cdlittle

I need to pick up a reel for my punching rod and I'm having a hard time looking at anything but another Fuego. I want to try something new for kicks and giggles, but I know I won't get the same value per dollar if I do.

That's why I have an unreasonable amount of them. I haven't paid over $85 for a single one and there's no reel that even comes close for that price.

I currently own 7 Fuego CT's and all are flawless and dependable.

That would suck. Zoom makes a lot of good, affordable baits.

First I've seen this, looks awesome! I wonder if the spool drops into the CT model. Since I didn't realize there was a Fuego SV model, I ordered an aftermarket SV spool from SDS Customs and it's pretty sick. I'm using it on a medium casting rod for shaky head/all purpose worm duty.

Zako, Zoom Super Fluke, GY Cowboy

Daiwa Fuego CT in April of 2020...

The guy I was responding to said he found a 4wt rod in his garage. If you're looking to get started into bass fly fishing, I'd go with a 7wt. Which, in that case, would change my recommendations to a Redington Behemoth 7/8 reel, 7wt line, 2x leader/tippet, and size 6-8 flies. As far as rod, I'm not much help as I build all my own fly rods.

I have one XT and it's been awesome. Fished it a lot this spring.

Profile.

Funny you mention that. I just got done wrapping a custom BFS jig rod for finesse jigs!

My pleasure. Hit me up of you have any other questions!

I've caught 34 bass since I started fishing after ice left the last week of March. Way more than last year, but my biggest is sub 3lb so far.

That's the reason I keep building rods! To have an idea of a specific rod you want, then to build it and have it work exactly how you hoped. Sooo addicting!

Start with loud reaction going down to small finesse. My flow is usually one from these categories, moving downwards. Glide bait or spinnerbait or chatterbait Crankbait or jerkbait or lipless Swim jig or swimbait Drop shot or jig

My absolute favorite lure/way to fish

The AirdX took a few outings to feel comfortable in my hands, but now it feels like a second home and you couldn't get me to give my two up. The BlackMax reels are not great. They're useful only for BFS spool conversions. The Daiwa CC80 is a much nicer reel for a few dollars more, as you experienced.

IDK if BR allows links, but go to madriveroutfitters(dot)com and buy: Redington Zero 4/5 reel Scientific Anglers Air Cel 4wt line Pack of Rio Powerflex Trout Leader in 9' 3x Spool of Rio Powerflex Tippet in 3x At checkout, select "line this reel" or whatever it is that they call it. They will put backing on the reel for free and spool up your line . You do not need a reel or line any fancier to start out with. You might want to upgrade the line after a couple seasons, but the reel is good forever. Forget about sinking/intermediate lines on a 4wt for now. Then buy any foam beetle/spider and/or foam grasshopper fly in size 9-12, I recommend size 9-10 for the hopper pattern and 11-12 for foam beetles/spiders. I recommend foam flies for beginners since your casts are not going to be delicate at the beginning, and they float better than regular flies. I suggest BigYFlyCo for affordable flies. You can get several dozen flies shipped for a very reasonable price. In the course of retying/losing flies, once you've cut off about 2' of your leader, you'll tie on 2ft of tippet and begin again. Proceed to go out and catch all manner of panfish/bass. All of my suggestions are products that I use and that are currently in stock.

Phenix for sure.

A large part of the fun of bass on the fly is that a big bass is much more likely to eat a small fly than a small hardbait, in my experience. My biggest bass on the fly was on a size 10 popper thrown on a 2wt glass rod.

If you live up north where the bass are smaller, a 3wt actually wouldn't be that awful. It would make for some awesome fights. The 8wt will still be fun and can handle anything without worry.

Grasshopper patterns are my go to. But there aren't many grasshoppers in my neck of the woods. Going to try some spiders next.

Yep, foam grasshopper pattern.

The full size kicks like crazy too!

I love fly fishing for bass. I'm a little odd in that I only use glass fly rods that I build myself. I just christened a 5wt that I built last night. I only throw foam spiders/terrestrials. If I go subsurface, I prefer to grab my conventional tackle. Nothing catches me as many bass as a foam hopper in the summer mornings.