klaypigeon

I flyfish bass...a lot. Rod- For ~$250 my TFO BVK 8-wt cannot be beat for a brute of a rod that throws line like a cannon with he best warranty in the market. Its important to remember that fly rods are fragile things. They break. We all break them. This is where you are thankful for the warranty. Do not boat your fish by lifting them aboard with your rod unles you like waiting for rod replacements. Fenwick Aetos is pretty nice this year as well and is right in this price range. You will loose a little power and it just isn't quite the rod the BVK is, but who cares. Most your casts will be 40-60 ft. Still, buy the BVK if you can afford it. Hell buy better if you can Another reason to buy an 8wt - where there are bass there are often pike...big pike, mean nasty pike. Reel- For your reel I suggest anything LIGHT that has some kind of drag. You make a lot of casts bass fishing and you don't want to be holding up some over weight clod of a reel. Drag is nice, but you generally aren't too concerned about protecting delicate tippet like trout fishing so don't get too fussy. Just get light! I fish a Lamson Liquid 3.5 which is a hell of a reel for $100. Line- Get a WF8F Bass/muskie taper, these tighten up on the front taper length which makes turning over those fat poppers and mice way easier, again a good reason to use an 8 weight. . Lots of companies make them. You get what you pay for here. Minimally I would spend 50-60$. SA/RIO/Orvis all make good ones. Sinking?- I don't like sinking likes too much, but I do add a 12ft sinking leader. Rio versileader 12 ft 5IPS with 3-5 ft of 8-12 pound mono is a great combo for me. anything deeper than that just gets too boring to hold my attention for long. Finally, if you have any fly rod over a 5 weight, just use that for a little while. Bass will crush smaller panfish poppers, trust me. They eat everything. I fish a fast action 5-wt (St. Croix Legend Elite) all the time for 2-4 pound largemouths in the 30-50 ft range. Smaller poppers, hoppers, flies, nymphs and worms. If you are a good caster you will still be able to throw the big stuff, just not as far or as accurately as you will with an 8 weight, and in the wind forget about it. Flies...See image. This is my boat box. Notice the little black panfish popper? That old boy gets a lot of mileage and has been in the mouth of many bass....ok take it back, have no idea how to post images here. Tried google photos, Pinterest...nope. This must be some old school thing. https://goo.gl/photos/D9LMaRNzrAPbUbwR7 I know this post is late to the game, but I hope it might help someone just getting a start. -kp