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I LOVE smallies but short fiberglass rods just don't do it for me while wading in big moving water. Mending is critical to get the right fly speed that triggers big smallmouth into biting. I know it's sacrilege to say so here but my 9ft 7wt Sage RPL 4pc and my 9 1/2 ft Scott S3 4pc graphite rods give me the critical mending length in a rod that I need. If I'm fishing out of a boat 8ft glass rods are superb like Fenwick FF807's and Berkley Parametric 8 footers. I haven't tried a Silaflex 322980 but would like to very much. Someone, please send me one this summer so I can try one out. I'm looking forward to using my newly acquired Scott F82B 8ft 7wt in 2010. I haven't tried any glass 8'6" rods in the 7wt range . I've always been so hesitant to try glass over 8ft because my experiences in the past tells me they get tip heavy over 8ft. But my Berkley Parametric 8 footer is so light, I'm thinking of getting a Berkley 8 1/2 footer to try. I'm also thinking of getting a Fenwick FF857 and/or a Fisher made 8 1/2 footer to try this year. I'd like to hear what people have to say about those three 8 1/2 footers and their effectiveness casting heavy or large Smallmouth flies which to me are essential for "consistently" catching "big" smallmouth.

CrustyBugger

Yes, you can catch smallmouth with a 5/6 weight or any trout rod for that matter, even 4wts if they're taking epherons. But to really get serious about it, you need a 7 weight; not so much to fight the fish but to cast the flies. Smallmouth will take medium size dries and small streamers for sure, but to catch the big boys consistently or during times when they only want something big, you need something that will cast big air resistant bugs and heavily leaded nymphs and streamers. I'm not talking about the huge flies that you tie for pike and largemouth but they are still significantly larger than most trout flies. They're smack in between. What that boils down to is this' seven weights are where it's at for smallmouth. You're not overgunning with a 7wt to catch smallmouth either, because even the little guys can put a bend in a 7wt rod. I've been fishing for smallmouth with a fly rod for a very long time and I strongly believe that a versatile, all purpose smallmouth rod that will cast anything you could throw at a smallmouth should be a 7wt.

CrustyBugger