Whitewolf,

You would be surprised at the total power the smallmouth bass has. Lots. A baby smallie will eat a 6 inch streamer. Most of my smallmouth fishing is in the larger rivers of WA and MT. That means that not only are you fighting the power of the smallie but the force of the river. When I hook a smallie, I prefer to get them in fast to release then as soon as possible. So, I use a 7 wt fly rod. It handles the huge flies that you may cast and you can cast even when there is a strong wind, which happens a lot out west on the rivers. Regarding backing, the only time I got into my backing while fishing for smallies is when a 12 pound carp grabbed my streamer and headed downstream at great speed. My poor rod was bent double the whole time but we get the fish in, took a quick picture and released it. Most of the time you will not be releasing any line at all, but I suspect if you use a 5 wt or a 6 wt you may have to let out some line, but not a lot.

Enjoy the hits, when the smallies slam your fly you will know it.

Larry ---sagefisher---