Smallmouth Bass line

[markm]

I started to get into some warm water fly fishing last year and had a blast chasing smallmouth bass in some local lakes. I used my 5 weight Reddington with a 5 weight SA Supra line and although this worked well I had a few issues casting the bigger flies in some conditions.

This year I would like to get a rod set up for smallmouth bass fishing. I am leaning toward a 9ft 6 weight in a TFO BVK, Cabelas LSI or something similar. I am having a hard time deciding what floating line. Are the smallmouth bass specific lines such as the one made my Rio worth it? Should I over line the rod with just a regular floating line? What about one of the nymphing specific lines?

Also what rate full sinking line do you find useful for smallmouth bass fishing in lakes? I used a type 2 line with my 5 weight that I use for trout fishing in lakes.

Mark


Mark

 

[craigthor]

I'll follow this one. Rios lines fall a bit heavy in the Smallmouth Line though it looks to have a long section to allow for mending if needed. If you don't need or plan on mending the Airflo Bass/ Musky line has a really short front taper and big body for turning over big ugly flies. I'd like to play with both at some point in time wish they were cheaper.

 

[brookfieldangler]

I am very happy with the Clouser line on my 6wt set up for smallies. Clousers and deer hair poppers cast quite a bit better with that line over the GPX that I had on there before.

 

[turbineblade]

For a very good full-sink line on that type of rod, I like a 150 grain orvis depth charge. Very easy to cast and handle on a med-fast to fast 5-weight, and sinks like a rock.

For floating lines, any WF line with a fairly reasonable front taper (i.e. not too long or not tapering too thinly) would work fine. Overlining with a heavier line certainly would help casting heavier flies due to simple physics, but I don't often like the effect on my rod casting and tend to stick with the marked recommendation.

You could look into cutting off some of your front taper, I don't know the supra but some lines you can easily remove 1.5-3' and they often cast heavy flies easier. If you remove too much on some lines you'll essentially "overline" it by bringing the weight more forward on the fly line -- so you could kill 2 birds with one stone this way theoretically.

For a fairly cheap ($40) and good fly line for your purpose I really like the SA headstart WF lines -- they are great for this purpose, and most other purposes as well. :fishing:

 

[delopez]

So, I had this discussion before. I fish for warm water species all of the time. This is my conclusion. I use three lines. I use a sink tip type 3 or 4, a full intermediate, and bass taper for a floater. I like a full intermediate for lakes because allows me to control where I want my fly in the water column. In rivers, I like a type 3 or 4 sink tip because it helps me get to depth against the current. For my floater work, my favorite lines are the SA magnum taper and the cortland big fly, cortland being my absolute. They both have no issues turning over big flies. The rod size depends on what else is in the river. for instance, in Iowa many rivers have pike, so I'd use an eight weight for bass. In Missouri, a lot of the streams have trout, so I'd use a 6 weight. This is just preference. Hope this helps.

 

[turbineblade]

Also keep in mind that your leader makes a difference. Don't use too light of a tippet on smallie flies. Heck, most of the trout guys I know throwing big streamers use 12 pound tippet. I couldn't believe it, but it's true. The Gink and Gas guys say the same thing.

Heavier tippet and shortening your leader makes big flies easier.

Of course, casting skill trumps everything that this thread will accumulate . Many problems people try to fix by buying **** could have more easily been fixed with practice -- including myself in this.

 

[itchmesir]

I use 12#-30#... Depends on if there are potential toothy critters

Stiffer line helps too... I use stiff fluoro or mono to turn over bushy stuff like Maxima or Vicious Pro Elite

 

[delopez]

A lot of the guys around here use a solid piece of thick monofilament. #25 will turn over those bugs. Most bass around here aren't tippet shy, however. If they were tippet shy, I'd assume they'd use the same principle, but with fluorocarbon

 

[labradorguy]

I've personally saw two TFO BVK rods break for no reason at all. They just snapped after relatively mild hooksets. They are really thin-walled rods. I would be paranoid using one in your application....

 

[turbineblade]

I've personally saw two TFO BVK rods break for no reason at all. They just snapped after relatively mild hooksets. They are really thin-walled rods. I would be paranoid using one in your application....

Damn really? Everyone says they're brittle but they love the rod for the $. My buddy has one and I thought about getting one. I have the PRO II in 5-weight and 8-weight, but the BVK is faster.

Sorry for the hijack --

 

[brookfieldangler]

Damn really? Everyone says they're brittle but they love the rod for the $. My buddy has one and I thought about getting one. I have the PRO II in 5-weight and 8-weight, but the BVK is faster.

Sorry for the hijack --

Yep.

Had one. Well technically I had 3. Broke all of them. Some of it my fault but I fish every other rod just as hard and have not broken them. They are a great casting rod but unbelievably fragile.

 

[turbineblade]

Yep.

Had one. Well technically I had 3. Broke all of them. Some of it my fault but I fish every other rod just as hard and have not broken them. They are a great casting rod but unbelievably fragile.

Shucks -- I like my PRO II rods and wanted a fast action 8-weight.

 

[labradorguy]

Damn really? Everyone says they're brittle but they love the rod for the $. My buddy has one and I thought about getting one. I have the PRO II in 5-weight and 8-weight, but the BVK is faster.

Sorry for the hijack --

Yep. The first one snapped and we both stopped fishing and just sat and stared with these WTH expressions.... We could not figure out why either snapped. They were both relatively new rods, so there wasn't prior damage from impacts and such. I guess they were pulled against weight just right and POP. ?? They both fish St. Croix rods now....

The price is great on the BVK, but if they do that a lot, you're not really gaining much in the end. Case in point, my Loomis 8wt. caught an 8 foot sand shark and was bent over double before it was all said and done....

 

[itchmesir]

Shucks -- I like my PRO II rods and wanted a fast action 8-weight.

Have you wiggled a St Croix Imperial? They are fast action rods and made in the states... $220~

 

[nir]

Smallmouth bass fishing is my number one fishing around here.

My main set-up is a TFO BVK 6 weight with a Rio Grand 6 wt line. The half weight over that the Rio Grand has loads my rod perfectly. The BVK works like a charm and throws some pretty big poppers and streamers. I've had no trouble with the rod yet. Really fun rod to cast!

I also just bought an Allen Xa2 8wt that will probably work better on really windy days.

 

[jsxtreme]

I use the Scentific Anglers Titan Taper for throwing big bugs for smallies. It's awesome.

Mastery Textured Series Titan Taper

 

[markm]

Thanks for all the tips guys. You have me thinking know about the TFO BVK. What other 6 wt rods would you recommend for bass in the $200 dollar range?

Mark

 

[stl_geoff]

I use the Sage Bass series rods for my warmwater black bass adventures. I have the 290grn bass taper on the smallmouth rod ( its an absolute canon of a rod ) and I have the Rio Outbound Short 6wt on the bluegill seried rod. They both handle them well.

I will also echo the St Croix Imperial series, nice sticks, made in the US and good action to them.

 

[labradorguy]

Thanks for all the tips guys. You have me thinking know about the TFO BVK. What other 6 wt rods would you recommend for bass in the $200 dollar range?

Mark

Both of my friends got rid of the BVKs and went to St. Croix Imperials. No problems since.

 

[boyscout]

I was going to recommend the SA Bass bug taper (Mastery?) which I have used for 15 to 20 years. I think I'm on my fourth one now. However, I just looked on SA website and my favorite line is no more! Guess I'll be trying a RIO or SA Titan taper. Good thing I found this post loaded with good advice on bass lines!

Since you already have the 5 wt, you might want to consider an 8wt to be able to branch out to salt, musky, stripers, etc. if you want to later. For years my bass rod was a fast 5 wt overlined with a 6wt and it was fine till I started throwing bigger flies and doing some salt work. I also found that I now prefer the 8wt for most smallie and LM fishing. Why? Wind and big flies just aren't an issue if I do my cast right and let the line load the rod. There is also the issue of stopping a nice fish from getting in the weeds, rocks, or logs.

I've been using a TFO Pro (not BVK) for the past year or 2 and really like it. There are faster rods but for the money, they are hard to beat. I have casted a BVK and it is a cannon and surprisingly light. However, I don't have the casting skill to really need it.

Still, if I know I'm going to throw small flies for smaller fish, my 25+ year old Sage RPL is just a joy to cast!


I once tried the "chop a few feet off" method on a regular cheap WF in the middle of a 7 mile float. I was having a hard time getting the fly out on the short casts many times needed floating a rocky river so I cut the line and it made a big difference. That was one hard decision!

Good luck with your line choice!