How ugly is Ugly???

[Fish Buster]

Hi,

Ugly sticks are definitely some of the hardest rods to break but how would the 7' spinning model rated for 15-40 lb, 1-6 oz lure weight hold up to some of the hardest fighting fish such as GT? Any personal experiences with the uglies?

Thanks,
FB

[tprice]

Not sure what a GT is but I use Ugly sticks and they are pretty good rods. Never had one break

[Fish Buster]

Thanks tprice. GT is Giant Trevally, which are some of the hardest fighting fish anywhere. One requires a rod that has lots of pulling power - being unbreakable is not enough. Of course, a standup would be the ideal choice but these magnificent creatures are often caught popping.

FB

For a real test, give your rod to my buddy George. He runs them through the full test cycle; you know, ceilings, car doors, tail gates, trees,garage doors, stepped-on, rammed into side of boat, overboard, and on and on and on.

He always concludes his test rport with "Hey, you need to get some new rods!".

[marsea]

I use Ugly sticks in many sizes and styles. Very durable!. I have some that are around 12 yrs old and going strong. The only thing I noticed is the anodizing starts to wear off the guides on the very old ones I have, but who cares. After 12 yrs. of service they owe me nothing.

[PtJudeRI]

My current striper setup is a 20-40 lb class ugly stick with a TLD-20 on it. Great setup.. Ugly sticks are great value for the $$. Not the flashy rods you see on big sporties, but for me, they cant be killed, preform well, and dont break the bank.

[Provie63]

I sold tackle for over 20 years and I can tell you Ugly Stiks are about the toughest rods out there.. This is due to the fact that they are heavy-walled tubular glass topped off with SOLID fiberglass at the top 1/3 of the rod (which is of course, the part of a rod most often broken ) ... I recall working shows with the factory rep. from Shakespeare Bill Sheridan, who would have a 5'9" light action freshwater model rigged up with a piece of rope tied to a 10# mushroom anchor...he would challenge all comers to yank as hard as they wanted to try to break the rod..no one ever did.. The downside to them is they tend to be a bit heavy (heavy glass =weight), and the are not very sensitive compared to a good graphite rod. And don't let the reference to graphite in ugly stick advertising fool ya..there is alot more graphite in half a golf pencil than an Ugly.. As for as fighting big fish, there is really not much excuse for breaking any rod, unless the angler is doing something foolish like wrenching down the drag and "Hi-tipping" , etc..As for pulling power, glass being more parabolic, usually doesn't give you the same kind of power as a good graphite at the butt end...but IMO you have a better chance of having an Ugly Stik split by lightning than busting one under normal use..

[folly basser]

i have broken 2 ugly sticks while casting in the surf. both were fairly new and i was using the proper weight range sinkers. took them back to the store and they replaced --no problem.

[SEATOAD]

This is going to sound crazy, but here goes... you are looking for personal experiences....

The toughest thing to land that I have ever tied into was a huge ray (I have no idea what kind) while I was fishing inshore locally here in St. Simons Island. We were just goofing off trying to catch some shark (mainly drinking beer) in the sound when my bonita chunk "moved". The tide was in full swing running about 7 knots (we have up to 10 ft tidal swings here) and I was fishing my senator 113h with accurate frame and handle, 80lb trilene big game braid w/150lb momoi ultra hard leader, 175lb cable, and a 30-60 lb USCC 2270 MH ugly stick. The giant ray came to the boat rather quickly and then stayed down in the current at about 40 feet. After 1 hour of almost no progress with a locked down drag (with pliers) I put on the shoulder harness that my buddy had stored on his boat. I finally got tired, by beer got warm, and I tried to break the knot attaching the leader to the big game braid.... Lets just say I was not gentle with the force. Like you see in the commercials, I bent the rod literally in half, I high sticked it (cardinal sin for breaking rods) and jerked it, I yelled, I cussed, I stepped up on the coffin box for more leverage, you name it. After fighting the current and the huge ray (about 7-8 feet side to side) up to the boat, I was sober and WTFO! We unhooked the ray, and let it go. The darn thing was just sitting angled down in the current the whole time, did not even act affected by the fight! Anyhow.... the ugly stick never missed a beat, and that same rod had caught many a dolphin, cobia, and even a 100lb goliath grouper in the keys this past summer. I think you get the picture by now...

For GT, which are notoriously hard fighters, I would go as heavy as they make in a spinning rod. If you want to make it really interesting, buy a heavy uglystick blank from mudhole or donart or another one of the good rod shops and build it to your specs! You'd be surprised how affordable the blanks are, and you can get exactly the components and action you are looking for! As far as quality, performance and value for your dollar goes... its hard to beat an uglystick. I know I sound like a commercial, but they are that good...

[sinfish]

I'm a fan, especially with braid. I like the blank idea too.

[SeaBoss Kid]

I have 3 out of 9 of my ugly sticks layed up in the garage with broken eyes, 2 of those with lost tips. All Three have missing or cracked eyes elsewhere on the rod. I take pretty good care of my tackle, but would say that the tips might be my fault, but the other eyes, both types, stainless and Polymer are not my fault. I would say that if you are gonig to buy Uglys, get the stainless guides, not the cheaper version with the poly-plastic eye guides at wal mart. I have also had one of my Tsunami rods loose an eye lately, maybe it's just me.. Dang it..

[HullSlap]

SeaBoss Kid - 11/30/2007 5:13 PM

I have 3 out of 9 of my ugly sticks layed up in the garage with broken eyes, 2 of those with lost tips. All Three have missing or cracked eyes elsewhere on the rod. I take pretty good care of my tackle, but would say that the tips might be my fault, but the other eyes, both types, stainless and Polymer are not my fault. I would say that if you are gonig to buy Uglys, get the stainless guides, not the cheaper version with the poly-plastic eye guides at wal mart. I have also had one of my Tsunami rods loose an eye lately, maybe it's just me.. Dang it..

I replaced all of the eyes on my rods with Recoil titanium wire guides from REC because I was tired of replacing standard guides all the time. Trust me it's not just you. http://www.reelseats.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/29_40

I've had the Recoil guides on a medium-heavy Ugly Stik Intercoastal (blue wraps and cork grip) for over three years now and my guide problems are gone. That is one tough rod with a set of nearly indestructible guides now. I put them on a Berkly Lightning Rod and a Quantum rod as well. So nice not to have to worry about losing those annoying little ring inserts. BTW I don't work for or have any connections with REC components, but I certainly do love their Recoil guides.

[petrel]

I turned a buddy on to Black Drum Fishing and he ran out and bought two of them. Saddled them with Penn spinning reels and loaded them with 80# spectra. that was four years ago and we routinely catch 10-20 30-75lb Black Drum on them every year. He screws the drag down and lets them pull. No Problems. I'd never do that with my St. Croixs!

[doughnut]

I think that there a re much better choices than ugly sticks. While they are tough, they dont generate the lifting power of other competitors.

[Bullshipper]

Look at your priorities, to realize what you need. I believe you are putting the horse in front of your wagon.
First off you have to hook the fish, and casting farther out will make for longer surface retrieves where you can stay farther away from boat shy fish in shallow reef areas = more strikes.

So for casting poppers you need a casting rod and the ugly spinners do not have fast tips to make for good casting rods. EGlass or Graphite is beeter for this purpose, although I personally feel that the graphite is a way overrated and priced, and very unforgiving.

Once you do hook the fish, you can put unlimited power on any fish with just about any rod if you drop the tip enough to prevent breaking it, but still have enough bend in it to fullfill its function as a shock absorber.

GT's are big jacks, and all jacks are good fighters pound per lb, but I would not stand in awe of any fish this small. Try catching a large yft on your spinner. Guys in Pananma are landing 200 pounders on this tackle.

I own 3 -9' ugly casting rods and my $50 7' shimanos will cast just as far.

But I do think their all aftco roller $160 XXH Bigwater series are as good or better than my Calstar 6455 that run $150 more, and I use these with drags appoaching 50 lbs. These blanks will lift with the best of them.

[doughnut]

(i should have clarified, I meant in the light tackle spinning and casting blanks) I agree with Jeff on the Standup stuff, excellent (best) choice for the $$$$.

[saltydawgrods]

If you are doing any kind of fishing where the fish hook themselves (like trolling), I guess they are fine. Buf if feel is a factor in your fishing (like feeling the bottom, the bite, the tension on your line) then they are dogs... terrible. It's like fishing with a 2X4. There is a reason that graphite and graphite composites have run fiberglass out of the market. Ugly Sticks are heavy, "wobbly"/flimsy, and they don't transmit vibrations.

[Bullshipper]

saltydawgrods - 12/1/2007 3:10 PM

If you are doing any kind of fishing where the fish hook themselves (like trolling), I guess they are fine. Buf if feel is a factor in your fishing (like feeling the bottom, the bite, the tension on your line) then they are dogs... terrible. It's like fishing with a 2X4. There is a reason that graphite and graphite composites have run fiberglass out of the market. Ugly Sticks are heavy, "wobbly"/flimsy, and they don't transmit vibrations.

Now I wouldn't go that far, unless I was a rod builder trying to convince my customers to spend a heck of a lot more dough on an american made product. You can keep those graphite rods too.

[saltydawgrods]

Search and search, Bullshipper... you'll never find a post from me inviting business. I know my stuff and I don't mind shring my knowledge. fish with what you want. It won't affect my catch rate.