Big John

i will second the fenwick river runner, mine is the 6'3" (i think) ultralight (im sure). mine has some cheap walmart real on it and it has been good to me. although i will be replacing the reel this winter as its fairly worn now. one of the best times i had was a 5' shakespear ultralight with 12 pound big game and the drag all the way tight. it was an odd combo, set up for my friends 8 year old son with leftovers in the basement. i caught a few 12" smallmouth with it and it was by far the most fun i had with a fishing pole. when a smallmouth took the bait it was like a bomb went off in your hands, and the fight was like a grabbing on to a power line!

1. With Smallmouth, is stretch in your line good or bad? Not sure, i dont like stretch personally but there are situations it would help. 2. Do you go on the safe side, and go with heavier line? I use the lightest line i feel i can get away with. 3. How much torque (or bend) do you keep in your rod when fighting the fish? As much as i can 4. Do you use a Graphite or fiberglass rod for smallmouth? I have never used fiberglass, but I am also not against it 5. What's the shortest rod you'll use for smallmouth? The shortest rod i own is 5 feet, so 5 feet i guess 6. How Light/heavy is the tackle you use for smallmouth? depends on the situation, i use a lot of ultralight tackle though 7. Are you keeping your rod tip up or down when fighting the fish? whatever direction keeps a decent bend in my rod 8. Do you sharpen your hooks for smallmouth? dont own a hook sharpener, never had a problem with it 9. How hard is your hook set? What determines how hard/soft you set the hook I try to "cross their eyes" when i set the hook 10. Are you setting the hook immediately after feeling the bite, or do you wait? as soon as i feel something different 11. When you hook a smallmouth with a little bit of line out next to the boat, how do you not break off? never fished smallmouth from a boat 12. Do shallow water smallmouth fight harder than deep water smallmouth? i wouldnt know, but river smallies fight harder than lake smallies in my opinion 13. How do you deal with a Smallmouth's rapid movements/flashing? hold on tight and keep the rod loaded 14. Does Braid help with fighting smallmouth? i have caught them with braid, fluoro, and mono. im less concerned with line at this point though 15. Where do you typically find that your hooking the smallmouth at ( Corner of mouth, etc.) almost every one i have hooked is dead center of the top jaw 16. Does the type of line affect how you set the hook? nope, i set it like my life depends on it 17. Since smallmouth have smaller mouths, do you use smaller hooks? i caught a 10" smallie one a jerkbait almost as big as the fish, so not really 18. When a smallmouth is running, do you let your rod bend too much? im not sure there is a "too much" i have never broke a rod and i am not gentle 19. Is a shorter or longer rod better for fighting smallmouth? my understanding is a longer rod wears them down faster 20. Do you have any tricks on getting a smallmouth that is running side ways to tire out? nope, i just hold on and enjoy 21. Do you take any precautions after swinging them in (I've had the line break once the fish hits the dock and flops) never swung one before, typically i net them and drop my rod 22. Is a stiff, short rod better or worse? not a clue 23. Do you see any difference in how aggressive smallmouth are in clear water vs. dirty water? never noticed really 24. What size smallmouth is easiest to fight/land? i would imagine the smaller they are the easier they are 25. How do you handle a smallmouth that eats a bait on the fall in deep water? havent fished any deep water for bass 26. How do you keep the smallmouth from bending out a light wire hook? not sure, never bent a hook on a bass 27. When a smallmouth is trying to go under the boat pulling the rod tip down, what do you do? never fished for bass from a boat, but if they try to go under a dock i put more pressure on them to try to keep them away from possibly tangling me on the dock 28. How far will you let a smallmouth run? as far as it wants too 29. How do you set the hook when you have a lot of line out when casting into deep water? never fished "deep" water for bass 30. How much line do you typically have out for your hook set? anywhere between 5 feet and 50 feet i guess, they hit lures the second they hit water sometimes 31. What type of knot do you use for smallmouth? i use a palomer for everything at this point, i have yet to have one fail 32. How do you keep your thumb and index finger from slipping when back reeling? i have not back reeled 33. How do you prevent line from tangling when Back reeling? n/a 34. Have you ever tried Back reeling combined with changing the angle of the rod pull from left to right? n/a 35. How “forgiving” are the rods you use? im not sure what you mean, but i use from a 5 foot ultralight to a 7 foot medium-heavy. 36. Do you ever nose hook plastics for smallmouth? i have, there is a d**n i fish sometimes where you can just sit on the concrete with a nose hooked fluke and catch them

number 9 sounds very appealing to me!

since my rod is a 5/6 weight, would i benefit any going to something like the rio 6wt smallmouth line? Does it just make it easier to cast larger flies by going up a line size?

i do have weight forward line, but i dont believe it is considered a "bass taper". how much bigger do you think i can go than size 2 and 4. will i damage anything by trying to throw heavier flies, or will they just not work as well?

thanks for the reply! any other suggestions?

last year i decided to try fly fishing. i have a complete 5wt setup, 5/6 weight rod, large arbor reel, 5-weight floating weight forward line, leaders/tippets/etc. i had originally decided to fish for trout, but recently have started to consider using it for smallmouth. so a few questions... first, is a 5wt not enough? there seems to be conflicting answers about this. some people say you need a 7 or 8 weight to fish for bass, while others say a 5 or 6 is plenty. i will only be fishing on a river, and average fish size is 8"-12" topping out around 16" or so. also, any fly suggestions with sizes? it seems to be clouser minnows, crayfish, and poppers are the most popular for SMB. nobody seems to suggest sizes though. what sizes would be best for a 5wt line for smallies?

i had not considered a 500 size. is a 500 better suited to what i want, or is it just personal preference? im guessing the only real difference is line capacity and size/weight?

thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try to find some reviews for the ML i am looking for, but i am fairly sure i will be picking up a elite tech smallmouth! still unsre on the reel, i didnt get to check out the president yesterday. thanks again for the help everyone!

i may look into a medium then. the state record smallmouth is 6 pounds 13 ounces, does that change things any? like i said, i have never seen a smallmouth around here bigger than 16". i have heard of people catching bigger ones, but that is always on the main lake.

i will definately check in to the president. i believe they sell them at my local dicks, so i can get a feel for it. and thanks new2bc4bass, 1/16 - 5/8 sounds like exactly what i am looking for! anyone have any suggestions for 1000 vs 2500 size reels? and 4lb or 6lb yo-zuri? is it true that the 6lb breaks over 10 pounds? if that is the case, i will most likely go with the 4lb.

i have considered the elite tech smallmouth, i have an elite tech river runner and i enjoy it. so i now have a couple suggestions for a medium, is the elite tech smallmouth medium a "lighter medium", or am i wrong in thinking the medium-light is what would work best for my situation?

I have decided to buy a setup specifically for river smallmouth since thats what i spend most of my time fishing. based on my findings here and elsewhere, i should be looking for a medium-light fast action, between 6 and 7 feet long. baits are mostly soft plastics (both weightless and weighted), silicone jigs, and hair jigs. average size smallmouth is 10"-16". never seen any bigger than 16" in the river. i am leaning towards 6' or 6'6" because my 6'9" baitcaster barely fits in my jeep as is. i for sure want a 1-piece rod, and have a budget of about $200 for the rod and reel. i plan on a shimano sedona or symetre, but have not chose one yet. the impression i get is to spend more on the rod, and less on the reel. i would love an avid / symetre, but that is just a little out of my budget, and realistically i would like to spend as little as i can. i was thinking a 6' or 6'6" st croix premier ($100 and $110) with a shimano sedona and 4 or 6lb yo-zuri hybrid line. does this sound like a reasonable combo for river smallmouth under $200? also, what size reel would work best with this setup. i am thinking a 1000 size would balance best. thanks for the help!

cool, thanks. there is a dicks on the ride home from work today, i will have to check that out. thats actually where i got the fat ika. thanks for all the help everyone! i am still open to suggestions on a 4lb co-poly line, or maybe even fluoro as long as it handles decent.

i have never seen the tiny ika anywhere, but i have some fat ika. do you know where i would be able to find them? if i am not mistaken, the fat ika is almost 3/8 oz by itself. are the tiny ika the same overall profile, just scaled down? thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have considered nanofil in the past, but i tried it on a friends setup and did not like it. What braid goes to 4/1? I know power pro has 5,4,and 3 I believe. Any other braids go to 4 pound? Anyone use the smaller sized power pro? My big pull towards braid is the sensitivity, and if I get snagged it will pull my lure loose before breaking more often than not. And it's the only line I have used that doesn't become a coiled mess after some time. Any co-poly's in the 4 pound range? I think 4lb yo-zuri may be a little thicker than I want. Also, where can I get hair jigs? I found bigsmallietackle.com the other day, anyone used them?

i have not decided entirely to ditch braid, but i would like to find a co-poly or straight fluoro in 4lb test that is limp and managable. i have been using 1/8 oz jigs with some soft plastics, but have not tried a grub yet. i have been looking in to jigs a lot lately, but i am having a hard time finding them light enough so when rigged with a trailer they dont overload my rod.

i use a fenwick elite tech river runner 6'8" ultralight, with some cheap pflueger reel and 10/4 sufix 832 for most of my river smallmouth fishing. the rod is rated for 1/32 to 3/16 oz lure weight. i do plan to step down to 6/2 sufix 832 or maybe even try a 4lb test co-poly line (any suggestions for co-poly line?). I understand that is somewhat limiting for my intentions, but does anyone have any lure suggestions? i have gone to 1/4 oz as my heaviest lure on this rod, and have not had any problems. if it makes any difference, I mostly fish the winooski river below the ibm dam, and the lamoile river from route 2 to lake champlain. this is in north eastern vermont. as far as lure i prefer, i like skirted jigs, and soft plastics best. the smallmouth that i have caught with this setup was about 10" long and i caught it on a berkley goby in goby magic color, on a 1/8 oz round jig head. if there is anything other information i can provide to help narrow a selection, please let me know. but from what i have found, there is a very limited selection of "ultralight" bass lures in general.

I had been using it with a float, and was not terribly impressed. I also tried a split shot too, but didnt have much luck. I think my biggest problem was having WAY too much line on my reel. I wanted to use the rest of my fireline so I didnt waste it...well i ended up wasting it. I fished them again today using the p-line cxx I have been using and did a little better. I think I will stick with the cxx for now because it is cheap, and I only broke it once, but it was my fault. I hooked in to a roughly 4 pound largemouth and reached down to loosen the drag because I had been catching rock bass all morning. For some reason I turned up the drag instead of down, and as soon as the fish jumped and shook, he snapped the line. Oh well, lesson learned. I may even try the 2 pound test, but Im not sure. I will try what I have now when my longer ultralight arrives and see how I like it. I also need to learn to set my drag and leave it alone...

ok, i think i will give the 832 in 6 pound test, 2 pound diameter a try. I guess I should save the trout magnets for when i can drift them, and use the crappie magnets when i need a little more distance.

So I am hooked on ultralight fishing. I purchased a trout magnet kit and crappie magnet kit at the beginning of summer, and have been using the crappie magnets since then. Recently I tried the trout magnets, but could not get any distance. Some details about my setup... Cheap 5' ultralight combo (shakespear ?), p-line cxx 4lb, and a trout magnet ( 1/64 oz jig with small rubber body). I have even tried with a small splitshot about 12" above the lure with no luck. I recently ordered a fenwick elite tech river runner, 6'8" ultralight. I have heard that a longer rod casts farther and is able to protect the line better than a shorter rod. So my question is, what can I do to maximize my casting distance with this setup. I have considered trying sufix 832 in 6# test ( 2lb dia) because smaller diameter line casts further correct? I recently tied on the remaining 10lb test fireline i had (4lb dia) and I think that may have been part of my problem. It was a somewhat windy day, with old braid that was coiling up pretty bad, even after being sprayed with KVD conditioner. Should i stay away from braid and stay with the p-line cxx? I have had good luck with it, but I dont want to rule out the braid being that the braid i tried was somewhat old. I fish for bass (love smallmouth fishing!), crappie, panfish, really anything that will bite. I fish on lake champlain in vermont, as well as the winooski river and lamoile river, both are good size. Smallmouth is mostly what I am after though, so if anyone has any general smallmouth on ultralight tackle suggestions too, I am all ears. Thanks.

agreed. i have been to many forums, and it is very rare to see people go out of their way to help others. thanks again everyone!

i am sure there are better rods than a $50 dollar rod, but like i said i would just like to save some money to keep the wife off my back for now. i use mostly senko's for my bass fishing so far, and the cheapy first combo i got is a medium rod, fast tip, and has 10 pound seaguar invizx on that setup. after reading the Guaranteed To Catch Bass thread, i think that setup should do fine for now. actually, i have to get it warrentied because the tip is broke i think. there is a permenant bend about 6" down from the tip. webertime, where in VT are you? i see champlain vally so you cant be too far from me. i live in milton, work in essex, and spend most of my free time in hinesburg. i am waiting for my bike to sell before i buy a baitcaster, but i will let you know if i would like to check out the abu reel you have. if the bike doesnt sell, i wont be getting a baitcaster till at least xmas, more likely spring. btw, where did you catch that bass that was gorging on perch? i have only caught 2 bass worth mentioning since early summer (over 6"). the first was a smallmouth below the dam at ibm. there is a little spot that seems like it only gets water when the dam opens, and even then it may only be from the flooding this year. it was about 14-16" (i was too excited and didnt have a tape measure), the other was in lake champlain, somewhere in ferrisburgh on a boat, im not exactly sure where. was a largemouth, about 10-12". i hooked into a BIG largemouth in colchester pond, but he snapped the line after about 5 seconds (4 pound p-line cxx on a 5' ultralight). like a fool i reached down and turned up the drag when i should have turned it down and let him run!

ok. i looked at the shock rod yesterday on bps. i will see if dicks has any. i didnt realize the mojo bass was made in mexico? i just ASSumed they where all made in america, for what reason, i dont know. thanks again everyone, im still torn, so im going to try as many combos as i can at dicks tonight and see what feels right. hopefully sometime i can get to a store with more variety. anybody know of any places in vermont, or north-eastern new york with a wide selection of equipment? i went to gander mountain in plattsburg last month, but the store was full of people who couldnt answer my questions, or didnt care to even respond, so i will not be going back there again.

i think when i get out of work today I will go to dicks and see if they have a c4. if they do, i will have them put it on the mojo bass for me to feel. the point about them being tip heavy may actually prove to work well with the heavier, higher center of gravity with the c4. i iwll see if they have a premiere for me to try it on as well, last time i was there they only had one.. I will check out the lamiglass as well, have not heard of them. any thoughts on getting a $30 ugly stick to save some money, and upgrade the rod down the road? i have heard the ugly sticks are pretty heavy, but weight is not a concern for me, my second job is cutting trees. after a day of that, fishing feels like tossing dental floss around.