Ugly Stick- I just don't get it.

[LAURASDAD]

I own a Loomis IMX and other expensive tackle.

However, I also sometimes use a Light Ugly Stick for cranking.  For most cranking situations, sensitivity is not a primary issue; a soft tip is.

Most pros have gone to either a fiiberglass rod for cranking, or a graphite/fiberglass combo.  Some people never learn expensive equipment doesn't catch fish.

The best fisherman I know have very average equipment.  But they know where and how to catch fish.  So many people on these boards talk about spending $$$ on equipment thinking it will make them a better fisherman.  It absolutely won't.  

Some might say "why do you own a Loomis?"  The answer is when worming or c rigging, I like the sensitivity.  But for cranking, it is not important.

To each his own

Larry

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

What I want to say is that I find the comments of ww2farmer to be totally uncalled for, and, for that matter,  downright offensive to those members of this site who do not have the financial resources to afford more expensive equipment.  Despite the fact that the majority of my rods now cost at least five times more, I still have my Ugly Stick and I still often use it when bass fishing.  ww2farmer, I have noted your opinion, but that is all it is - your opinion.  Since opinions are just like navels (everybody has one), there is no reason to become judgemental in your postings.

I think I missed something here.  I don't see where ww2 was offensive, he actually thought I was, if anything.  

[Maxximus Redneckus]

This is suppose to be fun like fishing ,But anyway i too have expensive rods yes i love there lightness and sensitivity I also like a durable and easy  too use rod at times when im catching fish thats all that matters .My point was if they are biting on worms or jigs i know for a fact im not goin to be using my ugly stiks but when those fish are aggressive and showing off i can use my uglystik with much more hookups .I find the light tip very good at makin pinpoint cast and i max my rod out making casts with it what more do i need. A 200 dollar crankin rod isnt gonna make me catch more fish if anything im goin to be pulling my cast as not to have to deal with a broken tip and a lax warrenty a ugly stik to me is a workhorse rod not a finnesse rod >i might be bitin off more then i can chew but i can bet a pretty penny that rod and reel combo i have had has seen more strikes then a lot of the 4  5 or 6 hundred dollar combos have caught fish!!!

[Hawgin]

i might be bitin off more then i can chew but i can bet a pretty penny that rod and reel combo i have had has seen more strikes then a lot of the 4 5 or 6 hundred dollar combos have caught fish!!!

I'll take that bet against a couple of my combos.  

[SPEEDBEAD.]

AHHH....

I WALKED INTO THIS FORUM AND GOT SOME TESTOSTERONE ON MY NEW SHOES!!!!!!  ITS FLOWING ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!!

[senile1]

What I want to say is that I find the comments of ww2farmer to be totally uncalled for, and, for that matter,  downright offensive to those members of this site who do not have the financial resources to afford more expensive equipment.  Despite the fact that the majority of my rods now cost at least five times more, I still have my Ugly Stick and I still often use it when bass fishing.  ww2farmer, I have noted your opinion, but that is all it is - your opinion.  Since opinions are just like navels (everybody has one), there is no reason to become judgemental in your postings.

I think I missed something here.  I don't see where ww2 was offensive, he actually thought I was, if anything.  

I've been following this thread but I've been laying low.  I see lots of good points on both sides.  Long Mike, rather than denigrating users of the Ugly Stick, ww2farmer was defending them.  You might want to read his post again.  

[=Matt 5.0=]

I've been following this thread but I've been laying low. I see lots of good points on both sides. Long Mike, rather than denigrating users of the Ugly Stick, ww2farmer was defending them. You might want to read his post again.

I re-read it three times, I found it to be a little on the arrogant side. But, whatever. I have one, I use it, I catch fish with it without "a bobber and a nightcrawler"

[moby bass]

I didn't find ww2farmer's comments to be arrogant or offensive.  I see the point he was making, regarding

the occasional fisherman who just wants to get his line wet every now and again. In fact, my daughter

wanted to fish some last year, and of course, I had to buy her her own rod and reel.  I didn't even spring for an ugly stick for her.  Cheapest combo I could find. Works for her and she's thrilled to have her own rod.  (She's 10 BTW) There's a market for these inexpensive rods, and while they don't appeal to a lot of people, they definitely fill a niche.  I have another combo here that I bought starting out, a Rhino rod and a Zebco 33 spincast reel.  I don't use it any more but it's still here when my kids friends come over and everybody wants to go fishing.  That's the rod they use.  If they break it, no big deal.

[Cephkiller]

I used an Ugly Stick as a cranking rod for a couple years until I could upgrade and it worked fine if you could get past the fatigue caused by the 2 lb weight.  I have handled the Ugly Stick Lite at the store and they seem like a good rod for the money, but they are obviously not the same indestructible rod as the original. They are more reminiscent of a Lightning Rod or similar inexpensive rods.

[fishingchef80]

The ugly stick has served its purpose for me for nearly 4 years.  Ive got an ultra lite that i use for trout and has been the only thing ive caught bass on.  Until a week ago when ive finally decided to take my hobby to another level purchasing a baitcast combo... which i still havent used >  But they do serve their purpose.  Besides its the excuse im using to get my girlfriend out there with me now that i have an extra pole and they're reasonably priced

[ww2farmer]

Yeah..was trying to defend the Ugly stick.......lol see what that got me. If any one should be offended by what I said it should be LBH, I did call his post nonsense after all.

Here is how I see it:

We gots 3 guys sitting on a park bench, we'll call them ww2farmer, LBH, and Ugly Stick.

A women with a beard walks by, LBH say's "look at that!......who would want to be with a women with a beard"

ww2farmer elbows LBH in the side and wispers " cool it man.........Ugly stick over there is married to a women with a beard,  I don't get it either, but lets not starts a fight"

LBH replys "I was just wondering was all......"

conversation ended.

I didn't know...from the way he started the topic....... which way he was trying to go with this, and I just seen a rousing bout on another forum on the SAME TOPIC, in which names were called, and nasty stuff.

Thats it.

[Spincastguy]

Ugly sticks are legendary rods. Make great pike rods . Cranks and mepps work well on them as well as top water . Jigging the bottom ? No . But neither is any crankbait rod. If you need a good treble hook rod without breaking the bank ugky stil elite is way to go. 

[ATA]

I have few ugly stiks in my truck for extra gear that if stolen or broken I wouldn't care.

I have two striper special 8'(white color) and they have good back bone. The catfish specials(white version) is also good back bone but the striper special are really have better back bone.

the others like GX2s ill use when I am float tubing so if I loose them on water, I wouldn't care and they are good for what I do, Come on I bought each combo for 39.99, It is price of spool of flour or braid for a combo. So I love my ugly stiks and I used them often. Plus we have big water that I use for surf fishing.

[garroyo130]

30 minutes ago, Spincastguy said:

Ugly sticks are legendary rods. Make great pike rods . Cranks and mepps work well on them as well as top water . Jigging the bottom ? No . But neither is any crankbait rod. If you need a good treble hook rod without breaking the bank ugky stil elite is way to go. 

 

[throttleplate]

33 minutes ago, Spincastguy said:

Ugly sticks are legendary rods. Make great pike rods . Cranks and mepps work well on them as well as top water . Jigging the bottom ? No . But neither is any crankbait rod. If you need a good treble hook rod without breaking the bank ugky stil elite is way to go. 

Try out the ugly stick Carbon, I own one and really like it for every technique.

[ironbjorn]

Couldn't be me. The Lightning Rod was always the better option for bass fishing. Now with the Aird-X, it's insane to buy anything else in that $50 and under range.

[PourMyOwn]

26 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

 

The last post in this thread was old enough to drive.

[dave]

A 16 year old thread?  I like it.  I got to be reminded of some names that were once seen everyday on BR again.  When I first saw it,  LBH was the first thing I saw and thought he had dropped in out of the sky for a visit...

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

This is like a reunion seeing all the names again. 

[Kirtley Howe]

A few months ago, in Bassmaster Magazines' Day On The Lake article, they featured a pro fisherman who uses nothing but Ugly Sticks. I can't remember his name. He is not a top tier pro, but he isn't a novice either. So....at least one pro thinks Ugly Sticks are worthwhile rods. I have several...I don't use them all the time, but they do get some use.

[bowhunter63]

Well back in the 80 s Hulk Hogan advertised them. So we all no wrestling is real. So if Hogan says so Ya know 

[ironbjorn]

On 4/9/2007 at 9:02 PM, ww2farmer said:

Yeah..was trying to defend the Ugly stick.......lol see what that got me. If any one should be offended by what I said it should be LBH, I did call his post nonsense after all.

Here is how I see it:

We gots 3 guys sitting on a park bench, we'll call them ww2farmer, LBH, and Ugly Stick.

A women with a beard walks by, LBH say's "look at that!......who would want to be with a women with a beard"

ww2farmer elbows LBH in the side and wispers " cool it man.........Ugly stick over there is married to a women with a beard,  I don't get it either, but lets not starts a fight"

LBH replys "I was just wondering was all......"

conversation ended.

I didn't know...from the way he started the topic....... which way he was trying to go with this, and I just seen a rousing bout on another forum on the SAME TOPIC, in which names were called, and nasty stuff.

Thats it.

This scenario aged awkwardly. Welcome to 2023. 

[Cbump]

Anyone here actually looked at the Shakespeare website? There are a ton of ugly stick models. They don’t all bend like that. 

[volzfan59]

1 hour ago, Kirtley Howe said:

A few months ago, in Bassmaster Magazines' Day On The Lake article, they featured a pro fisherman who uses nothing but Ugly Sticks. I can't remember his name. He is not a top tier pro, but he isn't a novice either. So....at least one pro thinks Ugly Sticks are worthwhile rods. I have several...I don't use them all the time, but they do get some use.

You're talking about Matt Robinson who is rocking a decent season this year. 

 

As far as Ugly Sticks go, I don't use them but to each their own. When I worked for BPS, we sold the heck out of them. A lot of die hard bass anglers purchased them for crankbait rods.

[Mbirdsley]

The ugly sticks fills a specific purpose.  You have to remember 50% of the fishing population uses live bait.  The other 40% trolls exclusively.  The other ten 10% which, we are in included  use artificial baits exclusively for bass. 
 

the ugly stick is built and sold for the 80-90% of fisherman who use live bait or trolls.  Which, it excels very well at.  My brother is thinking of switching all of his downriger rods to ugly sticks for salmon. 
 

that new red all graphite rod isn’t a bad set up for 60-70 bucks.  I’ve felt it and it will go up against any other rod in that price range.