Winter upon us all - and for those of us up North it means little or no fishing action until we get a couple more cold snaps for a safe 3" of ice.

With that in mind wanted to take a little poll and find out what your personal recommendation for spooling up your spinning gear.

I have fireline crystal spooled on all my spinning reels, however Bruce has been outcasting me with small jigs regularly using 4 lb trilene XL.

When time allows, let me know your favorite for casting jigs for crappie, gills, redears and perch. I'm going to spool up all my spares with the winner.

Merry Christmas Pondmeisters.

TJ

Oh yeah, and please let us know WHY you favor the line you do: Castability, knot strength, low memory, ect.

Thanks

I was going to add a specific request for ultralight line recommendations, but that note is probably all the info I need.

While we're at it, perhaps offer your opinions on rod and reels, too. It's going to be a LONG winter.

I'll begin:

I like a G Loomis UL 5'6", 6', or 6'6" IMX or GL3 but also like BPS Extreme and good old Micro Lite too. The Loomis blanks are super light, well balanced, ultra sensitive and rocket the jigs -but I have to wait until my Cabelas points add up to buy them one at a time.

I have been using Shimano Symetre spinning reels [750 and 1000] but am going to try some of the Spirex as their bail trigger looks like a convenient option when peppering cover from the belly boats.

just a quick note on a new ultra light set up i recently put together.

k-mart - berkley lightning ultra light rod $10
cabelas - pflueger microspin reel $26
line - trilene xl 4 and 6 lb (reel came w/ 2 spools) - $5
catching a fat GSF on this rig.......PRICELESS

Nice price on the lightning rod - the BPS Micro lites are going for $29.99 during their close out sale...might pick a few up at that price.

I bought a Shimano Spirex and love it. I use it attached to a Cabelas ultra light pole and it is a great combination. Once JWHAP tried it she liked it so much she wanted one. It is a great reel, the most tangle free spinning reel I've ever used (which is saying a lot considering my moronic fishing style). The rear drag and bail trigger are great.

I still haven't found a line that I particularily like. Seems like every line that I use develops lots of coils after sitting on the reel for a month or two.

Jeff

Have you ever tried tying a good barrel swivel to an 18" flourocarbon leader down to your jig? That has helped me immensely with mono line twist...let me know!

For bluegill fishing I prefer Berkley Trilene XL in 4 pound test. Great castability and low coil. 3 pound test would be the perfect size though, but I don't think they make it outside of the ice fishing version. I have tried Stren off and on and have never been impressed with it.

I also prefer my line in the low-visability green. Disappears better in the waters I fish.

I'm not a fan of the bail trigger. It is just an extra piece to get line wrapped around or possibly break. Rear drags are really nice to have, especially if you need to adjust while fighting an unexpected larger fish like a bass.

I tried the smallest size Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier reel for my UL this year. Liked it a lot, the oversize spool seems to cast farther than standard ones. The drag is very good, and it is smooth as a baby's butt on the retrieve. I use 2/6 Fireline.

4lb Trilene XL for ultralight. It's so soft and supple. I've caught 20" rainbows in very fast current, 8lb CC and plenty of big bluegill. Great for casting tiny jigs and has enough stretch to cushion even the big bites.

The next step for me 8lb PLine 100% flourocarbon. I use it for all bass and for walleye when using jigs and spoons. If I need heavier than 8lb I use a baitcaster and pretty much skip to 15lb test at least.

Gloomis rods and Shimano reels...can't go wrong.

BPS brand...one of my favorite UL is but the bearings are shot 2nd year in use.

Ryan

I too have purchased BPS reels throughout the years and for some reason end up getting much fewer miles on them than I do my Shimanos. I have some friends who really like theirs, but I just have rotten luck with them - bailsprings that bust after a couple years [not hard to repair, but still] and also bearing issues like you mentioned. I think I must be getting reels made on Fridays...guys can't keep their mind on their work but are already fishing!

I have called BPS and they won't tell me who manufactures their reels - but a reliable source once told me Silstar. Remember that brand?

I like your signature...thanks for weighing in Csteffen.