mcnealstash

This picture makes me happy. Big swimbaits for big smallmouth is the spice of life! Thanks for sharing.

Hi all- I'm looking to get my first swimbait setup and have a few questions about finding the right combo. Was hoping to find a 7' to 7'2" rod that has a sweet spot for 1-1.5 oz offerings but can throw up to 2 oz. Ideally would like something that is versatile enough to handle weedless single hook rigging (beast hook), but also throw a few treble hardbaits (maybe this means I'm looking for a moderate-fast taper?). Likely will be throwing 5" spark shad and 6" magdraft freestyle, 6" citizens rigged with an owner beast hook for single hook applications. For trebles I'd like it to be able to throw things like the Islide 135/185, vatalion, and bucca bull shad 5-6". Budget is not an issue for this combo- I'm a fan of high end gear. Similarly I'm wondering whether or not I should get a round or low profile reel to pair with this rod. Are there advantages/disadvantages to one or the other for swimbait rods? Most likely will be spooling this reel with 20lb fluoro and am thinking of going for a 200 size reel. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/explanations.

Nikko helgrammites- 3" Keitech Crazy Flapper 2.8"- very underrated bait... I usually Texas rig this one with 1/8 oz. tungsten Keitech swing impact fat 3.3" or 3.8" Any green pumpkinish tube ~3.5"

After reading more and really thinking about my primary uses for this rod I think it makes more sense for me to go for one of the 843c's- The rivers I fish are so shallow in summer that oftentimes we have to downsize our bottom contact jigs and texas rigs significantly to not get hung up all the time. In those scenarios it makes more sense to be throwing light rigs on my spinning rod. The 843 will be a much better choice in terms of how much use I'll be able to get out of it when I want to throw bigger moving baits. Being able to toss on 1/4 or 3/8 oz. football jigs/trigs and use the rod for some bottom contact when the water is higher is a bonus. I saw that the new NRX+ has the same spiral x technology that is also used in the conquest. What about the conquest gives it the edge versus the new NRX lineup? Just when I thought I had it all figured out a new variable is thrown into the mix...!

As a primarily river smallmouth fishermen who started on fly gear and then also added conventional to my arsenal, 7 and 8 weights are the gold standard for bass fly fishing these days. An 8 weight is necessary for throwing big streamers-while a 7 weight can handle some of those streamers but not all. I use a 7 weight with a floating line for all my topwater flies and an 8 weight with an intermediate line for fishing 3-5" streamers. Stick with scientific anglers or rio for lines- you really can't go wrong with their offerings. The titan series by scientific anglers is good for bigger flies like you'll want to have. Sometimes it makes more sense to have a floating line for your streamer rod if flows are really shallow but that will depend on the body of water you're targeting. Anywhere from a 0-2x fluoro tippet should be adequate. I have never felt like I need to go smaller than 2x. Reels don't matter as you won't be fighting fish on the reel unless you hook into a monster (basically you don't need a high quality drag system)- you should be focusing on strip fighting fish in more often than getting them on the reel like you would with a bigger salmonid. I would, however, recommend a reel with a large arbor. There is a really fantastic and up to date book linked here that I'd recommend if you want to learn more about fly fishing for river smallmouth- it covers everything you could pretty much think of: https://www.amazon.com/Smallmouth-Fly-Fishing-Methods-Tactics-Techniques/dp/0811715590/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=smallmouth+bass+fly+fishing&qid=1621030914&sr=8-4 By far my favorite way to target smallies is with topwater flies in the hot summer months. The diving frog with chartreuse belly made by umpqua is a personal favorite- nothing beats watching a fish come screaming out of cover at mach 3 to t-bone that thing. Poppers are another great topwater option- my best producer through the years has been a large boogle bug in chartreuse. For streamers, you can't go wrong with game changers (and all their variations), the swingin' D, or clouser minnows. There are different streamers for different parts of the water column that you may want to have in your arsenal. Natural colors (tans, browns, olives, white, black, softer oranges, greens, and pinks) are usually best for clear water. Think about the forage you are trying to imitate and tie accordingly. Flies tied with louder colors (orange, red, yellow, chartreuse) and more flash in them are better in pre-spawn or when the water is dirty.

Hi all- Introducing myself with this post.... New forum member and mainly a midwest river smallmouth angler here looking for some help selecting a casting rod to cover a variety of applications that aren't really well suited for throwing on the 2 setups I currently have. Those combos are a: 1. Megabass P5 Destroyer "Landsat" 6' 11" ML/F w/ Shimano Vanford 2500- I use this for light (1/8 and 3/16 oz.) Texas rigs, Micro/Nano Jigs (1/8-3/16 oz.), Ned Rigs, Shakeyheads (4-5"), and lightly weighted paddletails (2.8 and 3.3 keitechs usually). I upgraded to this combo from a cheaper spinning combo this year and it's been a really solid "all around" finesse spinning setup for the river this Spring. Technically the rod is rated to 3/8 oz. but I can feel when casting heavier rigs (3/8 oz.+) that it's overwhelming the rod a bit much and I'd probably be better off getting something a bit heavier to handle the increased load. 2. Megabass Levante "Flatside Special" M/M w/ Shimano Curado DC 151 6:1- Pretty standard reaction bait rod that mainly sees use in the Spring and Fall and is good for throwing treble hooked hardbaits including bladebaits, lipless cranks, squarebills, and jerkbaits. With the release of the new NRX+ it's a good time for me to buy a high end casting setup in the Medium-Heavy range to cover a variety of applications that aren't really being properly addressed by the above two. Those applications include: 1/4 oz. Skirted Swim Jigs + 3.5-4" Trailers (plan to throw these 40% of the time on this rod) 1/4- 3/8 oz. Finesse Football Head Jigs with 3-4" Trailers (40%) 3/8 oz. Spinnerbait (10%) 3/8 oz. Megabass Dark Sleeper (10%) The rivers I fish are shallow and I am usually wading them, although sometimes I do some shore fishing or fish from a canoe. I like to fish about a 7' rod- anything longer is not practical for the rivers I fish. Based on other posts I've read it seems like one of the 3 power models (843c or 853c) could be a good choice to meet these demands- the primary difference between the two being that the 843 has a fast taper while the 853 is x-fast. Planning on pairing either one of these with a Metanium MGL or DC reel. My main question for everyone here is based my current equipment as well as the intended uses for this rod, do you think there is a superior choice between the 843 or 853? Thanks in advance for the help!