BIG Bass fly casting help

[flymoron]

I am looking for a new rod/reel/line/leader for big bass bugs, any suggestions with weight/leader/tippet/length etc.... will be greatly appreciated, this will a dedicated rig.


thanks in advance
(remember I am a moron)

 

[nick k]

Depends what your definition of BIG is for flies. If you could give us some examples of specific sizes and patterns it would help us narrow down.

Off the bat, here is what I'd say:

Rod - 7wt 9'0''
Reel - Anything (but preferably large arbor), all it's going to do is hold your line
Line - A 7 or 8wt WFF line or a dedicated bass taper
Leader - 16lb tippet material
Tippet - 12lb tippet material

Suggestions for bass flies:

Clousers
Poppers
Frogs
Mice
Crayfish
A few bend-backs (probably baby bass patterns)
Leeches
Terrestrials (hoppers, dragonflies, etc.)


A lot of people are probably going to suggest an 8wt rod for you. PERSONALLY, I think that is often too much rod, but then again the bass by me are smaller and I never need to cast that far. A lot will also depend on your casting skill level. A decent-good caster could get the same distance with a 6wt that a novice could with an 8wt.

 

[Rip Tide]

My best rig for throwing big hairy 3/0 bass bugs is a fiberglass 8wt that bends right right down to the cork for powerful open loops.
This is a situation where a fast action rod casting tight loops is not what you're looking for.
However, big glass rods are heavy and none too pleasant for all day casting.
Over lineing a graphite rod will accomplish the much same thing.
You don't want a long rod either. Shorter rods are more accurate for close in casting and with bass fishing accuracy is far more important than distance.

 

[nick k]

More important than picking a heavier rod is learning to haul and double haul.

 

[ditz]

Nick is correct.....your info is a too vague. A 6wt might work but a 9 or 10 may work better if you are using large wind resistant bugs and streamers. The weather conditions can also be a factor. Windy = a big rod and distance you want to cast is also a factor. A 7wt is a good choice for all except real big bugs and lots of wind. Unless you are a big strong fella I would not recommend a big glass rod if you plan any long days throwing large bugs. I also like glass rods but they are heavy. Even a 9wt graphite can get heavy after a few hours. You might consider buying a 7wt with lots of back bone and have multiple line wts for it. Maybe a 7wt, 8wt, and 9wt. Get 3 identical moderately priced reel for the lines. If you are expecting to need sinking lines your reel and line needs can get expansive. Only you can decide what you will need and want and like to cast. A bass taper line or even a saltwater taper would be a good place to start.

Keep in mind that it is easier to cast a heavy line as the bug size increases. Some fellas use a 10wt to throw large bugs. A 7' 9wt is easier to cast than a 9' 9wt but your distance is a little more limited. A 7' 9wt will need to be custom made because I don't think any manufacturer makes such an animal.

 

[reidsisk]

It depends on how big of a fly you want to cast. I have a Sage LMB rod (which is technically a 9wt) and i like it a lot. Double hauling is very important with that short of a rod, BUT, its so stiff that you dont have to false cast. Thats why i like it. I just pick up the fly and whip it out 30 or so feet. I just recently got a Sage RPLXi 9wt and Ive only used it with my Sage Bass line. It will do the same thing, a longer rod gives you better pick-up, but the Sage LMB loads better with a small amount of line. Im still getting used to the RPLXi, so i cant make a fair judgement on it yet. I LOVE it so far.

As for line, I just bought Freshwater Rio Outbound Short. Ive heard some good things about it and thought i'd give it a try. Tippet/leader doesnt really matter as long as you arent using trout-sized line... I use 10lb fishing line.

I had a 7wt and it could cast the big bugs if you are good enough at casting. Im still not the best, so i went with a 9wt

 

[gannoli]

I just got a Cabela's TLr 9' 8wt and Cabela's Prestige Premier reel. I mostly fish for bass with this rod and its great. I use cabela's prestige plus line because thats what came with the combo. For a leader I use a twisted ferruled leader made from 10lb mono with a 10lb tippet.

 

[chased]

I had a Sage Largemouth Bass rod. It was a short and very stout rod. It couldn't do super long casts very well, but it could throw pretty much any fly you would ever want to use out to 60ft accurately pretty well. It had enough backbone to pull a big pass out of thick vegetation with no problems whatsoever. You can find the yellow, first generation Sage Bass rods for around $200.

-Chase

 

[turbineblade]

More important than picking a heavier rod is learning to haul and double haul.

+1. Any rod 7-10 weight would work fine provided that your casting is good.

Good casting trumps rod weight, line weight, overlining or underlining, etc.

I agree with Rip about accuracy >> distance for bass. I don't care for bass taper lines (or any extreme weight forward types) but they do well for huge bugs at short distances of 20-50'. Anything over that and I prefer a more typical WF line.

 

[haulingmario]

Any of the Sage Bass rods can throw big flies or even small lures,I have the Bluegill version 230 grain rod and I can cast up to 60 feet with the largest flies.The Small Mouth Bass rod would be good too and not overkill like the Sage Bass rod 330 grain is.I think you can get one first generation on Ebay for about 200$. I use an old Pflueger Medalist 1495 reel I paid 10$ at a flea market with my Bass rod.

 

[nick k]

In my opinion the Sage Bass series rods are BLATANT overkill. The largemouth one is what would be a 10wt. To put that in perspective, I use a 9wt for saltwater striped bass and I generally feel its a little heavy for them.

I have no doubt that if Sage listed the species specific rods in standard weight format instead of grain weights (which confuse most fisherman) than they would be far less popular. No one needs to throw a 3/0 deer hair popper 80 feet into high wind and then pull the bass out of a tree stump with 2 other smaller bass on dropper flies.

Don't go higher than an 8wt or I personally think you will be disappointed in your fishing experience. As I've said before on other threads, many people get caught up in what a rod CAN do and not what the angler actually NEEDS to do. The SAGE Bass is a perfect example of telling the angler all the wonderful things they can do and all the huge bugs they can throw, but not actually going them what they need. A stiff broomstick can fight a bass too, but I wouldn't use it.

 

[haulingmario]

My Bluegill Sage Bass rod is 3 7/16 oz and I have a Abu Garcia Conolon 5-6 wt 8' 3oz flyrod that is the same diameter as the Sage Bass rod so its about a 6 wt.
The Sage feels lighter and is well balanced the Abu Garcia is very tip heavy,they cast very near the same but I would never use the Garcia I would get fatigued.
But I agree Nick the OTHER Sage Bass rods are overkill for LMB,heck I have seen a video of a guy catch a 40lb Golden Dorado with the Sage Bass Smallmouth rod in Argentina.

 

[fr8dog]

Another thing to consider is what you are throwing into. For some places I fish, a 6 is just fine. For others, with heavier cover, an 8 is necessary to be able to horse them out of the sticks. I have a 9 that I use in some situations, but not very often.

I'm usually making shorter casts, so I just use straight mono for leaders. Again, you take your conditions into account for line wt.

For me, in OK, with our conditions, if I had only one rod, it would be an 8.

 

[muppetmullet81]

Sage makes great rods. But so does almost everyone else for half the the price. TFO, Reddington, even the bass pro white river HEAT is a great bass fly rod. Most important is you want a wt. between 6-9. Ten wt. is way to much rod. And 5 wt is not enough. A 7 or 8 wt is are best. If you want to compete in B.A.S.S your rod needs to be under 8 ft in lengh. But just for the sport of fishing I think a 9ft 7 or 8 wt rod is your ticket. You don't need to spent a ton of money on a reel because bass will very, very very rarely run on you. They are going to pull up their sleeves and fight you in close. Wt forward floating line and a simple 6 ft lengh of 20lb mono with a 2 ft lengh of 12 mono for tippet. With that set up you can throw anything with from big dumbell eyes and heavy cone noses. To soft damsel flies. Poppers are no proublem and streames are like casting a dream. Bass fly fishing is all the fun of trout fishing without all the snobby fly fisherman. Have fun and good luck

 

[bmbailes]

lots of good advice here! i tend to grab a certain wt. rod for a few reasons...

1. how big of a fly do i want to throw?
2. what type of water and structure will i be fishing?
3. will wind effect my casting?
4. are there good chances of hooking a bruiser?

and thats basically the order i go by. i tend to fish 6-8wts. alot for bass. if i just want to target a variety of fish i grab a 9' 5 or 6wt. now i have 2 and 4 wt. that i take to small spring streams. they are a blast and i have actually caught a big LM on the 4wt....BUT, it wasnt fun to me. sure the fish fought and it took a bit of time to land. only way i can describe it, its like deer hunting with a 22lr, sure it can and people have killed deer with such a light round but doesnt seem right ( on top of being illegal). just ask yourself the 4 questions above and that will help alot. some days though its just fun throwing big bugs and watching the action.

 

[ditz]

There is not a bass out there that a 6wt will not handle. ....unless you need to horse it out of heavy cover. The need for a heavy rod is to cast really large bugs and to cast into some heavy wind of which both conditions I avoid. If a bug is too big to throw with a 7 or 8 I either modify it or pitch it. There are fellas out there that throw 10" streamers at bass and pike and a 7 or 8wt rod does not do that very well. It does take a 9 or even a 10wt. The rod size is not about the size of the fish in this case. It is about the size flies you want to throw. Don't buy a 7wt and expect to throw a 10" streamer or a 2" diameter popper or hair bug. I personally fish for relaxation and fun and bugs of this size are not fun or relaxing to cast, on any rod.

 

[Rip Tide]

This thread started with a question about casting BIG bass flies
That's 1/0, 2/0, & 3/0 in my book.
I can cast those easily on the rods that I use
If you can do the same with a 6wt, then you're a better man than I

 

[nick k]

Most people also THINK they need to cast 3/0 to catch big bass. This is almost always not the case. Sometimes it is, and maybe it is for you, but it's something to consider whether or not that is a logical fly size and desire for your area.

 

[Rip Tide]

Most people also THINK they need to cast 3/0 to catch big bass. This is almost always not the case. Sometimes it is, and maybe it is for you, but it's something to consider whether or not that is a logical fly size and desire for your area.

If you've never done it then there no way for you to know that it's actually a lot of fun to fish the big bugs.
Seriously...... don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

 

[runningfish]

The 7wt and 8wt are probably ideal for any BIG bass bugs, but 6wt can handle up to size 2/0 with double hauling. I have the Redington Predator 6wt 7'10" with Rio 6wt Power Fly line for small water or pond fishing. With that setup 40-50ft is my max accuracy. I don't think you need a bass tapered line, a Rio outbound will help to cast large bugs but again you don't need it either. Learn to double haul and know when to open your loop. If you are worry about turning over the big bugs, you can use your old trout leader, cut it to 4-5FT length from the butt, make a loop and you have your bass tapered leader or get Aiflo Polyleader 4FT for bass/pike, use heavier tippet for dense cover.

That Predator setup is also my trout and carp rod and basically my go to rod. That 6wt made me sold my 5wt and 7ft actually.