I have been just recently fishing for smallmouth at my local river, which I haven't done in a LONG time. Yesterday, I surprised myself when I got a 17 incher on a popper. He took it above some riffles, and today I got several in the 14-15 range. All good fighters and jumpers. I am just wondering why many people say to use a medium fast or even an old fiberglass rod for them as opposed to a modern fast graphite? I am using a 6 wt 9 ft Loomis IMX, which gets me the needed distance for this kind of fishing but am looking into building a "fast" action 7 wt or even a 6 wt in the same length so I can compare them. I call it "fast" with the (" ") thingys because its not as fast as an imx but is labeled as fast.

Will a rod with a slower action than an imx enable easier role casting? I did find it hard to cast when I was near the bank.

I could see a fiberglass rod being better for steelheading where lighter tippets and nymphing could come in handy as it would bend easier.
Ian