Sure, I could have used my five-weight and been able to cast a larger fly to a marauding bass, but the fun I was having on these strong pulling slabs was far outweighing the occasional opportunity to tussle with a bucketmouth. In fact, since acquiring my two weight, it is the stick that I reach for first, whether fishing for pan fish, or seducing trout. But what about the "experts" that say you should use a heavier rod? Truth is, I have landed many big fish on this stick, including a 4 lb bass, 7 lb sucker, and an 8+ lb King salmon. Not that I was targeting them, but when they decided that my fake bug was something they wanted to munch, I had two choices: fight them... or break them off.

So where do you start if you want to make the transition to "ultralight" fly tackle? Let's start by looking at the limitations of light fly equipment. Since the line is the weight that cast the "lure", you better plan on utilizing lighter bugs. A one or two weight rod is no match for a wind resistant bass popper. Sure a competent caster can get a bigger fly out adequately with a light rod, but let's stick with flies in the size 12 or smaller category. Nymphs, small streamers, and small streamlined poppers can all cast far enough to catch pan fish. One of my favorite subsurface flies for slab bluegills is a scud. Size 16 in a natural hares ear color or some soft pale grey or olive color is candy to most fish. I have found scuds in almost every aquatic environment that I have sampled, from lakes to rivers and in between. Don't neglect the scud!
Since you are casting a lighter rod, you can use lighter tippet and this generally equates into more bites! I would suggest a leader that is around 9ft and tapered down to 5x or even 6X. With today's better polymers, this is often pushing 5 lb test and the last time I checked a 5 lb pan fish is a very healthy specimen!

One of the tricks for detecting light biting fish, when you are fishing subsurface flies, is to watch the coils that inevitably form in your leader at the butt section.  These soft curves are a pretty good strike indicator if you pay close attention to them.  As you are slowly stripping your subsurface fly in with a hand twist, watch the soft curves that are in the butt section of your leader.  If they begin to straighten out when you are stripping in slowly, set the hook!  A giant slab bluegill can suck your fly in and spit it out faster than you can react, if you are waiting to feel a tug, but if you pay close attention to the leader as it is coming back towards you, these light bites can be subtly detected and a good hook set can be sprung before Mr. Big can spit the fake out!  You can even try creating a slight coil in your butt section that acts as a strike indicator.  Take the butt section and wrap it around a pen or some other cylindrical object to form a few coils like a spring.  Then take and slowly stretch these coils until they are soft coils with only slight curve to them.  One of the benefits of ultralight rods, is they will flex more and cushion the tippet when you set the hook on a good fish.  They also act like a spring when you are fighting the fish, protecting fragile tippets.

So remember, if you want to have a great time fighting smaller fish, and you don't mind ignoring the occasional opportunity at a larger species, try using ultralight fly gear.  Anything 4 weight and under fits the bill in my book, and go as light as you can reasonably cast effectively.  There are many top quality 2 weight rods being made these days.  Oh, and one last tip.   Get the longest lightweight rod that you can find.  8 foot or longer is better, as it has more length to make casting a little easier, and it will act as a longer spring to protect the light tippets that you will be using with this gear.  Who knows:  maybe I'll see your name in the next record book for catches on superlight tippet!