Weighing in

[John Gillio]

To all bass fishermen using the fly rod: what weight is your most often used rod while fishing for green or bronze bass in the lakes or rivers of Illinois? I used to use a 9' seven weight most often but now find myself preferring a 9' 5 weight. Just wondering what other members are using.

[tjtroester]

john, I use an 8' 6wt, double taper line, bamboo of course. timothy

[Steve S.]

I favor a 9' six weight, but I will use a 7 or 8 quite a bit as well for throwing meatier flies so I'd say they're used fairly evenly.

 

I have a new 686 Epic that I'm excited to cast.

[Ben K.]

I tend to target large fish and throw large flies to do so, 9ft fast action 6w or 9ft medium fast 8w at the moment. I would be happy to downsize if I was on a creek or smaller water.

[Steve S.]

I like to fish big rivers and I tend to fight more wind in the open so I like the power of the 7 or 8 to move those flies.

[JJ Sietsema]

I love my 4wt glass switch rod.

[Rob G]

Generally my go-to rod is a 9 ft 5wt, fairly fast action rod. That being said, most of my 5 wts are rather powerful and tend to load better with a 6 wt line, and so in a sense, they are 6 wt rods disguised as 5 wts.

 

On smaller streams or when I can find some lower clearer water, I don't hesitate to step down to a 4 weight rod, especially if I know the stream tends to yield smaller to more moderate size fish.

 

I just don't enjoy casting the big lumber all day or tossing wet socks or "battling" a 12" smallmouth on a 7wt rod. If special attention is paid to your fly selection, one can create a fairly large silhouette that doesn't weigh too much and can get by with a lighter line. That is of course unless you've got strong current, or need to get deep via a heavily weighted fly such as when swinging crawdads.

[Tom L]

I normally carry 2 rods, a 7wt and a 6wt, both are 9ft. I switch back and forth between them. They are rigged with a tandem flies of different types & colors.

[Rob G]

Tom.

How do you carry the second rod while wading ?

[Mike G]

9' for 8/9

[Rob G]

Btw. I'm glad to see that you are willing to wear your disease on your sleeve

Weighing in on rod weights

[Tom L]

Tom.

How do you carry the second rod while wading ?

I keep the second rod on the bank where I don't have to wade very far.

[joshw]

7 weight. I have owned and fished rods all over the spectrum and the seven seems to be the most versatile of the weights I have used for smallmouth. Strong enough to fight wind and handle most any smallmouth fly and light enough to enjoy the typical smallmouth's fight.

[Ed Buric]

I use a 9 foot 7 wt medium fast graphite rod for the big water, windy conditions that I like to fish. I like my 7 1/2 foot 6wt full flex fiberglass rod for more delicate conditions though it can be challenging when I get into a bigger fish.

[ronk]

Primary smb rod is a 9'6'.Will sometimes step up to a 10'7 as when distance rollcasting with a fnf using a relatively large bobber or down to a stout 9'4 for smaller fish streams or in low cfs flows. I save the 9'8 for lmb, steelhead, salties;

[John Gillio]

We have quite a variety here. JJ's glass switch rod sounds like a fun approach. A big bass on Timothy's 6 wt bamboo would surely be a blast.

 

While bass fishing my 7 wt has of late been reserved for times when I am targeting big fish while throwing big flies or on windy days. Like Rob, my 5 wt holds a 6 wt line and can handle most things I throw at a bass. It's also more fun landing the average fish with the 5 wt. My very favorite rod is a 3 wt but it is seldom used on the river because it doesn't handle a heavy fly well, which is often needed in faster flows. I love it on small creeks with low water conditions and no wind. It handles a large fish fairly well and the much more frequent 9 inchers are a blast.

 

Thank you all for the input. Anyone else is welcome to share their ideas on this.