Float N Fly Pictures 2010

[Bob Smith]

Just thought I would share a few FnF pictures from North Georgia over the last month
These all came for Carters Lake and Lake Allatoona, and all but one are spotted bass.

December 11th



Dec 18th



Dec 18th, my buddy Wally



Another Dec 18th fish



Another Fish for Wally on Dec 18th



Another Buddy from Dalton that we got into FnF



Wally Dec 28th



Bob 12-28



Bob 12-31



Another buddy, Andy on 12-31



Now this don't look like much to some of you, but it consist of a 8' to 10' spinning rod with very fast action and light weight 1/16 oz to 1/8 oz jig heads tied with feathers fur and flash-a-boo suspended a bobber at about 10'. The fight is unbelievable on these long whippy rods! It is, without a doubt, both boring and exciting. On slow days, it is extremely slow, but when a fish hits it's usually a decent fish and the fight makes up for the time spent cating and watching the bobber. If you haven't tried it, you should.

[Bubba_Bruiser]

Looks like some good times to me Bob. I am not a pro on spots, but those look like some chunky pigs.

[WatterBoy]

Awesome fish, Bob! Way to go and thanks for sharing.

[bamabassman]

BOB-O!!! so this is what you were wanting me to go and do. love the fish!! hate the weather, bwahahahahahaha!! i was at weiss yesterday evening eating at my bro-in-laws shrimp boil (fresh from the gulf) and was looking at the water. yesterday i DO wish i had the cajun ready. i would've gone if lisa would have let me, haha. but we are so busy with the holiday stuff ya know. maybe i can get out before too much longer one weekend or so. we'll have to hook up on a warm day. lisa wants to go too and she is bout as bad as me about cold weather, lol.
those are awesome fish bob. keep posting the pics buddy!

[BigBassin144]

Bob, those are some great looking fish! I've tried some makeshift float n fly fishing, and the fight is fun!

BB

[walkeraviator]

God I gotta get to Dale Hollow and F-n-F some.

[BBD]

You're out there gettin it done! What were the water temps?

[bamabassman]

bbd............water temps are................COLDER THAN AN EX!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

[BBD]

Glad I'm in Florida.

It was 76 degrees today!

[CMorg]

Do tell more on this Float n Fly business. How would you fish this in a largemouth lake ? Is it a winter only technique ?

[MallenManson]

Very nice, Bob! I'd do anything to be out fishing right now!

[Bass Junkie]

Nice!! Some of those are MONSTER!!!!!!!! Do you tie your own jigs?

[Cavs1123]

Nice pigs for sure!!!

[Bob Smith]

Good questions all! Let's see if I can address a few of them
Water temps in Allatoona are ranging from 36 to 45, Carters is ranging from 48-49. Best temps for active fish are between 45 and 50, the bigger spots come closer to the 45 degree mark. It is predominantly a winter finesse presentation because that is when other techniques that we use tend to become more difficult. It works on any species as long as the water clarity is pretty good, my favorite visibility is about 6 to 8' clarity). It works best in rocky water because the fly is more visible and less likely to foul. I cannot imagine horsing a bass out of the grass with these rods! LOL!
I use Georgia Tackle for most of my flies, but also have a couple of buddies who have become pretty danged good tyers and jig makers (both pour thier own heads). http://allatoonabass.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=7246 It is actually nature's Tackl Box in Hiram, GA. They split the fly tying business off under it's own name. They also carry a variety of FnF rods, but I noticed that BPS also carries a line of FnF rods now too. The rod is not rocket science since sensitivity is not the primarey game here (seeing your bobber go down or flip over on it's side in a "lift" bite). I have a buddy that made the rods I have, both of mine are 10' long. The tournament rage down here is to use the 8' rods and FnF in the tournaments. I allow any length rod you wish to use in my tournaments http://allatoonabass.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=7246
One of my administrators put a diagram of the FnF on my website if you wish to see it.

It will work just about any where there is a rocky sloping or vertical bank. If there is a breeze or light wind causing a chop on the water you don't even have to impart action ("shaking the bobber") to get fly movement. The wave action causes those little flies to undulate enticingly in the water!
Check it out!

[carolina-rig-01]

The Float and Fly is a technique that I never got into. Not because I never got into it but I just really never put any effort into learning it. Man those fish are beautiful though. There aren't many fish as pretty or as cool as a Spotted bass.

[Captmikestarrett]

What wieght rod do you use with those flys? Just kidding. But back in 1968 a small group of fisherman where using the very same setup and winning many local winter tourneys.

The jig head was from a small saltwater bucktail. It was retied with yellow marabou feathers and a strip of xmas tree tinsel. Fished slow and verticle it slayed the cold LGMouths.

Capt Mike

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

What wieght rod do you use with those flys? Just kidding. But back in 1968 a small group of fisherman where using the very same setup and winning many local winter tourneys.

The jig head was from a small saltwater bucktail. It was retied with yellow marabou feathers and a strip of xmas tree tinsel. Fished slow and verticle it slayed the cold LGMouths.

Capt Mike

Mike, that is pretty much how it started. There were a couple fellers up in tennessee that really started perfecting it back in the early 90s, Jim Duckworth and a fellow with the last name of Nuckols, Duckworth still guides the middel Tennessee area and Nuckols fishes the northeast lakes of Tennessee. The technique is a constant revision process, but the flies are basically a mix of feathers, fur and flash-a-boo or reflective thread. The biggest fly I throw is about 1/8 oz, most are 3/32 oz under a weighted bobber. Casting takes a little practice it's sort of like a European Long rod cast (I cannot remember the name of the cast method) where you lay the fly behind you and make an overhand sweeping cast forward. I like feathering the spool to get the bobber to land first with the fly falling straght out, but with practice you can learn to make a cast where the fly lands on the water near your target (particularly bluff walls with this cast) and the bobber comes down right on top of the fly. This allows the fly to go straight down alongside the wall. You can also master a cast where the fly and bobber will land parallel to the wall or bank regardless of your boat position. It is uncanny what you can learn to do with this stuff (Yeah Mike, a lot like fly fishing!! lol).