Smallmouth Rod .. what do you suggest?

[anglerdave]

Ken

For bigger rivers and lakes I fish a Diamondback 9' 8wt. For smaller bodies of water and when I am not throw big hair bugs or poppers, I use a 9' 6wt 2 pc St Croix LU.

Seems like my choice is in line with the rest.

[RickB]

You may want to check out Harry Murray's flyshop online. He has a rod that he designed for smallmouth fishing on the Shenandoah. It's manufactured by Scott and comes in either 7 or 8 wt. You can find it here: [url=http://onlinecatalog.murraysflyshop.com/index.html?target=dept_15.html&lang=en-us:ca254]http://onlinecatalog.murraysflyshop.com/index.html?target=dept_15.html&lang=en-us[/url:ca254]



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Fish more, work less!

[stevehaun]

Personally I use an old sage rpl 9 ft 7 wt. If I were buying a rod now, I would buy a St. Croix Legend ultra 9 ft 7 wt. Plenty stiff to punch large poppers and streamers into the wind. I think a 6 wt is too small. I would go with a 7 or 8 wt.

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steve haun

[Jeremy]

Ken,
Right now there's a very nice GLX 6wt for sale on the "For Sale" area here.
The seller really needs to sell her and if you even overline it with a WF7 it should do the job nicely.
It'll slow her down enough that if you let the rod do it's job it will handle the line well.
I don't always overline rods but for you here with the shoulder it should do you well.

Jeremy.

[BigCliff]

I would recommend a short eight, 8' or 8'6", or just a slower 8wt. You'll find that most slower 8wt rods will often feel lighter as well because there isn't as much graphite out there to swing around.

If you just would rather have a 7wt, try the ECHO 9' 7wt.

Yet another option is to cut part of the front taper off of your current 6wt line and/or use a shorter leader, or to get a Headstart or Bass Bug line. (Headstart is about $20 and is basically the same thing)

[l1ranger]

I have a 6 and a 8 wt, both st croix that I use for smallies. i would like a 7, and it will probably come with time, but the 6 and 8 work well for now. depending on where and when I'm fishing dictates when I use what.

[anglerdave]

BigCliff

Glad you mentioned SA's Headstart Line. I don't think allot of folks realize just how good this line is. Especially for throwing bigger flys.

By the way, outside of finding a good glass rod, where are you going to find a 8' or 8 1/2' 8wt? I had wanted an 8 1/2' but couldn't find any in graphite. So I went with a 9'.

If your 6-weight is a strong one, try a 7-weight line on it.

[Rich Ward]

Ken two big dif. in GLX and GL3. the Graphite used and the taper. Glx is much lighter (graphite used has a carbon Schrem and higher modulas) The taper is designed with a lite tip making it easy to cast short and persise. and a strong butt for power makeing it a great rod for just about everything.... GL3 is more even flexed with a stiffer tip compared to butt. for BIG FLYS like popers and heavy weighted wets a stiffer tip moves things quicker and will clear the water easier than a light tip. The best 7 weight ever made for big flys and streamers is a 10' IMX. GL3 would be my second choice in a 7 weight under the guidelines you set.

Rich

Ended up with a Temple Forks "TFO TiCr-X" in the 4 piece 9f tfor 7wt, with probably a Lamson Litespeed 3 reel and the Rio Clouser line.
That should handle any thing I want to toss to Smallies, and, work just fine for smaller Stripers and Blues in some of the salt ponds.
Thanks for all of your input .. I listened to all of you ..... tried an Orvis 6wt "Long Belly" line that I already hand with a Bamboo rod, on my Winston BIIX 9ft 6wt and think that will also work fine, at least for the Smallies (but probably not for Saltwater ... I've used 6wt's there before and the Breeze is sometimes too much for a 6wt).
Thanks all,
Ken