Some of my favorite rods to fish with are my ultra-light rod and my 5 weightt fly rod. With the ultra-light rod, a little Rooster Tail usually gets some action. When you want to catch fish, go after the little ones. Run a rooster tail along the banks and the cover where the “bait fish” congregate. You might not catch a trophy but you’ll catch plenty of pan fish. Just get yourself a decent ultra-light rod and reel with about 4 pound line on it and plenty of Rooster Tails, grub spinners and other ultra-light lures and go have some fun.

And if you love top water action, nothing beats a fly rod and a dry fly. It doesn’t much matter what type of dry fly as long as it’s fuzzy and floats, pan fish will go after it unlike the picky trout. A decent 4 or 5 weight fly rod with floating line will work but if you want to have some fun grab yourself a 2 or 3-weight fly rod and reel. With a small weight fly rod, those tiny pan fishes will feel like big bass. Wooly buggers, streamers and other wet flies also work really well for catching pan fish.

The ultimate reward of ultra-light fishing is when you do hook into the occasional small mouth or other large fish. So if you’re feeling out of luck on the water or you just want that smell of fish on your hands, grab your ultra-light rod and reel or your fly rod and have some fun. Because in the end, fishing is all about having fun.