Suggested line weight for small-medium bass?

[Dead Skunk]

Hi all,

I hope this question hasn't been asked a million times. Will you please offer suggestions for the following situation?

Bass up to 4 pounds. Most will be in the 1 - 3 range. Open, still water with light wind. Small poppers and wet flies with hook sizes up to about 4. I'll be using a floating line. And I'm a poor to fair caster.


I have:

• a 3 weight outfit that I use a few times per year for bluegills
• a 5 weight outfit that I use a few times a year for panfish and small trout
• an 8 weight rod I've never casted
• a 9 weight rod I've never casted

My first thought was to buy a 6 weight line and load up the extra spool I have for the 5WT. However, while looking at the Orvis site I happened upon a weight chart that seemed to suggest a 7-8 weight rod for bass. I started thinking that maybe my flies are too heavy for my line and that's why I sometimes have trouble with the leader piling up on itself.

I don't want to start off on the wrong foot when going after bigger fish. Do you recommend the 6 wt line on the 5wt med/fast rod? Or a new rod/reel/line? Or to complete the 8Wt outfit?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Colston Newton]

Six weight is all you need and a spare spool of 7 - not for the fish but in case you want to toss larger bugs.

[JohnScott]

Dead Skunk -

Greetings and welcome from SE Idaho.

Don't have occasion to fish for bass in stillwater around here, so I would certainly defer to those who do that kind of thing regularly.

Having said that, I think it is appropriate to suggest that the 5 wt ought to be able to handle the flies you are describing if you simply improve your casting skills.

It also seems to me that a 5 wt should be able to handle the size fish you are targeting without any problems, unless you are going to be pulling them out of cover. Maybe that is a given when a bass fisherman looks at your question compared to a trout guy like me ??

Anyway, you'll certainly get some more opinions to help you resolve your quandry.

John

P.S. Being a thrifty type, I tend to look at the least expensive option. If it's a matter of investing time in skills rather than buying more equipment, I'm almost always going to look at the skills option.

[scubatim]

I would think anything from a 4wt to a 6wt for larger flies should be good. I do most of my bass fishing with a 4wt unless I am throwing Clousers, or big deer hair flies. Best of luck and let us know how it is working out for you.

[Jack Hise]

DS;
A big welcome aboard from Tennessee. You'll find the answers to all your questions here as well as a lot of support. Welcome and enjoy!

[Dead Skunk]

Thank you all very much.

[tailingloop]

DS,

7 to 8 wt is a good all around choice for bass and a common recommendation and a good one to start from.



As noted already there are many valid ways to approach the situation. What works best for you will depend on a combination of you skills, the flies used, environment, and a personal preference. When fishing for largemouth bass I use 5wt through 10wt rods, depending on situation and personal mood. On a couple of waters I have fished that have lots of small fish I have used a 4wt rod.

I agree with everything everyone else has contributed and would be fine with their solutions, but I will described what personally do.

Given the gear you have, I would say your 5wt is just fine. You may find it more difficult to cast the larger flies and bugs in the size range you gave, even with improved casting skill. One approach is to use a heavier line. Uplining by one or two sizes will help. The extra line mass gained from a heavier line will help carry the larger flies and the rod will handle it fine for short to medium range casts.

On of may favorite waters has a lot of 1/2 to 1 and 1 1/2 lb blue gill as well as a plentiful supply of bass. Though the bass get to double digit size (not to say that I catch the double digit fish) I often fish a rig that is fun for both the bass and the blue gill. This rig is a 5wt rod with an inexpensive Scientific Anglers Air Cel 7wt floating bass bug taper line. A standard WF 7wt would be fine too. This rod/line combination handles smaller and larger flies just fine and I have caught plenty of bass of 1 to 5l bs with it. I rarely cast it more than 40 feet with this rig, with most casts in the 25 -35 ft range. The 5wt rod with a 5wt line works just fine for me with smaller flies, size 10 and smaller, but the 7wt line makes casting the larger bugs more pleasant. I have used an 8wt line on my 5wt rods too a few times, and it works well for these shorter casts. If you false cast 50 feet of 5wt line, you are casting more weight than if you cast 30ft of an 8wt line so don't worry about overloading the rod)

The disadvantage I have run into with a 5wt is that I have hooked some large bass that I couldn't pull out of cover. So I lost the fish and ended up with some great stories about the ones that got away. Still had fun.


So I would just start with your 5wt combo. If you have difficulty casting the bigger, bulkier flies, then either complete the 8wt combo with a matching line, or get a 6 or 7wt line to fish with the 5wt rod. If you feel you need a slightly stronger rod, get a 6wt with a 7 or 8wt line.

Have fun.

[jeffnles1]

Dead Skunk,
Assuming you can sell your wife/girlfriend/significant other on the idea of buying a new rod, well, there's never anything wrong with picking up a new fly rod.

However, if you'd prefer to not buy a new rod (hang out around here a while, you'll get over that particular wongful thinking) your 5wt should be fine. You may want to try a little shorter and heavier leader. Bass are not particularly leader shy most of the time and I rarely use long or light leaders.

My typical bass outfit is a 5wt with a 7' 3X leader. I've even used 5-6' of 8lb test mono line and had good results.

I also have a 7wt rod that I'll use if I'm fishing where there are a lot of weeds or stickups but I've never felt under gunned with the 5wt.

Heck, I've landed a few nice bass 18" range on 4wt. I've never used a 3wt in bass waters but my guess is that smaller bass wouldn't be a problem.

Jeff

[sagefisher]

Dead Skunk,

In the future you may want to buy yourself a 6 weight rod with a fast tip, but you don't have to just yet. For the most part, your 5 weight will work for you. As indicated it will not handle the larger heavier flies very well, but you can make do for now.

I will make one suggestion. Casting an 8 weight or a 9 weight rod (especially all day) is totally different than casting the 5 weight rod.

Don't wait until you are going to go out after "the BIG one" to start casting either of those big rods. Start practicing casting them now, at home, on the grass. Get the feel for the weight of an 8 and 9 weight rod. The rod is a lot heavier, the line is much heavier and the muscles in your arms will be able to tell the difference. Build up those casting skills on the bigger rods before you hit the water. After you get the timing down, set some targets out to cast to. Then start spending some time casting. You will find that if you cast for an hour, at first your arm will really let you know. The muscles will be sore. But, after a while you will feel the sore muscles less and less and you will be able to cast for longer periods of time.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Leo C]

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