Dead Skunk,

I would say that 5wt should do the trick for you; with a 6wt line will certainly help you lay out the larger flies. The exception would be in heavy cover.

While large bass will hit the smaller flies, small bass will also take large flies. I've noticed the larger the fly the more their hit by larger fish, so my preference has been to throw larger 1/0 to 2/0 flies and I find my 9wt does it nicely.

I also regulary fish a 4wt for bass also but do have many breakoffs when they head for the deep cover.

I have noticed that bass are not particularly shy of heavy leaders and would suspect that if you shortened your leader to 5 to 7 ft and used something in a minimum of 8# you would find they would turn the fly over easier.

To sum it up just about anything will work so just go out and enjoy it with what you have and if later you feel refining is necessary you'll have a better idea of what will suit your personal needs.

Leo C