'Species specific rods'????

[Buddy Sanders]

I finally had a chance to play around with one of the 'new' Sage 'Smallmouth Bass Rods'.

Nice rods, for their intended purpose, but I do have a 'problem' if you will, with them.

First, I think we all need to understand why they were made and their 'intended' use.

They are 7' 10" long. Odd size, right? Is this the 'perfect' length for a 'smallmouth bass fly rod'? Nope. It does, however, make it just under the B.A.S.S. tournament length limit, and it will fit into the rod lockers on most of the newer bass boats. They designed these rods to those specs so that the tournament trail types could use them 'legally' in competition.

That's not a bad thing, in and of itself. It's about time that fly tackle gets some attention from the mainstream bass guys. There are things that fly gear can do better than conventional tackle can.

These are 'heavy' rods. Not in thier actual 'weight', they are very light and responsive, but they are rated for 'heavy' lines. The smallmouth one is a stout 10 wt. They give you a line with the rod, though, and it doesn't 'say' it's a 10 wt. (It is a 290 grain line which is the equivalent of a 10 wt. -AFTMA says 280 grains is the target for 10 wts).. The largemouth one takes a heavier line than that ( The LM is a 330 grain which is AFTMAs accepted weight for 11 wts). Why so 'heavy'? These rods are designed for big topwater flies fished in heavy cover. Big frogs and rats, poppers, etc, fished over grass or in thick stuff. They need the muscle to horse a big fish out of there, and the weight of line to throw those big flies.

They excell at this purpose. For tournament fishing in heavy cover, where the fight of the fish is not an issue, where you want to ensure that you will land them all, where the ability to yank a fish through the grass, or horse it over some tules, or drag the fish and twenty pounds of grass to the boat, these are state of the art.

Would a longer rod work better? Maybe, but it has to be under 8' to fit the rules, besides, for this application, the length is pretty close to perfect.

Does it have to be as heavy, line weight wise, as it is? Probably not. For most of us that fly fish for bass, even in heavy cover, an 8 or 9 is considered 'big', but some folks use a 10. These rods weren't built for fly fishermen who happen to like to fly fish for bass. They were built for tournament fishing. For those one or two specific techniques where a fly rod will out fish the 'regular' gear. They are strong, stiff, powerful tools for taking big fish in heavy cover, landing them as quickly and with as little risk of losing the fish as possible.

No problem with the rod(s) for it's intended purpose.

My problem is that they are calling it a 'smallmouth' rod, or a 'largemouth' rod, not a tournament legal heavy cover big flies specific rod.

I saw someplace where a man asked what kind of rod he needed to fish for smallies in a small clear river, a place where he'll be fishing small subsurface stuff, and four or five fellows told him to 'check out' the new 'Smallmouth' rod from Sage....Such a rod would overpower almost all the fish he is likely to hook.

The guy needed a 9 foot 5 or maybe a 6 wt. rod. Longer so he can mend easier, lighter so he can actually feel the fish fight.

But, Sage built a 'Smallmouth' rod, so now, regardless of the situation, folks out there think that this is 'the' rod for that purpose. How many of us can, in good conscience, recommend a 10 wt. rod for smallmouth bass fishing anywhere? Heck, a 10 wt. is a big rod for largemouth most places, and you can find guys in the salt taking sailfish and tuna on 9s!!!!! An 11 wt is a Tarpon rod. Big tarpon.

After casting one, playing with it a while, I'd not pay for one (if they gave me one, I'd find someone to trade it to). They are nice rods, but are way too heavy for me. I fish for fun, and these are 'money' rods, not 'sport' rods.

There is no 'one rod' for bass fishing, just like there is no one rod for trout fishing. Rods are tools. They have certain charateristics that make them suitable for certain flies, waters, and/or techniques. What these are, what things they are 'best' for, leaves lots of room for individualism among us. What I like for one type of water or for one particular species or technique can and will be different from what each of you might perfer. There is no wrong or right here, it's all pretty subjective.

I do applaud Sage for finally recoginzing that bass anglers are a a legitimate source of revenue for their rods. I just wish that they had explained more fully the role they envisioned for these particular rods.....

I have a picture in my mind of some guy with one of these down on the black river in Arizona, a small, clear, rocky river full of smallies to around four pounds, setting the hook on a little smallie and launching it over his head like a three inch brook trout....

Okay, rant over.

Thanks for reading it.

Buddy