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Since that first trip I went on over 7 winters ago to learn the basics of float-n-fly I just can’t get enough of it. When I first heard of this technique I wasn’t really too excited about using a 10 foot Ultra Lite rod on 6 lb test line and a floater. Well once you get that first 20 inch Smallmouth on it you will not soon forget it. I now anxiously look forward to seeing the water temps drop to below that magic 50 degree mark. Just this year I and two of my closest fishing buddies loaded up at 4 am and traveled to one of the best float-n-fly lakes around. Dale Hollow Lake is an awesome smallmouth lake and on the 3rd of December of this year will be one I will remember for a while. We arrived at Hendricks Creek Boat dock around 8am with sleet peppering down on us as we launched my boat. It was a very nasty day but I told both my friends that this was going to be a great day for smallmouth.
Once we got all bundled up for the cold wet weather we headed a few miles up the lake and started on a point that went from a shell bank to a bluff wall. About 15 minutes into the trip I hooked up with about a 20” Brownie. After landing the fish a few minutes later my buddies started hooking up too. It didn’t matter what part of the boat we were in either. At the end of the day we ended up with 23 Smallmouth from 18 to 22 inches and hooked up about 10 more times with some that we never got a chance to see. It was a great day and one I won’t forget for a long time.
There are a couple of different techniques that are used and both work well.
I am partial to using an 8 to 10 foot Ultra Lite rod with a small spinning reel with a wide spool. I use 8 lb fireline that has a diameter of 3 lb out to a 3 way swivel. I hook a special 1 inch weighted float directly to the swivel and then I use 6 lb vanish fluorocarbon for my leader to my jig. I use different lengths on my leader according to a couple of different things. One is if you have a sunny day or a cloudy day. If I am out on a cloudy day I will start out with a 10’ leader. If I go out on a brighter day I may make a leader as long as 14 feet. The other thing that I look for is the depth of the bait fish on my locator. If your seeing bait fish at 12 feet you should make your leader about 10 to 11 feet. You always want to be just above the bait fish and never below them. At this time of the year the fish are very lethargic and they are just suspended waiting on something to entice them into biting.
Back to that special floater that I spoke of earlier. I like to use a foam floater that has been modified somewhat. The float has been cut in half and a weight inserted to the inside of it. The reason that the float is done this way is a lot of times the fish will ease up to your jig and float up with it instead of pulling it down. When this happens with an ordinary float there is no difference in it if a fish goes up with your jig. If you have a modified float and this happens your float will roll over and you will know that you have a bite. A lot of fish are lost because you miss these types of bites with out the right floater. I use several different jigs that are made especially for this technique. Bass Pro Shops have everything that you need to float-n-fly from the rods to the many different jigs.
Earlier in the year I worked a Bass Pro Shops fishing Classic in Nashville, Tennessee promoting Keelshields and got to hang out with one of the masters of the Float-n-fly technique Mr. Jim Duckworth and his very nice wife. I was a little reluctant to go up and talk to them but I am glad I did. After talking fishing with them for some time I bought one his videos that he and his wife were set up selling on Float-n-Fly. Even if you think you have a technique of any kind of fishing down you should still try to learn from others.
Now I am getting to the second technique that Mr. Duckworth likes to use. He likes to use the same type rod and reel but he doesn’t use a swivel at all. He likes to use 6 lb test line all the way out to his jig. All he does with his float is wrap his line around it 3 or 4 times and at the desired length of what he wants his leader to be. It is a much simpler method and it catches fish as well as the other method.
So instead of putting your boat up for the cold winter months try fishing the float-n-fly. It Works!!!!!!!!!