Grass Lake has no pike and no bass. Just panfish. If the bluegills in Grass Lake become any more prolific, their only hope for survival will be to grow real teeth and mow down the occasional cow that strays into the shallows. These piranha wanna-be gills surround swimmers and try to eat their toes off.

Yet, Grass Lake (which is, to be as precise as prudently possible, somewhere in North America) demands to be fished. For every hundred peanuts there's a platter-sized pugilist in the 3/4- to 2-pound range waiting to straighten hooks and break line. Bait fishing is foolish in lakes like this. More time is spent disgorging hooks than fishing. So, in 1978, we finally discovered we could fish selectively for Grass Lake's trophy 'gills with ultralight minnowbaits like the Rebel F-49. Twitching it on top, letting it rest, and retrieving it slowly beneath the surface reversed the ratio (100 peanuts to 1 bull) to something closer to 1:1.

The first ultralight crankbait, the size MM MirrOlure, appeared way back in 1957. L&S Bait Company had been making MirrOlures for years, mostly for saltwater fishermen, when they came out with the 2-inch version. Sales manager Eric Bachnik said the MM was an instant success with crappie and trout fishermen in 1957, even though ultralight rods, reels and line had yet to appear.

And ultralight fishing is nonspecific. Bluegills are just one possibility. The next fish could be a crappie, largemouth, smallmouth, pike, walleye, dogfish, white bass, trout -- you name it. But the effectiveness of ultralight cranks for bluegills is best appreciated after watching a tank of captive bulls scarf a scoop of crappie minnows in 10 seconds flat. A bull bluegill's maw can expand wide enough to engulf a 2 1/2-inch minnow. Long, slender body shapes fit in their mouths best, which explains the effectiveness of tiny minnowbaits like the smallest MirrOlures, Rapalas, Rebels and AC Shiners.

The smallest floating Rapala wasn't introduced until 1967, when the earliest ultralight tackle was so unsophisticated it was almost unfishable. By the early 1990s, exponential advances in monofilament line, ultralight rods and small reels made ultralight fishing more efficient, fun and productive than ever before. Which means, today, it's more efficient than ever to select for larger panfish with ulatralight gear than ever before.

Yo-Zuri Snap Bean

The smallest ultralight crank so far is the Snap Bean from Yo-Zuri. It's so small, bluegills can inhale the whole thing. Other ultralight cranks today resemble tiny shad, caterpillars, ants, crayfish, frogs, minnows and nothing in particular. Miniature rattle baits like the Cordell Ultra-Light Spot and the Bill Lewis Tiny Trap are deadly for white bass. Small shad baits like the Yo-Zuri Snap Shad and the new Rapala Shad Rap are far more effective than most people realize for trolling up huge crappies in reservoirs. Tiny creature baits like the Rebel Wee Crawfish, Cat'R Crawler and Teeny Wee Frog catch anything that swims in creeks or along the edge of pad fields in natural lakes. Diminuitive banana baits like the Luhr Jensen K-3 Kwickfish and Worden's F-2 Flatfish catch everything from perch to trout when trolled along deep weededges or gravel flats. Fat baits like the Rapala Mini Fat Rap and Bomber 3F Fat A pop sunfish, bluegills and bass in shallow water all summer. In the hardware department, Eppinger makes ultralight spoons, and Mepps makes teeny size #00 spinners. All of these baits are 2-inches long or less.

When ultralight rods first appeared, they were too small. Manufacturers felt that ultralight meant ultra small and ultra soft. For years our only options were little 4 1/2- to 5-foot buggy whips that couldn't cast a Dardevle across the street, let alone a lure that weighed less than 1/8-ounce. No wonder my favorite ultralight rod today is a fast G. Loomis 7 footer equipped with a Daiwa 750 SS Tournament reel. The rod is rated to protect 2-pound test, though I usually match it with 4 pound.

Longer, faster ultralight rods cast farther. Use the same casting motion with two rods in your hand -- a 6 footer and a 7 footer. The tip of the 7 footer has to travel farther in the same amount of time. That means increased tip speed. More tip speed means more distance, when balanced with the right line and lure weights.

Ultralight reels, however, are too small for anything but fishing vertically. Coils come off in too high a frequency, the resulting line slap killing distance. Use a "light" reel for casting ultralight cranks, with a thin, tough 4-pound line like Stren Magnathin.

Cranks rarely catch more bluegills than bait. But cranks do select for bigger specimens. If you're after numbers, stick with bait. If you want to run with the bulls, grab the ultralight box.

Mini-cranks are delicate and proportionately more squirrely than larger units. Tuning them requires special precautions. Gregg Meyer says, "You almost have to check them after every cast. Breathe on one too hard and it goes off kilter. And, being micro baits, they have to be micro tuned. I visit the watchmaker shop for tools, because tuning them requires a fine pair of needlenose pliers."   The process is the same for tiny baits as for larger ones. If the bait runs to the left, turn the eye ever so slightly to the right as it faces you. Then check it in the water.   One way to make your micros run straighter is to tie directly to the loop on the bill with a loop knot. "Split rings and snaps alter the action," Meyer points out, "especially for casting. A snap or split ring weighs fully one-tenth the weight of some mini-cranks, throwing them off balance." A loop knot allows the lure to vibrate more and perhaps dig slightly deeper.   "To make mini-cranks run deeper and work harder at a slower pace, burn a hole in plastic lures, add a drop of water, and plug the hole with a toothpick or epoxy," Meyer says. SuspenDots can be used to tune micros for deeper running. For most baits, add half a Dot and they suspend. Place it on the throat behind the bill and ahead of the first (or only) treble.   Meyer also glues tiny fly-fishing shot to the body with Fishing Glue. "Sometimes SuspenDots are too big, and it can be critical that these baits hang horizontally as they fall, not nose-up or nose-down."