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'd get a 7wt so you can deliver some bigger flies...most of my topwaters are on size 2 or 1/0 hooks...Poppers, Gaines Sneaky Pete's, and some Pencil Poppers..Subsurface stuff is in the 3-4" range on size 4 or bigger hooks. Sparkleminnows, Shenk's Streamers, and some of the Articuated Patterns. S. Dungeons, Circus Peanuts, etc. Have fun.

thanks for the reply! any other suggestions?

The 5/6 should work fine for you but it will handle the Size 2 & 4 Flies better than it will anything bigger.

You might also add some Black and/or White Wooley Buggers and some Murrays Marauders. Those along with a few colors of Clousers Minnows like Silver Shiner, Golden Shiner and Chartruese/White should catch you some Smallies.

The 5 weight is what I use. As long as you have the weight forward or "bass bug" designed line you will be fine throwing heavier flies. I use it and I can throw everything you mentioned above. I have an assortment of wooley buggers to imitate crayfish and various baitfish, but my favorite is summertime topwater. I throw poppers and have a lot of luck with them. After reading your post, I don't think you'll have any problems catching fish with that setup and those flies.

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?

You won't damage anything throwing larger flies. If you are going after Smallies in creeks and rivers, there is no need for flies larger than say a size 2. Short of the occasional frog/mouse not much of a Smallmouth's diet in a river will be "big" Clouser Minnows, Purple/Black/Olive/White beadhead wooly buggers, Muddlers, and the Bar's Meat Whistle are my favorite Smallmouth flies.

You won't damage anything throwing larger flies. If you are going after Smallies in creeks and rivers, there is no need for flies larger than say a size 2. Short of the occasional frog/mouse not much of a Smallmouth's diet in a river will be "big" Clouser Minnows, Purple/Black/Olive/White beadhead wooly buggers, Muddlers, and the Bar's Meat Whistle are my favorite Smallmouth flies.

that sounds so wrong lol but where do you guys buy your bass flies I looked on BPS they have some stuff but not alot it seems

I get my flies locally as well as through llbean, orvis, and cabelas.

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?

You really won't notice any change that is worth the time and $ to change.

If you stick with the 5/6 you will be limited to smaller flies in the size 6-2 range. Small flies catch tons of sunfish and rockbass in addition to bass. It's a ton of fun, but if you want to target bass specifically you will want bigger flies. Line selection really depends on the rod...since you said its a 5/6...I'm figuring that its an inexpensive starter kit rod. Most of those feel like pool cues, or noodles...so it might be a good idea to take it to a fly shop and figure out what line works best on it. The Scientific Anglers Headstart line is a good one for beginners, inexpensive and basically a bass bug line with a different name.

If your looking for flies...Buy local if you can...if not there are plenty of good online sources. Look in the Streamer, Bass, and Saltwater categories. Have fun!

Orvis and Mad River Outfitters both have a lot of bass flies

If 16" is legitimately as big as the fish are ever going to be, I would stick with a 6wt.... 

 

If you want just one line, the SA Mastery "Titan" floater is the line you want... The Mastery version is ideal as it's the OG Titan taper, not the Titan Long... 

 

Boogle Bugs & Clouser's are all you really need to start with, if you start tying your own flies, learn to tie a craft fur baitfish pattern like the "Bad Hair Day" for sure... 

Get youself a 10' weighted S3 leader if you want to get depth. 

My 6wt PB is just over #3 smallie.

 

For a leader i normally start with 4 ft of #20 mono, 2ft of #17 and 2 ft of #12 mono. I will add 2 ft #6 fluoro if im throwing small flies

 

 

If you want depth go with a sink tip streamer line. Sink tips/sinking line are easier to cast than you think. Plus you can use an unweighted fly. I’d rather cast that rig than a floating line with a weighted fly all day long.

 

Also it’s not always about just going deep. It’s about control your depth throughout the retrieve. With a floating line your fly is going to yo yo a bit and in stronger current it’s going to come up.

 

You can also use a really really short leader with sinking line.  Mine is seldom longer that 3 feet for bass or trout on a sink tip. It’s heavenly.

 

I usually have two rods rigged for smb fly fishing. Both are 6 weights. One has Rio Gold Floating line and the other has Sink Tip.

 

The floater is for topwater/shallow and sight fishing. The Sink Tip is for every thing else.

A 5/6 for smalls in a creek is great.  Smallmouth in the streams fish just like trout a lot of the time. You can nymph stone flies, hellgrammites, craws and any generic nymph patterns. You can fish them under a bobber just like nymphing for trout too. The other way is to cast and strip streamers. You may not be able to throw the huge patterns but that doesn’t really matter most time. Try casting and stripping black or brown or olive or yellow or white or any combination of woolly buggers or leechy type flies and you’ll be set. Next ones are surface patterns, like trout again, you can match the hatch if you have hatches of stones or mays or caddis that the fish key on. Another thing is terrestrials like any insects that may fall in the water, hoppers are great, Beatles, frogs, mice and poppers are all good to try. Don’t over think it , take what you have and go fish. You don’t need specialized anything to start with. 

SA titan is the best line i have found for warm water fishing and i have them on my 7's and 8's.  As far as the weight of hte rod goes, it will be fine.  You can cast pretty much anything you want with that rod weight and while it won't be ideal for larger flies, you absolutely can.  I went years as a broke college student/climbing bum fishing for everything from sunnies to largemouth to big ass carp with my 4wt.  You just have to adjust your casting stroke a little.  Have fun and stick with basic flies and colors unless you don't want to.  I use three main flies, some sort of topwater, usually a Boga bug, a streamer like a gamechanger or baitfish imitiation and a bottom bouncer like a clawdad or sculpin depending on what the fish are telling me.