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What weight would you use for largemouth?

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    Votes: 3 5.7%
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    Votes: 9 17.0%
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    Votes: 9 17.0%
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  • 8

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  • >8

    Votes: 0 0.0%

Warmwater spey weight

6K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  bocast 
#1 · (Edited)
Which spey weight would you use for warmwater (stillwater) to catch largemouth and similar species.

Some background:
I throw all sorts of stuff; small streamers, terrestrials, and worms, to weighted crayfish, long conehead zonkers, and clousers. The bass around here generally don't get too large (most below 5lbs). I want to be able to throw my flies but I also don't want too much rod for the smaller bass.
 
#4 ·
For largemouth fishing I use an 8 weight single hander.
 
#8 ·
Just to clarify, I'm asking about Spey weight not SH. I know I forgot to post it in the thread name.
Please define the term "spey weight". One can spey cast with any weight rod, single hand or double hand.
 
#10 ·
Because I know people can get touchy feely about the term spey (and switch) I'll clarify by letting you know what type of rod I'm looking for:
No one is being touchy/feely about anything, but I think you poll title might be misleading. The heading of your poll is "What weight would you use for largemouth?" Also in your opening post I see nothing indicating you wanted to use a two hander.

The term spey casting is about a style of cast not about a type of rod.
 
#12 ·
I too was interested in 2 handed rods for still water fishing but after playing around I found it to be a total pain in the ass. I think there is a reason a long 2 handed rod was created and in my eyes it was not for bass fishing on still water.

Now with that said I still love to play with gear and I love to spey cast. So I keep playing with it on still water fishing and I recently converted a 4wt 8'6" rod by adding a lower handle. In my personal opinion a 5/6+wt 12+ length 2 handed rod is way too much rod for average bass fishing. Maybe good if you live where 5+lb fish are very common but for most fishing it seams like overkill more so on the length then the weight.

I think a gap that is missing in the world of fly tackle is short 2 handed rods. A 8-9ft rod that had a lower handle with a solid line like the Ambush would be perfect for bassin. Perfect to overhand cast when needed but plenty good for spey type casts. I actually just ordered a Echo 84 6wt to become my go to bass rod and will cast an intermediate sink streamer line most of the time. I have been using my 9'6" 5wt and it works totally fine but even at 9'6" it is long. A bit tricky to land fish(from shore) and a bit long when stripping in on the retrieve. Often times my rod tip is a foot or more in the water easy.

One more thing to think about is hook set. Even with my 9'6" 5wt I feel I do not get good hook sets due to the length. There is a reason bass guys run short stout rods. And, they are running stiff mono/braided lines that do not stretch. We are already at a disadvantage with most fly lines that have some stretch. Add to that a long rod and hook sets would be tough.

I think a single hand rod conversion is the way to go. It becomes a 2hand rod but remains short enough to still be very affective when fishing. And, nothing about Spey casting says you need a long rod. I read some stuff from Ed Ward converting 8ft single hand rods. It requires a tight casting stroke but works just as good.
 
#14 ·
I use a 10.5' switch rod to throw smallish clousers for calico bass in a local saltwater lagoon. I would normally use a single hand 7 wt rod but the section of the lagoon that I like to fish has absolutely no backcast room. My switch rod throws a 400 gr skagit head nicely which would make it about a 6 wt in spey ratings. A 12" bass is plenty fun on this set-up, but saltwater fish always seem to pull harder than their warmwater cousins. If I had to do it over again, I would probably opt for a lighter/shorter rod or do a single hand conversion like ifisherman recommended.

I too think a 12' long rod is way overkill. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the longer a rod is (for a given line rating), the heavier butt section it must have which would make it less suitable for smallish fish. Also, I would recommend learning on moving water if at all possible because it is so much more forgiving in my opinion. I find that my technique must be spot on when fishing stillwater.
 
#15 ·
my long rods

My long rods for bass are 10 sticks for #7 lines.

Unless you're planning to toss a skagit head or lightly built streamers, you're going to have a tough time getting a light tip to pick a bug out of the water with a leader much longer than a few feet. I do like the idea for reaching over reeds and such, but you're in for an adventure. Stick to 2H lines for 6 or 7, or rods built for skagits under ~400 grains. For that matter, a 350gr skagit head is a great compact bass bug taper for an 8-9wt single hander, which is my bass-around-the-brush rod.
 
#17 · (Edited)
My smallmouth rods

On a well moving river > 2H Meiser 1264 S - tossing small streamer and Muddlers, size 4 or smaller. I have used larger rods too, including a Sage z7136 and GLoomis 1509. I will also overhand cast the 1264. I like the length for mending, but maybe a little more power-weight would be better. It has been a great rod for swinging my tube-zillas and Muddlers, which I really enjoy.

On late summer nights when the flies are sipping off the top, I use a Don Anderson 8' 5wt SH Bamboo on a Courtland 444 Peach.

On frog water, clouser or poppers, casting in any direction is the order of the day, a GLoomis 9' 7wt GL3. Been using a classic 3M XPS line, but will be trying a 40+.

If targeting Pike & Bass with my bulkiest flies in the spring in shallow water amongst the trees, rocks and the like, then a SH Sage RPlXi 9' 9wt with a 40+. I find I can execute the various Spey cast with this setup if the flies are not "chickens".
 
#18 ·
Bass Rod

Interesting post. I would add that structure may also influence your decision. If your fishing near stumps and lily pads, you are going to need a lot more rod backbone. I use a SH 8wt and would think in a DH, a shorter 6-7wt is where I'd lean. Not to mention it making it much easier to through the larger bass bugs.
 
#21 ·
Now days it's a toss up between my 10ft 8wt Quantum and my 12'6" 6/7 MKS. My current quiver is really geared towards salmon and steelhead, so I just make due with what I have :)
The Quantum for tighter spaces and for tossing surface chuggers and mice, while the MKS takes care of everything to swing.
A longer 4/5 two-hander would be my new choice if I was to get a prefered rod for my river smallmouth and walleye fishing :)


Mike
 
#22 ·
I'm using either a TFO Deer Creek 5 wt switch rod for smallmouth in local waters or my Winston BIII TH 4 wt ♥. I use that beloved four wt. if I intend to swing only and not fish poppers. I use the Deer Creek 5 wt switch if I'll be mixing poppers in with subsurface flies. I'm still playing with line choices for the Deer Creek. I had fun yesterday with a 350 gr Rio Trout Spey #5 head and a 15 ft. floating polyleader tossing medium to small poppers and foam surface bugs.

I am looking for a 12 to 13 ft 6 weight, leaning to the Beulah platinum G2 12'8" 6 wt. Positive reports on Beulah's tapers on this forum make me think this rod would do great for lake run smallmouth and our typical Ohio tributary steelhead.
 
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