fly rods for bass

[Andrew Erickson]

i am wanting to get into fly fishing for bass.I dont want to spend to much money but what weight rod should i get and what are some good starting flies.Thanks

[-Marc V-]

Hi RinCat,

I would suggest an 8wt rod, preferably in the moderate/fast to fast action as you'll be throwing bigger flies. Usually price goes up the faster the action gets though. I have a St. Croix Priemer 8wt combo that was one of my first fly rods. Was a good starter, but not at all happy with it now. Actually have a Gander Frontier Series 8wt made with IM6 graphite blanks that I prefer more than the St. Croix rod. I picked up the Gander rod for pretty cheap, but that was when a Gander store was closing down.

Not sure if you're going to be close to Rochester any time soon, I hear there's a Gander upgrading stores down there, and they don't move anything from one store to another, so everything gets discounted. Happened a couple times in the Twin Cities area here, and picked up some awesome deals.

For flies, I would recommend Dahlberg divers and poppers for topwater. Poppers of either deer hair, or foam/wood bodies with rubber legs. Foam/wood bodied poppers seem to stay afloat longer. Subsurface...bigger clousers, decievers, big wooly buggers, and wooly worms. I personally have a place in my heart for subsurface flies with rabbit strip for a tail. The rabbit strip moves in the water with great action, similiar to a twister tail on plastics.

Size flies usually in the neigborhood of 2/0 to size 6.

Bass aren't usually too fussy, but can be at times. If it's big, and moves, usually they'll eat it. It is a blast seeing them hit the topwater flies though.

Good luck!

[Duncan7709]

I live in Rochester and have been to Gander a lot and almost all there fly rods are gone.

[Quickstrike]

I would get a 9 ft 8 wt. I fish with a RL Winston XTR for bass which is actually a salt water rod with a super fast action and it does a great job throwing heavy flies a long ways, it also provides backbone for when mr toothy hits. The XTR is a little spendy, but any fast action 9 ft 8 would be a good choice. Another rod recomendation I have for bass would be the TFO Ticr or for an even faster action the TcirX.

[SportFishin']

Hey RincRat,

Come see me at Gander in E.P. have some good deals right now & there are some 9' 8wt's on clearance right now that would probably fit the bill for what your looking for.

I'm there 5-close Mon, Wed, & Fri. ask for Chris the "Fly Guy".

Best Regards,

SportFishin'

[ahron11]

I've been flyfishing for about 4 or 5 years, if I were you, I would invest in a Gander Mountain 7 or 8 wt 9' rod, I usually use an 8wt for pike, bass, and carp just to name a few, a 3wt Sage SLT for winter stream fishing for trout, and a 6wt Sage Launch for smaller bass and trout fishing. So if I were you I would definitely purchase an 8wt or 7wt, nothing heavier.

[BassProAddict]

Never fly-fished before...what are the best flies for bass and which of the online megastores carry these? Some of the terms fly-fishing afficionados here are the same as the ones used by online stores.I know there are a lot of info here but the terms used don't appear much on the stores.

Greatly appreciate some help.