What is the best fly rod for bass fishing?

Bass might be the most popular freshwater game fish in the United States, and it is for a good reason. These apex predators are known for their vicious strikes and hard fights.

When chasing bass with a fly fishing outfit, it is critical that you have a rod that is designed to pick up and deliver flies at distances and accuracy needed for waters bass are found on.

In this article, we will look at four of the best options on the market and discuss what makes them worthy of our list and your bass outfit.

What is the best fly rod for bass fishing?

For landing bass, you are best served with a 7-9 wt fly rod. This gives you a range of options for fly line ranging from 6wt-10wt. More than enough line to deliver the biggest fly and land the fattest bass in the water.

For that reason, in this post we are going to highlight bass fly rods in that 7-9wt range.

Here is a quick preview of our top 4 that we are going to look at in the post:

• St. Croix Legend Elite
• G. Loomis NRX 1087
• Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Series
• Hardy Wraith Series

St. Croix Legend Elite Freshwater

The first one to make our list, is the St. Croix Legend Elite Series.

The St. Croix Legend Elite Freshwater models are available in 7 to 10wt models and come in a four-piece set along with a hard tube rod case. The high-quality graphite used provides a lightweight rod with weights of 4.2 to 4.7oz. While slightly heavier than other rods on our list, it’s not enough to come close to ruling out this rod.

These are beautiful rods with a light olive coloring and gold anodized aluminum reel seat and maple wood insert. Regarding aesthetics, the Legend Elite is hard to beat.

The action of the Legend Elite rods is fast. This type of action is critical for picking up and casting a lot of line quickly. It is a stiffer rod, and while this is a great quality for handling larger bass, it does limit the rod’s ability to work in short-range casts.

These rods use a full well Flora-grade cork with an extended fighting butt. It has a double uplocking reel seat for added support.

The Legend Elite falls into the mid-price range but offers high price performance.

G. Loomis NRX 1087

Another great option for bass fishing is the G. Loomis NRX 1087 .

G. Loomis is considered by many as the top fly rod maker in the world with the NRX series being one of their top rods ever produced.

The NRX comes in 7 weight and 8 weight rods that are the optimal weights for angling for bass. These are available in a gray and olive color schemes and come in four-piece sets.

The NRX uses a high modulus graphite material for their rod blanks. This provides incredible strength while keeping the weight down. Regarding strength and casting ability, the NRX is the absolute top of the list and will allow you to get your fly to any part of the surrounding water quickly and accurately.

Like most options, these are fast action with a stiff body. This gives the rod the ability to cast heavier flies at far distances but with ease and accuracy.

The NRX rod at these weights will have no problem putting a fly out at 100-120’. A real testament to this rods power.

One problem that a lot of rods that can generate this level of distance on casts is a heavy swing weight making it fatiguing to cast for extended periods of time. The NRX’s design has cut down on the swing weight making this a rod that you can cast easily for long fishing outings.

The rod has two titanium stripping guides and single foot guides along the length of the rod. The reel seat is also anodized aluminum/titanium alloy with a double uplocking reel seat.

The rods have full wells cork grips and come with a cork extended/fighting but for handling larger bass.

Is the G. Loomis NRX 1087 the best bass fly rod? The following video may make you think differently…

Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Series

Another rod made by Temple Fork Outfitter’s is the Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Series.

This rod series was designed by Lefty Kreh, one of the best bass fly fisherman around today. His knowledge and genius shines through with this rods performance on the lake or river.

These rods are available in 7-12wt rods between 9’ and 10’ with weights ranging from 3.1 to 4.6oz. They have stunning olive-green blanks with dark olive ferrules and come in four-piece sets. (the one pictured is the 7wt option)

This is a fast action rod that can deliver big flies at incredible distances. It is extremely accurate at both mid and long-range casts. A great feature of the BVK is the softer tip that allows decent short-range casting. This is a feature a lot of large, fast action bass rods lack.

BVK rods utilize anodized, stainless steel snake guides as well as an uplocking fly reel seat with a carbon fiber insert to reduce rod weight.

What’s great about the BVK is the extraordinary performance for less than half the price of rods that perform on this level.

Learn more about the Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Series in the following review:

Hardy Wraith Series

 

The last bass fly rod we are going to have a look at is the Hardy Wraith Series.

The Hardy Wraith is available in 7 and 8wt rods at 9 or 10′ with all coming in four-piece sets.

It’s “Sintrix” carbon fiber material give this rod incredible strength while maintaining a lightweight. For launching large bass flies and fighting fish all day these are critical features that land the Wraith on our list.

The wraith utilizes a large diameter titanium guide along with black single foot guides along the length of the rod.

The Wraith also uses high-grade cork grips in reverse half well or full well designs with a cork fighting butt. The Wraith also uses an anodized uplocking reel seat for a secure and snug reel fit.

The wraith was not built for delicate presentations needed with trout, but with large streamers in mind and in our case, makes it an excellent bass fishing rod.

The Wraith is labeled by the manufacturer as an ultra-fast action rod. It is unmatched in its ability to pick up a lot of line from the water, load quickly, and deliver accurate medium and long distance casts.

Its action makes it difficult to deliver casts within 20′, but for big bass fishing, this is not a distance you will be aiming for anyway.

The Hardy Wraith is on the upper end of the price range, but for those looking a for a long-term bass rod, the Wraith offers every trait one would want when chasing bass.

See the Hardy Wraith Series in action:

Final Thoughts…

When fly fishing for bass, not any fly rod is going to provide the traits needed to successfully land fish trip after trip.

Here, we have listed and discussed several rod models that will benefit you on the water and are specifically designed to perform above and beyond when on the lake or river going after large bass.

There you have it, our thoughts on which option is the best fly rod for bass fishing. What are your thoughts? Share your thoughts with us.