Other types of fish...

[Fly Right]

hey fly right, what weight rod and reel do you use to surf fish?

95% of the time I use my 11-6 / 5wt switch rod with a Galvin reel. If I am fishing with a one hand rod it is usually a 9' 7wt with the same reel. I have also used a 12-6 / 6 wt spey on occasion. Overhead two hand casts with spey or switch rods using your line of choice is a very efficient and effective way to fish surf. A 270 grain shooting head with Rio slick shooter running line using any of the three aforementioned rods usually does the trick for me.

good luck
Chris

[Dan LeCount]

Most largemouth usually just give you one good run and turn over. If they didn't get you snagged into some grass or a bush in that first run you usually can skate them in. They put all their energy into that one run. Compared to steelhead or other game fish they might not seem that great, but like others said, they hit flies with bad intentions and eat some pretty crazy bugs. Because of that, even with the lower endurance, LMB are one of my favorites.

The fight of a smallmouth is a totally different story. If you hooked a 5lb smallmouth to a 5lb largemouth, that smallie would drag mr greenskin behind him like he was a wakeboarder. Another really strong warmwater fish thats fun on a fly rod are carp. Theyre more challenging, since theyre spookier and you need to be pretty accurate with your casting among other things. Best of all, they'll bend your 8wt all the way over.