I'd say the weight of the rod around here really depends on what kind of bass fishing your are doing, or more importantly where. I have an 8wt that is mt bassin' rod, whish is fine for lakes, but is still probably over kill on streams for smallmouth. I wouldn't go above an 8wt. And on another note...on the lae chasing largemouth more movement is probably best, but in the streams going after smallmouth, more often than not the smallies take it on the pause.