I am considering building a fly rod for bass fishing. This would be my first attempt at building my own rod. I have a new found intrest in fishing bass with fly fishing equipment but do not have much experiance with or knowledge about this subject. I would greatly apperciate some info or suggestions on where to start and what equipment to use.

Thanks
Issac

Many books recommend 8 and 9 weight outfits. I think that with the exception of a few special situations, this is terrible overkill and will keep you from having much fun with all but the largest bass. And let's face it - most bass run in the 12 inch, 3/4 to 1 pound class. Most.

Unless you have the need to cast extremely large bugs and fish in extremely heavy cover, I'd steer you towards something like an 8-1/2 to 9 feet, 6-weight rod.

If you can provide more info on where and how you fish for bass, we could give you more detailed information. At least be assured that with fly rods, you can build a pretty darn nice rod for less money that what so many of the "premium" makes sell for.

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I think Tom gives excellent guidance on this. And, if you fish small creeks as I do quite a bit, where the 12" bass is often the largest you're likely to catch in a day, then you can scale down even more (length and line weight.). This way, you will also have a blast with bream and crappie while you're at it, but still have enough power to land a 20" bass if you are lucky enough to hook one.

For 80% my LM bass fly fishing here in GA/SE I use a Rainshadow RX7 9' 6wt. This 80% is usually on rivers or open (ie not a lot of structure) farm ponds. Distance is not a big factor so if I'm throwing a "big" bug, I can open my loop and "chuck and duck". The other 20% is specifically chasing hawgs on farm ponds or river sloughs where the bass have to be "coaxed" out of heavy cover. Then I pull out an Allstar Austin 9' 8wt built primarily for SW.

btw, imo, durability counts for a lot more than light weight and being a "casting rocket". I throw a lot of clousers and LE wooly buggers and because my casting is not exactly flawless the lead eyes will some times ding the blank :( . Also, getting a little POed and trying to yank a hung bug out of a tree limb is not a good habit of mine. Hearing the crack of a broken blank half way through a river float because it has been dinged by lead eyes or on the side of the yak is a great way to ruin a day.

I have used 3wt to 9 wt and most inbetween weights to catch bass. They all work well, it all depends on how fast you want to pull them out of the water. I prefer my Forecast 9 wt for tossing heavy bugs and poppers all the way down to size 12 dry flies with size 20 droppers. Around here we also fish on the salt for stripers where 8-9 wt is a must... Bob.

Issac,
I don't know where you are located but I agree with Steve. Here in Mississippi you might be reguired to pull a hawg out of cover but a lot of the bass fishing is on open water also. I favor a 6 or 7 wt. for most of my bass fishing. There is another route you may want to think about. As Steve says durability is more important in this type of fishing than weight. I have rebuilt several fiberglass rods, fiberglass blanks are a little hard to find but I have bought up some old fiberglass rods on E bay and stripped them down and completely rebuilt them for bass fishing. They will really take all the beating from clouser eyes that you can dish out plus the leader will go before the rod does on getting snagged up. The 7 weght will handle the largest and bushiest bass bugs just fine. Just another thought.

My go to bass rod is a Forecast 764-4 blank that I fish with a 6wt Aircel WF line. I used a graphite spinning seat skeleton with a cork insert and fuji alconite single foot fly guides. This rod is an absolute joy to fish! I fish primarily out of my yak and need a smooth rod that loads easily, hence the 6wt line on the 4wt blank. This rod has enough backbone to handle your average bass and the occasional 4lber, but it is also fun on the bluegills and crappie. The 6wt line allows me to throw poppers, sliders, conehead buggers, and any of the smaller offerings with ease.

HTH,

Lou

Isaac,

I would recommend a Tiger eye blank....on the left Schneider's Rod has em among some of the other sponsors. A relatively inexpensive blank but an exceptional value. I have both the 5-6 and the 7-8. would recommend either. They are moderate action blanks which make them more forgiving when learning how to cast or casting bigger flies.

I like Lou's advice. I prefer lighter weight rods for everything, but you need to be able to throw air resistant flies. That overloaded 4 sounds great, and I suspect you can slow your casting stroke way down and all but eliminate false casting. Keep it light and your arm and shoulder will thank you.

I guess the biggest question is where do I fish. Mostly I fish Black Lake in NY and the surounding Indian River Lakes. As far as cover I fish mostly lilly pads, reed patches and shollow weed beds. I want to thank everyone for there suggestions.

Issac

Issac I do a lot of farm pond fishing here in the midwest. Most of the fish are as Tom says. I have evolved to a 5/6 wt Cabelas FT. I use a 6wt line. It easily handles larger and medium size bass but as an added bonus it allows for some nice play in the bigger bluegills that often hit the bigger poppers and hair flys I use. It throws a big fly or booger real well but can also be delicate with smaller flies. Have fun building and catching.

Well I guess I'm not going to be able to offer a dissenting opinion; mine is the same as the preceding posts. I used to go with the "book" and fish with 7 or 8 weight. My preference has evolved over time and I find myself primarily fishing with 5 & 6 weights for all the reasons the other contributors to this string have mentioned. I sometimes will drop down to a 4 weight for smallmouth. If you subscribe to the "big lures = big fish" theory and seek out that one big bite, then perhaps a heavier rod may be in order. I just hope your arm doesn't fall off at the end of the day from heaving that heavy 8 or 9 weight rod all day.

I recently had a very pleasnt experience with Tiger Eye on a fly rod; they're an excellent rod for the buck. I've also built fly rods for bass on a PacBay Tradition - another moderately priced blank. If you're looking for something a little pricier: my favorite all 'round bass rod is a 9 FT 6 Wt I built on a Lamiglas XMG50 blank (very fast).

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Sam Stoner

Sorry, I have to dissent. I have the real possibility of running into big fish, and I use fairly big, and often wind-resistant flies. My go-to rod is a mod-fast 7wt., but I keep a 9wt. strung and ready also for heavy cover. The 7 seems to be the best all-around weight. It's not giant, heavy rod, and allows even the 12" fish to be fun. But, it has enough power to cast some of the deer hair flies, and it gives me a good fighting chance with a larger-than-average fish.

Don,

You hit the nail on the head with your comment, "That overloaded 4 sounds great, and I suspect you can slow your casting stroke way down and all but eliminate false casting."

The overloaded 4wt allows me to pick up 25-30 ft of line and shoot a few feet with the backcast, wait for the load and shoot a nice 40-50 ft cast quite easily. This is while sitting in the yak and it really is effortless, easy casting which allows the rod to do the work and i hardly ever false cast. The ceramic fly guides are also a big help with the shooting of line.

Lou