Hey KWM - I tell you... I go against the grain with some folks when I say, just get a rig and fish... but I feel that you can catch them with just about anything. Now believe me, I do match up my rods and reels for different types of fishing and have for awhile but I think for casual fishing, it doesn't matter too, too much. Anyway, for SM around here, it's popular to get a spinning rig set up on a medium or medium-light rig about 6' long, maybe 6 & 1/2'. The 6 or 8 lb. test is good but you gotta be careful because of all the rocks, etc. in some of the rivers. the Potomac is gonna get you quite a few LM so you may wanna go ahead and get a 10 lb test line. Get a braided line if you can so you can keep that low diameter but not break lines all the time. Where do you live on the Potomac? I've fished it a few times when I used to live up there in NoVa. Good luck. Jon
