Why Small Fish Can Be Fun on a Fly Rod

My son Jason and I were on Smith Lake this past Tuesday, fishing surface poppers at daylight. The water temps are beginning to fall. Instead of fishing surface temps at 90 degrees, we were fishing a cooler 85 degrees. Fall and spring are my favorite times of year to fish because the fish are much more active then. We were fishing 5wt. 9 ft. Hardy fly rods, which are one of the best lightweight fly rods I’ve ever used. I thought Redington was lightweight, but Hardy is better. It's not only lightweight but also powerful enough to handle a quality fish.We landed numerous spotted bass this size that morning, which can put a bend in a 5 wt. fly rod. Most fly rods will bend deep when a fish this size makes runs trying to break free; you actually feel the bend through the rod. Fish this size can be a challenge if you don’t know how to play them rather than overpower them, which can often cause you to lose the fish. For example, I recently landed a spotted bass on Smith a couple of weeks ago…