam]

Curious how big of a fish you guys were able to land on light tackle.  I'm talking about 4 lb test with a UL rod.  We have been playing with my daughter's ugly stick set up using a thin senko.  So far our record is about 2 lbs.  Had some bigger fish on, but the drag was too tight and the fish would wrap us in the weeds and break off very quickly.  

 

 

[Guitarfish]

I would say about the same 2lbs, maybe 3lbs if lucky.  In a boat so I was able to pull it out to deeper water.  Good fun.

[RoLo]

 

I don't know, she broke off.    

 

[soflabasser]

I caught a 7.5 foot lemon shark on a size 4000 spinning reel and medium action bass rod from land. In freshwater I caught a big pacu on a size 1000 spinning reel from land. Have caught other big fish on light tackle but these 2 catches are some of the most memorable light tackle catches for me so far. 

[Jig Man]

I don’t use 4#.  I use 6#.  Bass 6.25,  walleye 8,  carp 9.

[Team9nine]

Have caught quite a few over the years. This Buffalo got me a state "fish of the year" award for largest of it's kind caught in Indiana back in 2014. It was on 3# braid with a 5# fluoro leader.

 

[MN Fisher]

2.4# bass on a Ned rig - Pres-25 on a Diawa Spinmatic (UL/F), 4# Yo-Zuri Hybrid. The UL is my normal Ned rod though the reel has been replaced with a Pres-20...the 25 is now on my Fury 702 for general finesse use.

[Dwight Hottle]

4.5 lb smallie on 4lb Ande mono on a Daiwa certate and custom rod & a 8lb steelhead on the same line & outfit.

[A-Jay]

Couldn't really get a weight on this one but she was all I wanted on 10# FC.

 

A-Jay

 

[Way north bass guy]

Caught several pike over 40” on 6lb line before. Not a big deal if your in fairly open water and you don’t try to rush them in. My wife caught this 40lb lake trout on 10lb years ago. I had to hold it for the pic cause it was too big for her to hold onto without fear of dropping it. 

[JustJames]

[flyfisher]

20lb carp on a 4wt fly rod with 4x tippet which is around 4lb test

[BrianMDTX]

Over 6 lb largemouth. It was 8# mono, on a 5’ Cabela’s Black Lightning UL rod (mid-70s vintage) and a Shakespeare 2052 reel from 1970. One a #6 hook. I was fishing for panfish but hooked this bass instead. It was a fight!

 

[Bluebasser86]

21lb flathead on 4lb test on a 5' fiberglass ultralight with a tiny Yo-Zuri Killifish crankbait.

[JustJames]

Let’s kidding aside.

light tackle, light line or light rod?

I have caught quite a bit of bass up to 4lb and catfish 7-10lb on my ultralight while fishing for crappie, and I do occasionally use my BFS setup targeting bass and caught up to 8.5lb bass and plenty of catfish.

As you mention yourself, line broke off easily and no control on bass when they pull into some structure, so if you targeting big fish with light/ultralight especially from shore, please be prepared for the heart broken.

I understand your feeling l of being in SoCal with a lot of ppl fishing in city park lakes. If you wanna give “light tackle” a try, why not? You don’t really need anything special, light line can be as light as 6lb copolymer or 8lb FC. Use 8-10lb braid main line, find a good light or ml rod, soft tip with some backbone. A lot of L/UL sold in big box store typically pretty noddle and not “suitable” targeting big bass. Your exceler LT should be good for that or you can even go down to 1000/2000 series to save some weight. This setup should be able to cast weightless 4-6” worm or even crappie jig easily.

My ultra finesse setup is Shimano Crucial 6’8 ML 1/16-1/4oz. I use this rig for both bass and crappie. My ultralight setup is Majorcraft speedstyle S632UL 1/64-1/4oz also good for bluegill crappie and bass (this rod is solid soft tip with plenty of backbone for bass)

You need light smooth drag when dealing with bass, soft tip but not noodle to be able to keep pressure especially when bass jump and backbone to be able to pull it out if needed.

 

[TnRiver46]

A 15-20 lb striper on 4 lb mono and 5 ft ugly stick. My fiancé also caught this 22.5 inch smallmouth on the same combo that might have been pushing 6lbs 

[DitchPanda]

My PB largemouth came on a crappie rod with 4 or 6 lb test...around 8.75 lbs. I've caught carp in the 30lb plus range on a walleye rod with 6lb line...several of them.

[M Bruns]

16 pound carp on UL rod, 6 lb mono, and Aberdeen hook out of a kayak. 30 minute fight with a lot of drag pulled and it dragged me at total of 200 yards.

[OCdockskipper]

I always thought ultra light was 4lb test line or less, probably because I use 8 to 10lb test for a majority of applications.

 

For 4lb, it was a 12 lb catfish that grabbed a small jig.  Took about 15 minutes to land her (no net).  For 8lb, a 17lb catfish from under a dock on a weightless Senko.  The docks on my lake have no pilings and the bigger fish tend to head for deeper water when they feel the hook.

 

Decent reel with the drag set properly and don't try to horse them.

[ww2farmer]

I have caught several 4+ lb largemouth and smallmouth while fishing for bluegills and perch on a 6' UL rod, 4lb test ice fishing line, and tiny #8 drop shot hooks.

 

My biggest "light" bass tackle fish are all caught on the ned rig.

 

6lb floruo leaders, 10lb braid.

 

7' ML rod

 

1/10th oz mushroom head.

 

6-4 largemouth

 

6-2 smallmouth

 

5-11 largemouth

 

those are my best 3 on that rig.

[Fallser]

Ultra light was my last step before taking up fly fishing.  I built an ultra light rod on a blank that was made at place where I brought my rod building components.  5' 10" graphite, the tip is 1/16"in diameter and solid graphite.  Paired it with a Mitchell 370 UL reel.  It sits in my rod rack these days.  I couldn't replace it if I broke it.  Back to fish.

 I may have started out using 4 lb test with it but I quickly switched over to 6 lb test after my first trip to Northern Ontario .  I caught my first 20 inch smallmouth on it the next year and several 5 to 8 lb walleyes over the first 4 or 5 years that I went there. I took up fly fishing and retired it.   

The tippets/leaders I use for warm and cool water fishing don't fit into ultralight.  Though I do have membership in the 20-20 club, catching a 20 inch trout on a tippet the equivalent of 2 lb test or less. 

[Bankbeater]

Largemouth probably around 2 lbs.  I don't fish with less than 6 lb line.  I use to fish with 4 lb, but I kept breaking off in the weeds.

[CrankFate]

I have to say use no less than 10lb test. I say that because when I caught my PB, on what looked to be at least 20lb test, I missed a few other monsters because they literally broke my line by inhaling the bait. I swear, I was sure it was an alligator biting my line off so quick the rod didn’t even bend.

[WRB]

Back in 1983 I held the IGFA 4 lb test line record for Yellowtail at 14 lbs 13 oz. 

Tom

 

[MGF]

I've caught a several 15#+ carp on an ultralight rod and a little jig.

 

I caught two like that on the same day and it pretty much ruined the cheap little browning reel I was using.