6wt for smallies

[airbornemike]

Hello, first posting after a bit of lurking. I need some recomendations on a 6wt that will serve me well for gills, large mouth and smallies.

I would like to pick up somthing used via message boards or feebay so I'm not ruling out any older model rods either.

I like throwing larger pattern crawfish, clousers.....but the smallies in are local rivers run 12" to 14" so I'd like to steer clear of the whole 7wt thing.

Mike

[Daniel J]

I've hauled in," Things From The Deep" with much less than a 6wt.
You should be able to pull to shore what you want with any brand of 6wt. Given your parameters. And yeah, the smallies are great on a fly rod.

What are you lookin' for in performance etc...

I'm just making sure I can chop it in the car door or leave it in the forest (yeah once...but I was chasing after the kids too...) and not worry about the replacement cost.


You might want other things your fly rod can do?

[Lotech]

Welcome aboard Mike. Might I suggest that you fill out your profile a bit more? You might find someone from this site that lives close and can offer a loaner till you make a final decision. For me, I have a champaign taste with a beer budget. I would choose a Sage Z-Axis but I bought a W. W. Grigg, 9' 4 piece 6 weight GPX. The rod works just fine and only cost $59 about 2 years ago.
Again, welcome aboard.

[dunfly]

If you can find a good used Scott Heliply 6wt, it is a great smallie rod. Good backbone and is tough as nails.

[raw69]

Take a look at the revamped Orvis Clearwater II series. I have the 9', 4-pc, 6wt and absolutely love it. New it's $189.00.

[pspaint]

Welcome to the board!

I do quite a bit of smallie fishing and i've gone to using the two-hand rods for them. The main reason was that I could use a slightly, lighter rod (since the average fish in my favorite river is around 12") but I can use a heavier line, to help propel the larger heavier patterns I use. It's worked out extremely well. The two handers I use are an 11'9" 4wt Echo DH series and a TFO Pro 11' 5wt. You don't have to "spey" cast them. Overhead casting works with them just fine.
As far as single hand rods go...there's a ton of them. Especially, if you're also looking at discontinued models. The Sage's are my favorite. LoTech mentioned the Z-Axis, which is an amazing rod, as was the XP. Give us an idea what price range, style of rod, etc., and we can probably be more specific.

[Grubb]

Hey Airborn Mike, I got a 1rst shirt brother in the Marines who just started to e-mail me with similar concerns...lol If I come across a stash of rods I'll let you know, other than that, let me welcome you aboard, great place here, I'm sure you'll find everything you need...

Tim

[DarrinG]

I'm a smallmouth bass junkie...and routinely fish them w/ a 6wt too.
I've went thru more 6wt's than I care to mention but only 1 has stayed in my boat, the St Croix Legend Ultra 906-4. Far-n-away my favorite 6wt. Enough backbone to throw some big poppers but will double as a big river trout rod with enough sensitivity to lay a #16 dry fly out there (with the right line for both).
USA made and affordable (around 300 bucks).

Good luck!

[BlueDun]

As Daniel J said, you should be able to pull in 12 - 14 in. smallies with any 6 wt. I've pulled in much larger smallies with a Sage SLT 6 wt. and I've pulled in 12 - 14 in. smallies on rods down to 3 wt. (haven't tried anything lighter). When I am specifically targeting smallies in that size range or slightly larger, I prefer to use my 6 wt.

[SkipS]

My favorite 6wt for SMB so far is a Sage 690-4 RPL.Great casting rod that also does fine for light saltwater.I can echo what dunfly says about the Scott Heliply 6wt.Picked one up this spring and its a very capable rod.Hasnt seen SMB yet but does great in the salt.