Pre-Spawn Smallies (Part 2)

For the second installment of this series I thought we would go over some of the equipment that is used for smallie fishing. Not alot different than trout gear, but still worth a mention.
Fly Rod - I like a 9 foot rod in anything from a 6 to 8 weight depending on how heavy the flies are that I'm throwing. Also depending on whether I'm using a sink tip line or not. These fish fight with everything they have. Use a big enough rod so that you can land them without having to play them to exhaustion. We owe it to them to release them in a survivable state. Playing any fish to exhaustion causes unnecessary harm to them. And remember, we want them to be able to spawn!
Fly Reel - Not really a huge deal, believe it or not. Most of the time you will be stripping the fish in versus taking him to the reel. The reason is that they don't make the big, long runs like a big trout will. They try to go deep or they may fight by running from side to side in front of you. They will make a jump or two, but they mostly fight in close to the boat versus making a long run. You will lose alot of smallies by trying to take them to the reel, especially if fishing with barbless hooks. I see this alot because the fish will often make a run toward the boat and the angler can't reel fast enough to keep pressure on them.
Fly Lines - I use either a weight forward line or an intermediate sink tip line. The specialized lines with the bass tapers on them will help to turn these big flies over, but they are certainly not a necessity. The clear "ghost tip" type sink tip lines are nice as well. This is due to the fact that you don't want to use a long leader when using a sink tip line. The clear tip gives you a little more distance between the fish and the visible part of your line. Any advantage can help, right?
Leaders - Smallmouth bass are not usually leader shy. I will use a 10 pound test leader and tippet most of the time. You should not be breaking smallies off! Don't be afraid to use a strong enough leader to get the job done. After all, he will not be sipping midges out of the surface film. He is going to attack and explode on your fly most of the time. A light leader will often break during the take. If that happens, so will your heart! Also, as mentioned above, you don't want to use a long leader when using a sink tip line. Using a 9 foot leader defeats the purpose of the sinking tip because the fly will not be getting into the strike zone, only the leader will. The fly will still be hanging out above your line and not pulled down to where you need it. In general, a 5 foot leader should be plenty long enough when using a sinking tip line.
Well, that's it for part 2 of the series. Stay tuned tomorrow for the third and final installment of the series. We will discuss the flies used and how to properly present them to a smallmouth bass in order to entice an explosive strike. After all, if he won't take your offering, none of this other stuff really matters does it? See ya next time!