Warmwater fishing asks a lot from a fly line. You change presentations constantly, fish multiple water types in the same day, and often run the same line across several rods because that is the reality of keeping a few 6-weights rigged and ready, and fishing surface to bottom for opportunistic smallmouth. Finding a line that can do it all is a challenge.
I fished the RIO Elite Smallmouth Bass Fly Line on the South Platte and several urban ponds over the past few months, targeting smallmouths, carp, and largemouths wherever they showed up. I ran it on two rods that sit at opposite ends of the action spectrum: the G. Loomis Asquith 6-weight and the Scott GT 6-weight. Testing a line across two very different rods tells you a lot.
The head carries enough weight to load quickly and turn over Clousers and streamers without excessive false casting. When sight fishing, shots are often close, and windows are short. You pick up, load, and deliver. At 35.5 feet with a 200-grain head weight, it handles 30- to 50-foot shots cleanly, which covers most of the warmwater fishing I do.
The extended handling section gives you solid control at distance without the line falling apart during repositioning. On the South Platte, where current seams and pockets constantly try to pull the fly off target, maintaining tension through the presentation matters as much as the cast itself. The extra length behind the head helps when you are making quick repositioning casts or managing multiple mends on moving fish.
Both rods handled the line well, and that was not a given. The Asquith is a fast, easy-loading power rod that responds best to an aggressive head design. The heavy front taper on the Elite Smallmouth matched it well. The combination felt quick and precise, which suited the way I was fishing: short windows, fast shots, and fish that do not wait around.
The GT presented a different test. It is a slower-action rod, and slower rods often lose shape when pushed with an overly aggressive head. That did not happen here. The extended 35.5-foot head gave the GT enough line to load and carry cleanly without collapsing. It worked better than I expected and was really fun to fish. That kind of versatility across opposite rod actions is uncommon in bass-specific lines.
RIO’s DirectCore low-stretch core performed as advertised. Strip sets on smallmouths and carp in moving water require clean connection and immediate response. A line with too much stretch costs fish at the end of longer casts. I missed fewer fish on downstream presentations than I typically do, and the low-stretch core likely played a role in that.
The SureFire tri-color measuring system proved genuinely useful. The color transitions clearly show where the head starts and ends, which helps maintain consistent timing during repetitive shots at holding fish. Anglers who already pay attention to where the head sits relative to the guides will appreciate it immediately.
The Moss/Chartreuse/Beige color scheme stays highly visible in the air, which is the point of the SureFire system, but the chartreuse section is noticeable on the water. For smallmouths and largemouths, it makes no difference. For carp, which remain the most line-sensitive fish I spend time chasing, it is something worth monitoring as the season progresses and fish see more pressure. Early-season fish have not seemed to care. I will revisit that opinion later in the summer.
A late snowstorm rolled through last week, and colder temperatures introduced noticeable coil memory. RIO states that the coating stays manageable across spring and fall conditions, and that generally holds true in moderate weather. Once temperatures really dropped, though, stretching the line before fishing became necessary. Plan for that.
That behavior is not unique to the Elite Smallmouth. Most warmwater floating lines develop memory in colder weather, and this line does not perform worse than the category average. Still, the stated temperature range felt a little optimistic compared to what I experienced during colder spring mornings in Colorado.
At $129.99, the RIO Elite Smallmouth Bass Fly Line sits firmly in premium territory, and it backs that up on the water. It casts accurately, handles a wide range of fly sizes and rod actions without fighting you, and the low-stretch core improves connection on fish that are difficult to pin in current. For warmwater fishing through Colorado’s spring and fall conditions, it performs well. Just expect to stretch it on cold mornings.
