Ultra light fishing Gear

[Old Goat 03]

I am working at backpacking much lighter than days past. I have had some significant success. My last trip was into the Enchantment Lakes area of Wa. I carried food for 8 days, clothes, Hennesy Hammock, bag, pad, full Hyd bladder, fishing gear & camera gear. The total came in at 40 lbs. That is 20+ lbs lighter than last year.:D

My question for you all is what kind of fishing gear do you use? I am looking to save weight there also without losing too much functionalilty.

Any help is appreciated!

[Jim Henderson]

I have done quite nicely with just a spool of sewing thread and some hooks. Properly handled you can catch small trout with that type of rig. Wild guess is the line is maybe 2 to 4# test.

Alternatively, I have a small Shakespear collapsible spinning outfit. It has an ultralight spinner, and a 5-6 foot light pole that telescopes down to about 1 foot total. Hardly weighs anything and with that rig I can handle fish well up into the teens, of course you can't just horse them in like I could with my tuna rig, but fighting them is most of the fun.

I also have a Daiawa spinner that fits in a small tackle box/case. About 1.5 foot long and 2 inches thick and shaped like a pole with reel attached(form fitting). That has been all I ever needed when hiking the Sierras and fishing in style.

A small tackle box can be had with those small plano type boxes that you can get at sports shops or even at hardware stores. A box about the size of a deck of cards can hold all the tackle you need for a quick weekend away.

My gramps taught me how to catch catfish with my bare hands, no not noodling altho that is a valid method too. So essentially you were born with all the tackle absolutely required. All depends on how sporty you want to be.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

[slabfoot]

i usually take a rod more to fish than to provide food. a redington 4-peice 7ft. flyrod with a graphite cortland reel in a 4 or 5 wt. provides a nice balanced feel for your fishing pleasure without too much weigt or bulk to carry. instead of the heavy pvc protective case that comes with the rod, i bought a floeurescent light carrying tube made of much lighter plastic and cut it down to just fit the rod when collapsed. a small peice of foam in each cap end provided a bit more ferrule protection. not very bulletproof but if you careful it should protect thr rod. the lite tube should carry just about any 3 or 4 peice rod but doesnot appear large enough for a 5 piece or grater. i would not try this with my favorite rods. i just take the old cheapie!

regrds,

bill

[wanderer]

I use a mitchell 308x. I got it on sale for $35 at a local store. I took it bakcpacking a few times and It is very nice. Not what most of you would carry (i had a hard time convincing myself it was worth carrying) the rest of my group used sticks with line, but they lost fish. That is why I don't think it is too heavy especially when hiking thru good fishing spots. We took less food and ate fish. We had a point where we could have hiked a half mile on a four wheeler track and been to a gas station so we were not worried about going hungry. I also had a plot to turn my trekking poles into rods, but a bobber would have been nescesary as the pole would not flex and I would have never known a fish was on.