Bass rod

[Dave G. 0]

Oh I believe they built those 7'9" rods specifically for bass fishing, because tell you what , I wouldn't want to fish a 7'9"- 7,8 or 9 wt to go pan fishing or trout fishing with. So that's the target fish, bass or as I like to call them " weed hogs" ( large mouth). It helps to have a stout butt section and shorter rod when dragging those slugs up out of the thick weed bottomed ponds. Now at the same time they may try to target the bass tournament guys, to insight some interest there but frankly it seems unlikely, unless the tournament tours have started a category for fly fishing or some such thing ( then all the rod companies would be jumping on board). I can't imagine the tour participants bothering with flies. I think it's far more likely that rod companies would employ these guys to make the ads that might entice the unknowing into purchasing one of the "bass rods", because Joe Blo the famous tournament fisherman was using one in the ad.. Far more likely.

 

So a short stouter rod is probably laced with at least a Veil of truth, IMO ( yes I said it's my opinion, I have 0 hard facts other than knowing I used stouter rods when spin fishing for weed hogs myself). Now too, the closer you can hook a fish to the boat when top water fishing, the better your chanced of keeping it out of the bottom weeds in the first place. In this case you don't need a really long casting rod. I think I already mentioned in another post I'm thinking of using my old 8'6" -7 wt. St Croix iM6 rod for bass this coming summer. I bet it will be a good use for that rod on our boat, especially in Santuit pond where the bottom at it's deepest point is only about 13 ft down and the weeds reach upwards for probably 5 ft and thicker than a maze down there. In shallower areas, the weeds are right under the surface. But it's a bass and pickerel haven.

[Gene L 0]

I had a "Smallmouth" rod. I was told at the time that it was 7'9" or so to comply with Tournament rules. Sage? I don't remember who made it; I traded it off because it was too stiff.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I think Sage was the first big-name company to attempt bullsh*tting us with the "tournament legal" idiocy. They sold SPECIAL lines for each rod too, which were grievously heavy and short WF lines which of course cast like cannonballs. Any moron used to chucking a 1 ounce jig on a telephone pole and truck winch with magnetic brakes could launch the line 40 or 50 feet. They, of course, tried to make this seem like something revolutionary. They forgot that some of us can, and do, actually READ....

 

There are plenty of references to southern Largemouth fly-rod anglers as far back as the 1950's- including the legendary Tom Nixon, advised cutting a foot off an average fly rod, putting on a new tip guide, and using a line one or two weights heavier than rated for catching bass. Nothing at all to do with tournaments, but everything to do with what DaveG talked about.

 

The older I get, the more I realize that NOTHING in fishing is NEW. Well, perhaps there are always NEW gullible, stupid, loose-with-money fishermen.

[Dave G. 0]

I remember those bass lines ( I don't recall the rods specifically being Sage but then I don't recall a lot of things). Seems to me there were "bass" leaders too.

[saltydancindave 0]

Back in the 60's bass fishing called for a #9 weight where a 9' rod was the selection. Fly shop sales personnel would dissuade one from an #8 weight 8 footer even if it was easier to reach the tip top for untangling holding the stick in the middle in the 70's. As the years passed fly rod weight requirements went down as size of bass catches did. #7 weight trout rods in the late 80's worked well on those 20" + bass while in the 90's a preferred choice was down to a #6 weight since larger fish were rare catches. Even 6'6" #5 weights usually for panfish or trout were a good fishing choice except for that occasional 5 or 6 lb bucketmouth. Every once in a while when water flows & depths were low in clear water taking a short 5'6" #4 weight for some dry fly top water strikes was great for under 18" smallies. Casting bigger bass bugs with a bigger rod was the best rule of thumb. Choose the fly size then the rod size is known.

[Gene L 0]

After reading Jsz's post doubting the 8' rule, I Googled it and yes, there is indeed an 8' limit for (I believe the Bassmaster's Tournament) rules. It covers spinning and casting rods and presumably by extension, fly rods. If there is a rule, you can count on anyone NOT affected by the rule to accuse others for violating it.

 

Why this rule exists for rods length, I have no idea, but it is a rule.

 

Later research indicates that this year, the length of rods can be as much as 10 ft for B.A.S.S. tournaments.

[JSzymczyk 0]

After reading Jsz's post doubting the 8' rule, I Googled it and yes, there is indeed an 8' limit for (I believe the Bassmaster's Tournament) rules. It covers spinning and casting rods and presumably by extension, fly rods. If there is a rule, you can count on anyone NOT affected by the rule to accuse others for violating it.

 

Why this rule exists for rods length, I have no idea, but it is a rule.

 

Later research indicates that this year, the length of rods can be as much as 10 ft for B.A.S.S. tournaments.

I must have mis-stated something, I never doubted the 8 foot length rule. I doubted and still doubt and probably will forever doubt that any fly rod has ever played a part in any "normal" bass tournament since the beginning of time. It would turn the glitter-rocket morons on their head if someone with a fly rod ever beat their broomsticks, winches, and 150lb superlines. Fly fishing, as much as we like it, just is not nearly as versatile or effective over a wide range of variables, for catching bass, as gear fishing. If it was, everyone out there would be using fly tackle. Those guys aren't out there for the enjoyment of fishing, they are out there to win money and jump around screaming like little girls when they catch a 3 pound largemouth and slam it in the dead-well of their $80,000 boat.

[Gene L 0]

I think the differentials are mostly irrelevant. No one tournament fishes with a fly rod; in fact no one I know now tournament fishes with anything but a casting rod. I've known several tournament fishers in the past and it's a rough sport when you're fishing it as a competition. Year round down here and south of here.

 

I have fished with weighted plastic worms years ago. I had a boat back then and it was boring and hot in the summertime and wet in the wintertime.

[andrew.da.cook 0]

I think Sage was the first big-name company to attempt bullsh*tting us with the "tournament legal" idiocy. They sold SPECIAL lines for each rod too, which were grievously heavy and short WF lines which of course cast like cannonballs. Any moron used to chucking a 1 ounce jig on a telephone pole and truck winch with magnetic brakes could launch the line 40 or 50 feet. They, of course, tried to make this seem like something revolutionary. They forgot that some of us can, and do, actually READ....

 

There are plenty of references to southern Largemouth fly-rod anglers as far back as the 1950's- including the legendary Tom Nixon, advised cutting a foot off an average fly rod, putting on a new tip guide, and using a line one or two weights heavier than rated for catching bass. Nothing at all to do with tournaments, but everything to do with what DaveG talked about.

 

The older I get, the more I realize that NOTHING in fishing is NEW. Well, perhaps there are always NEW gullible, stupid, loose-with-money fishermen.

Sage did come out with the bass series, then a few years later revamped the project with the bass II series adding a few different models and weights. These came with matching lines from 230 up to 390 grain short heads specifically for each rod. Knowing how to read and do basic math, when the line got worn out over years of use I was able to put on an appropriate line for the rod without getting the SPECIAL line. While certainly what they did was not ground breaking, and I have never fished a bass tournament, it is still a "specialty" rod in todays market of 8.6, 9, 10ft rods(although things are slowing starting to change).

 

I will never understand why people are so sensitive about overlining rods with aggressive front tapers to making casting easier. If that is what an angler wants to do to help their casting, then by all means do it. Yes, it makes casting much easier while sacrificing presentation and overall distance but it also allows me to pick up a fly and in one backcast shoot my fly back to where I need it. That is more time in the water, more chances to be catching fish.

 

Maybe I am too sensitive this morning, or trying to work out my Monday blues but simply buying into the sales pitch from Sage letting them do the R&D so I don't have to start cutting down fly rods and experiment with lines makes sense in my book. Call me loose-with-money fly fisherman, sure, new--sort of, but because I keep a couple of these rods in my boat while fishing for bass to trout to redfish doesn't make me/anybody gullible or stupid.

[JSzymczyk 0]

again, my irritation with them is that the length was and still is the marketing point of - quote from the Sage website - "Built within tournament specifications (under 8')" which is utterly and totally irrelevant. No bass tournament people are doing anything with them. It was a blatant effort to possibly get some largemouth chasing glitter-rocket monkeys to buy a fly rod. I would bet they tried to "sponsor" some of the BASCAR people, like a few of the fishing kayak companies are doing now. Go to the heartland of largemouth bass tournament country, and talk to some of these people- by and large they believe fly rods are -at best- a diversion for catching "bream", or at worst, a communist attempt to subvert 'merica. I've been there, done that. When I first moved to the armpit of the South, I went into the largest outdoors store in town and was browsing, finally after some time I was asked if I needed to find something, I asked if they had any fly tying supplies.... I got a really strange sideways look and was told, loudly, "ain't no trout around here, boy!" Granted, I know full well bass tournaments are not strictly a southern thing, but my point stands. I would like to know if any any individual fish has ever been entered in a BASS sanctioned tournament which has been caught on one of these rods, let alone any winners. You would see them front-and-center in every Bass Pro Shop in the nation if it ever happened.

 

No need to explain your sensitivity, if the rods do what you want them to do then fine. Prices starting at $550, that is a whole other side to the marketing BS...

[Bimini15 0]

"Ain't no trout around here, boy!"... CLASSIC!

[Brodrash 0]

"Largemouth chasing glitter rocket monkey"

 

Im gonna have to use that one on my cousin! He's one of those guys how has to land the fish .3 seconds after hooking it using a 18:1 reel and a broomstick for a rod! LOL

[rstaight 0]

I have 3 rods that I use for bass. They are the older St. Croix Avids. A 5wt, 7wt, and 9wt. Depends what fly I am using. When fishing nymphs I will use the 5wt. Poppers are on the 7wt. I have some large lead eye rabbit strip streamers the I throw with the 9wt because it's like casting a sock.