Affordable fly rod.

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wmcook3200

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Hello there,
I am new to fly fishing. I have been fishing with a 5 wt rod that I recieved for christmas. I have become totaly hooked on this fly fishing thing and have been practicing alot. Problem is here in the middle of Kansas there aren't many trout to fish for. My fishin opportunities are more limited to bass and carp. I am not having much luck casting bass bugs of much size with my 5 wt. I have been told to buy a 8 or 9 wt rod for fishing for bass. My question is does anyone make a 9 wt fly rod that is affordable. Most rods I have seen seem to cost $300 or more. Surely there is an affordable fly rod out there that performs well. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
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okuma

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check cabela's rods. i have 2 traditions II rods I like alot. 9 weight is a big rod. how big are the bass?
 
ghost_reaper

ghost_reaper

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Cabelas had the Redington Red.Fly2 rods on clearance depending on what your looking for. These rods come with a lifetime warranty. WHICH IS HUGE!

I own two of them and the are great rods. I have a 5wt and an 8wt.
 
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ncflyboy

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Hi WM,

Welcome to the forum and flyfishing. There are plenty of nice casting rods in the "sub" $100 range. I have fished 3 in this category: Bass Pro Shops "Hobbs Creek" ($89), Bass Pro Shops "Dogwood Canyon" ($55), and Redington's "Crosswater" ($79).

"Bass" flyrod? I've caught more bass on a 4wt with size 10 flies than I can remember. Most were under 3 lbs!

I had an 8wt years ago, and gave it away...I caught more crappies on that thing than bass.

Bass Pro Shops has a line of short (7'10") rods called "heat." 8wt-10wt. $100 each. I like shorter flyrods, and my next one may be the 10wt...to chunk the big stuff for big hungry bass!

Cheers,

Robert
 
texastroutbum

texastroutbum

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Welcome to the board WMCook,
I have been fishing in Texas chasing after bass, white bass, and sometimes strippers and sun fish and what have you. And I have been using mostly 5 to 6 weight rods and I thought that these two rods have given me enough leverage to catch bass and carp, some of which were about 4 to 8 pounds.

You can use 8 wt for bass but I think 9 wt sounds really a overkill. I do think that many anglers in this forum may agree with me. One advantage of 8 wt rod will be that it has fighting butt which helps you deal with chunky fish weighing perhaps up to 20 lbs or more. So if you are going after really heavy fish, you may want to go for 8 wt. But I believe that these 8 wt rods will not automatically help you throw big flies. So, I suggest that before you buy any of those heavy duty stuff, try to learn double haul, a type of casting skill which allows you to increase line speed and helps you to throw bigger flies even with a 4 wt rod. Another advantage of this skill is that you can cast even in a windy day. You can find some tutorials from you tube. If you want to master this casting, you want to learn from some good casters perhaps from your local fly shops. If you already learn and use this skill and can not throw big bugs, then you may want to go for 8 wt.

Anyway, this is fly fishing and if you want to go for 9 wt, you can do it because fly fishing for everybody is different and you will learn by trying many different things. One of my fly fishing mentors in texas, whom I call a fly casting Jedi, is using 3 wt and 4 wt rod for bass, and with his super great line control he can deal with some of heavy fish. That is him and I, a fly fishing padawan, am using a 6 wt rod and that is me.
 
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ncflyboy

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Texas,

I have used an 8wt for largemouth bass, but after seeing them attack 6" bluegills at the pond, I have considered the possibility of using a 10 wt. Some baitcast anglers are tossing 10" worms for trophy bass!

I used a 20 lb "saltwater" leader on my 8wt. Sometimes I believed that leader was too light...I would drag 10 lbs of weeds with a 2 lb bass inside! I wouldn't feel "overgunned" with a 40 lb leader, should I need to pull a double digit bass out of the salad!

I've pulled my share of LM bass with a 4wt. When they hit the weeds, I normally wade to the weeds, slide my fingers down the line, grab the belly and mouth, and claim my prize!

My next "bass" rod may be a 10wt...sometimes bass like something big to eat! Tossing Jitterbug sized poppers sounds fantastic...hooking the bass that hits that popper sounds even better!:D

Cheers,

Robert
 
Rip Tide

Rip Tide

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I know a guy who likes to fish for bass with an 11wt, but I've never felt the need to be that heavily gunned.
I usually take an 8wt, or when I have space, the 8 and a 6wt too
With the 8wt, I have no problem throwing the 3/0 bendback divers I tie for the local "salad bowls"
You might want to look into the Scientific Angler 7/8 Bass combo. I know stores like Dick's have it for $110. Some W*lmarts might carry them too. Less on-line
 
Fly2bTied

Fly2bTied

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ghost_reaper said:
Cabelas had the Redington Red.Fly2 rods on clearance depending on what your looking for. These rods come with a lifetime warranty. WHICH IS HUGE!

I own two of them and the are great rods. I have a 5wt and an 8wt.
Click to expand...
I just bought one of these rods for my son in a 4 piece, 8.5, 5 weight. They are nice rods and 50% off retail.
 
FrankB2

FrankB2

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Here's the biggest bass I ever caught:



9' 5wt rod with a #10 Wooly Bugger. My right shoulder was injured back in 2002, so I need to use 5wt's and smaller. My wife and I spent every day last week fishing, and she caught two 22"+ catfish on an 8'6" 5wt. One was on a #10 Wooly Bugger, and the other on a 3" Clouser Minnow (lead dumb bell eyes
rather than the usual bead chain I use for that fly). They were lying deep in a channel, and the Clouser drew an immediate strike. I can throw the same lead eye Clouser with a 4wt rod, but you have to use a different cast and a proper leader. A hand-tied 7.5" 3X leader works fine for me, and while I used to use an oval cast, I just open my loops up and get it done. I never cast much further than 30 feet for largemouth, so distance isn't a big problem. Like NCFlyboy, I often use small flies for large and smallmouth bass. Here's a
20+ inch channel cat I caught on a #10 Green Weenie:

I was once again using my 8'6" 4wt, and that fish took off like a missile...several times!

A bassbug type of line will work much better than a trout taper, and the leader should be short and stout (assuming you're using something larger than a #10 Green Weenie :D ).
 
silver creek

silver creek

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I would buy the close out Gary Borger Pro Series rods from the Fly Shop. Original price was over $300.00 but now the 7 and 8 wt are under $125. I own and use these rods and these are the same rods that Gary Borger uses when we go fishing for bass. These rods come with an extra rod tip.

https://catalog.theflyshop.com/prod...=7964&osCsid=s46ue2geu8dkjlnipiopuvuor2s9la6t

Gary hooked ever 20 smallies on his 7 wt a few weeks ago.

 
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ncflyboy

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texastroutbum said:
Ncflyboy
I just tip the hat. You must be a bass master.:surprise:
Click to expand...
Honestly, the bass have been the greatest teachers! There is a pond I have fished in the past...and it is gin clear! I have watched the bass, and they have taught me more than I've read in magazines. Here's some things I've learned from watching those bass:

1. Largemouth bass are ambush predators. I've seen them position themselves in the weeds...they face the open weedline, waiting for an unsuspecting meal to swim nearby.

2. The bigger bass will swim towards the bottom...they don'y want to be seen, let alone become a meal for an osprey!

3. Bass yawn. I've seen plenty of bass open and close their mouth, remaining motionless.

4. Some bass will swim around a lure (or fly), examining it, then swiming away.

5. I once hooked a bluegill...while I was fighting the panfish, a very nice bass was watching the action...directly below the fish. It was as if the bass was deciding to attack the struggling bluegill.

6. A bass will spit out a lure as fast as they can inhale it.

7. I have had bass approach me no further than 6 or 7 feet from me while I exited the pond. I even kicked the water towards the fish, to see what the fish would do...that bass just hovered there, as if it wasn't intimidated...like it owned the pond! That bass was probably a 14", not the 22" I caught or the 24" my friend caught.

8. Bass will try to steal a fly hanging from the mouth of a hooked bass. I have seen two bass follow a hooked bass, trying to grab the wooly bugger hanging on the jaw. Chickens will do the same...they'll try to grab a bug from another chicken....my hens did that when I was in the FFA in high school and had a small flock of laying hens.

I once hooked a small bluegill at this pond years ago. While fighting the fish, a nice bass decides to grab my fish. Just to see what the fish would do, I yanked the bluegill out of the bass's mouth. This next part surprised me...the bass stopped, turned directly towards me (I was in knee deep water...24") and swam towards me. The bass swam to my right, swam behind me, then bolted from my left back towards the struggling fish on my wooly bugger. That bass grabbed my bluegill and hit the afterburner...easily snapping the 4 lb leader. It was if the bass was saying "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you." The distance from the hooked fish was approx. 40 ft or so...and the bass closed that distance in no time! After this encounter, I have often wondered how smart fish really are, and how much do we really understand about fish behavior.

Cheers,

Robert
 
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barham

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Wmcook3200
I live in central Texas and have been fly fishing for years. You should get a 6wt rod that is comfortable and cheap, such as Redington Crosswater 9' 6wt, and have fun. I landed a 4.5 lb bass on a 6 wt and you can so also.
barham
 
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clouserguyky

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For bass and carp, I'd still with a 6-8 weight, with a 7 being the most versatile for those warmwater species and the flies you'll be using. A 6 is the most fun as far as fish fighting, but the 7 and 8 weight lines will cast larger bass flies a lot easier. For smallmouth, largemouth, and carp in rivers and lakes, I use a 9'6" 6 weight and a 9' 7 weight the most.
 
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