Doe's any one spey for smallmouth? I am looking for a spey rod for both small mouth and trout. The steelhead and rivers are not that big around here. Are the light weights like the sage ultra light enough rod? I would like to use clouser minnows for the smallies.
Smallmouth
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smallies, yes
Jimh,
I go after smallies with the 2-hander. I throw 3-4 inch long rabbit strip and wool head sculpins. They are the equivalent of a wet sock and make a splat sound. My river is pretty wide and my fishing range is from the rod tip to as far as I can throw a line.
I'm evaluating a Meiser 13' 5/6 and 13' 6/7 right now. These rods would work beautifully on these fish. I'm having a difficult time choosing which one I like the best because I have equal applications for both. Click on the sponsor link and check it out.
Gary
Jimh,
I go after smallies with the 2-hander. I throw 3-4 inch long rabbit strip and wool head sculpins. They are the equivalent of a wet sock and make a splat sound. My river is pretty wide and my fishing range is from the rod tip to as far as I can throw a line.
I'm evaluating a Meiser 13' 5/6 and 13' 6/7 right now. These rods would work beautifully on these fish. I'm having a difficult time choosing which one I like the best because I have equal applications for both. Click on the sponsor link and check it out.
Gary
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693 Posts
Jimh,
For Smallmouth I use a 12'6" Lamiglas 6/7 or the Sage 12' 5wt. The Bass in my neck of the woods get up to 5 or 6 lbs. I did get an 8lb. steelhead on the sage once and got him in without to much trouble, so the rod does have some backbone. Also, I like to use hooks with a very wide gap to fish for Smallmouth. It seems to increase my percentage of landed fish.
Charlie
For Smallmouth I use a 12'6" Lamiglas 6/7 or the Sage 12' 5wt. The Bass in my neck of the woods get up to 5 or 6 lbs. I did get an 8lb. steelhead on the sage once and got him in without to much trouble, so the rod does have some backbone. Also, I like to use hooks with a very wide gap to fish for Smallmouth. It seems to increase my percentage of landed fish.
Charlie
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1,771 Posts
Rod power is important to deal with size of fish (as Flyfisha1 asked) and also grains / density of line, which relates to size of fly (as voodoo points out).
SMB are native to the New England area and although they avg about 12"-14" in most area lakes they are typically smaller on avg in rivers while the possibility of a 5-10 pound fish is always there. A 6/7 or 7/8 would be the best fit for fish size IMHO... but if you plan to fish sinktips I would opt for a 7/8. In deep riffles and holes in rivers I've found the fish to be much more receptive to active flies like bunnies or crayfish patterns swum deep on a sinktip.
In pre-spawn catching them seems more a matter of locating the congregations than getting fancy with the fly. In mid-summer they surface feed in the evenings and mornings close to shore. River bass tend to be easier to catch during the day in my experiences. My favorite approach is to use bass bugs and poppers from a skiff and cast toward shoreline structure and overhanging willows in the evening when on lakes, on a single handed 7wt.
My first choice would be a 13' 7/8 FWIW.
SMB are native to the New England area and although they avg about 12"-14" in most area lakes they are typically smaller on avg in rivers while the possibility of a 5-10 pound fish is always there. A 6/7 or 7/8 would be the best fit for fish size IMHO... but if you plan to fish sinktips I would opt for a 7/8. In deep riffles and holes in rivers I've found the fish to be much more receptive to active flies like bunnies or crayfish patterns swum deep on a sinktip.
In pre-spawn catching them seems more a matter of locating the congregations than getting fancy with the fly. In mid-summer they surface feed in the evenings and mornings close to shore. River bass tend to be easier to catch during the day in my experiences. My favorite approach is to use bass bugs and poppers from a skiff and cast toward shoreline structure and overhanging willows in the evening when on lakes, on a single handed 7wt.
My first choice would be a 13' 7/8 FWIW.
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SMB's
I have been planning on using the 13' 7/8 custom CND this summer for these brutes. I would also try the Sage 5 or 6 wt rods as well. I have purchased the loop black series 11'3" 7 wt and really like it alot. These all work very well for smallies as long as the river you are fishing can accommodate this size of a rod!
I have been planning on using the 13' 7/8 custom CND this summer for these brutes. I would also try the Sage 5 or 6 wt rods as well. I have purchased the loop black series 11'3" 7 wt and really like it alot. These all work very well for smallies as long as the river you are fishing can accommodate this size of a rod!
"Original smallmouth range was throughout New England and the Great Lakes area, including Southern Canada, and southward to the rivers, especially in Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma. The coming of numerous large impoundments to the Mid-South allowed the smallmouth to colonize abundantly in those that were suitable, as an example, Dale Hollow in Tennessee. Stocking over recent years has expanded the range to the West Coast and elsewhere."
Taken from Complete Guide to Gamefish , Byron Dalrymple, 1981.
Taken from Complete Guide to Gamefish , Byron Dalrymple, 1981.
The native range of smallmouth bass includes much of central United States, whereas largemouth are native to central as well as southeastern states. Both species have subsequently been introduced over most of the U.S. and Canada (Page & Burr 1991). Large- and smallmouth bass were introduced as game species to Massachusetts and are now widespread and common (Hartel 1992).
Whatever Dude, I'm not going to get into a competition over who has the most recent sources. Literature available to me through Ichthyology states that the fish is indeed native to the Northeast and into New England. I believe those sources to be correct.
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