1 Rod, two set up recommendations

[Tyler51-19]

I recently picked up fly fishing and have had success and a ton of fun using a 5wt rod/reel with 5wt weight forward floating line on panfish and largemouth bass. I’ve learned the limits of the rod and though I can throw various streamers, those that are larger than a #4 or #2 clouser lose efficiency, at least with my technique.

I came into an 8wt setup recently and figured I would have a go at fishing for both LMB and spotted bay bass on the heavier rod. The reel came with an extra spool so I’m interested to know if I should run floating line for LMB and a sinking line for SBB, or any other combination (sink top, etc.) of line type that would be optimal for targeting fresh and salt.

For reference, I usually do my salt fishing on a Tatula combo with a Daiwa 103 bay casting reel using various swim baits.


Thanks for the help.

[Rattus]

8wt will be fine for fishing larger flies for LMB, but it's a bit overkill for SBB, the flies for those don't need to be very big, #6 or #4 Clousers should do just fine.

Definitely get a sinking line for SBB, a sink rate of 4-6 ips will work great in the bays. Almost all SBB fishing is on the bottom, depending on where you are fishing that translates to about 8 to 25 feet of water. Throw in current and boat drift and you will appreciate the sinking lines ability to get down into the feeding zone.

For SBB and general saltwater streamer fishing, I like using a short leader, 3' of 10 lb monofilament to small swivel, then another 1' of tippet material, generally 6 lb fluorocarbon.

Good luck, I find catching SBB on a fly rig much more enjoyable than on a conventional rig.