Since I will be spending the summer in the states listed above I want to get into some fish down there. My 6wt seems to be fine for bass around here but as I am checking out guides websites and planning trips I think I might be a little beyond my poor 6wts capabilities. I will probably get a guide once or twice a month and use his gear but in between I would like to get some casting in by myself(living out of a hotel is pretty boring) and want to make sure I have a rod that can handle it. I used the search function and have checked various websites and they all have conflicting data, some say 5-8wt, some 6-10 blah blah blah. Do any of you guys have any experience fishing these waters and what type of gear is needed? I have been eying the sage bass rods and the reddington predator rods if I need to go heavier. Edit: My current rod is an Orvis TLS Power Matrix 6wt
I fished extensively for bass when I lived in San Antonio. Most of my fishing was in the Texas Hill Country. A five weight worked just fine. When I fished the flats on the Texas coast I bumped up to an 8 weight that's all you need for redfish and seatrout.
Of two that you mentioned I go with Sage Bass series. I had both LMB and Predator series and I had the predator break twice on me but the sage LMB is great rod much better than an overpriced Winston. If you are on a budget then give Echo Ion and Ross Flystik a look over. I got the Ross rod and is my back up for muskie, it cast very well for the money, but I really like Echo's. I use the same rods for muskie and bass cause my flies are quite big especially targeting bigger bass.
This will be my first season of fishing musky on the fly, after fishing it with baitcasting rigs for the last 15. There are a couple great discussions on Upper Midwest fly fishing forum, under the "Warm water species" subject about musky setup and gear from a lot of people who do a lot of fly fishing for muskies.
