[Bleedingblue]

Meant to post this sooner but the holidays distracted me. Anyway, I went out to my wintertime go-to at Belews Creek to see if I could catch some on the float-n-fly. If you have read my winter posts before you know that it is my wintertime equivalent of a spinnerbait. If I can get them to bite it I won't put it down. Water temps were pretty high in the upper 50's to 60 degrees. This was a bit disappointing as the FnF works better the colder the water, but you have to fish what you have. Also, never got the wind that was forecast so that was an additional negative. However, it ended up being a decent afternoon. I caught 6 on the FnF, the biggest being 2-1, all spots. Did see one caught that was 2.5 on some plastics. I didn't see much bait suspended, I suspect that it was holding near the bottom. I didn't see any surface activity either. I was fishing about 7ft leader. With the recent rain and colder weather it should pick up.

 

[CBower]

Nice report. I would like to give the float-n-fly technique a try. Can you recommend a few fly patterns to start with? What length of the leader between the float and fly? Thanks.

 

[rencal1975]

I need to try out Belews Lake. Never been there, but also just got a fishing canoe in October, so I have an excuse now. Thanks for the report!

Nice report. I would like to give the float-n-fly technique a try. Can you recommend a few fly patterns to start with? What length of the leader between the float and fly? Thanks.

I use a float n fly on my current BFS setup. I use a slip float so I don't worry about leader length too much. I'm just using a 1/16th or 1/8th marabou jig that I'd normally use for Crappie. Snagged a couple of bass at Higgins using the setup, as well as some Crappie lol. I should suspend it a little better than I am, but I adjust it for the depth I'm seeing the fish at on my finder. For now, I don't use a stopper, but where I was jigging I'd go down about 10 feet, and that worked well for where I was at the time.

But for a baseline, I'd say 7-15 feet for your leader depending on the depth you're finding the fish at, and adjust longer or shorter from there. My marabou's are just white with hot pink jig heads (10 pack for 3-4$ at bass pro), but I want to get something more high end and bass specific.

 

[Bleedingblue]

Nice report. I would like to give the float-n-fly technique a try. Can you recommend a few fly patterns to start with? What length of the leader between the float and fly? Thanks.

I use 1/16 oz jigs with craft hair and duck feathers (see attached image for examples). I like to use blue/chart craft hair. You need a jig head with a larger hook than like a crappie jig for strength. You could probably get by with a crappie jig but you run the risk of lower hook-up ratios and straightened hooks on bigger fish. I would also recommend using a jig with a weed guard. I add my own with a couple strands of fiber weed guard from a bass jig. If not have a plug knocker so you can free the jig because there is enough brush that you will get hung up.

The FnF system I use is a fixed bobber (see link below for more info) as opposed to a slip bobber. At Belews I run from a 7-8 ft. leader. I've not seen the need to run a longer leader but at some other lakes I've used up to 12 ft. It really depends on how deep the water is and where fish/bait are suspending.

Float n Fly Report: Belews Creek and Philpott

Got out both days this weekend to do my absolute favorite kind of winter fishing. It was a mix of good and bad. Saturday- Belews Creek. Water was surprising dirty (or turning over) but found some cleaner water and they were biting the FnF pretty well. Caught 6 bass (up to 15"), one catfish...

www.ncangler.com

 

[rencal1975]

I use 1/16 oz jigs with craft hair and duck feathers (see attached image for examples). I like to use blue/chart craft hair. You need a jig head with a larger hook than like a crappie jig for strength. You could probably get by with a crappie jig but you run the risk of lower hook-up ratios and straightened hooks on bigger fish. I would also recommend using a jig with a weed guard. I add my own with a couple strands of fiber weed guard from a bass jig. If not have a plug knocker so you can free the jig because there is enough brush that you will get hung up.

The FnF system I use is a fixed bobber (see link below for more info) as opposed to a slip bobber. At Belews I run from a 7-8 ft. leader. I've not seen the need to run a longer leader but at some other lakes I've used up to 12 ft. It really depends on how deep the water is and where fish/bait are suspending.

Float n Fly Report: Belews Creek and Philpott

Got out both days this weekend to do my absolute favorite kind of winter fishing. It was a mix of good and bad. Saturday- Belews Creek. Water was surprising dirty (or turning over) but found some cleaner water and they were biting the FnF pretty well. Caught 6 bass (up to 15"), one catfish...

www.ncangler.com

Nice jigs you got there! I have yet to try the fixed bobber method. Might have to give that a shot when I head out next. I'm real pleased with the results of the FnF method, plus its been teaching me how to slow down in the wintertime. Totally agree with the larger hook. I'll be upgrading my jigs soon as I was just messing around with the technique before.

Did you tie those jigs yourself? Starting to think I might have to make them myself to get the build I want.

 

[Joetrain]

Just wondering are you casting this setup with a 7 foot leader ? If so what is the trick ?

~JOE~

 

[Bleedingblue]

Just wondering are you casting this setup with a 7 foot leader ? If so what is the trick ?

~JOE~

A long spinning rod. I have 2 one is 8'6" and the other is 9". They make them up to 11 feet. The trick is to go overhand all the way back until the bobber almost touches the water. That slings the leader back like a fly line and then just a normal forward cast. The rods I have can handle up to 12' leader. You can use a crappie spinning rod if you want a cheaper alternative.

Nice jigs you got there! I have yet to try the fixed bobber method. Might have to give that a shot when I head out next. I'm real pleased with the results of the FnF method, plus its been teaching me how to slow down in the wintertime. Totally agree with the larger hook. I'll be upgrading my jigs soon as I was just messing around with the technique before.

Did you tie those jigs yourself? Starting to think I might have to make them myself to get the build I want.

Those are just example jigs. They aren't mine, I couldn't find a pic of mine but they are very similar. They aren't hard to make at all. All you need is craft hair, feathers, a cheap fly tying vice, nylon thread, and a whip finisher.

 

[rencal1975]

Just wondering are you casting this setup with a 7 foot leader ? If so what is the trick ?

~JOE~

For me, I just pitch it out there. I suck at pitching, so it gets out maybe 10 or 20 feet away from me then I just let it sink, stop it, then watch the bobber and lightly jig. Curious what BleedinBlue has to say though.

EDIT Just refreshed the page. Figured you were using a rod that long... working on getting a casting rod that long for trout that will work with my BFS reel. For now, just using a 7 footer and pitching, or I use that exact method you described, minus the bobber hitting the water since I'm using a slip bobber for the time being.

 

[Bleedingblue]

For me, I just pitch it out there. I suck at pitching, so it gets out maybe 10 or 20 feet away from me then I just let it sink, stop it, then watch the bobber and lightly jig. Curious what BleedinBlue has to say though.

EDIT Just refreshed the page. Figured you were using a rod that long... working on getting a casting rod that long for trout that will work with my BFS reel. For now, just using a 7 footer and pitching, or I use that exact method you described, minus the bobber hitting the water since I'm using a slip bobber for the time being.

For the slip bobber method you only need a regular spinning rod. You can squeak by with a 7' rod for a 6' leader but it is much nicer with the longer rod. The big advantage of the fixed leader system is you can detect lift bites. If the fish comes underneath and hits it moving up the bobber rolls over on its side. This is about 10% of the bites I get. The colder the water the more frequent they become.

 

[PontoonMike]

I love every winter when you make these posts BleedingBlue I keep swearing to myself that I'm going to try this every time you post it!

Glad to hear you got on them again with this method. I'm gonna try it some day. This makes total sense to me because a couple of my best days for bass on Belews have been pitching crappie jigs around docks on the lower end of the lake.

 

[Bleedingblue]

I love every winter when you make these posts BleedingBlue I keep swearing to myself that I'm going to try this every time you post it!

Glad to hear you got on them again with this method. I'm gonna try it some day. This makes total sense to me because a couple of my best days for bass on Belews have been pitching crappie jigs around docks on the lower end of the lake.

Glad you enjoy the posts, I enjoy sharing them. You really need to give it a try if you haven't. Never ever gets old watching a bobber drop.

 

[PontoonMike]

I saw that that Bobby Garland youtube channel made a video on this tactic:

 

[SurfRider]

Pontoon Mike, if you still live on Belews and if you ever get a chance to catch up with Andrew and watch him do this, it's worth it. I fished this method with him after he outfished me 7 to 1 or better with me using all my usual tactics. He made me a believer, but still would always outfish me with it - my problem is I get impatient and go back to my stand-byes and then he catches another fish and I kick myself for not sticking with it... again.

Glad to see you're still at it, Andrew! I have not been bass fishing much, I have been distracted chasing redfish - been fishing from a kayak on the shallow flats this winter, managed to figure out a pattern that works about 70% of the days; getting dragged around by a 36 inch red in 2 feet of water just never gets old! (Plus the bass here are small and disappointing). It's almost Sheepshead season and then comes triggerfish, and then snapper! What's a lapsed bass angler to do!? Hope you guys are well up there!

 

[Bleedingblue]

Pontoon Mike, if you still live on Belews and if you ever get a chance to catch up with Andrew and watch him do this, it's worth it. I fished this method with him after he outfished me 7 to 1 or better with me using all my usual tactics. He made me a believer, but still would always outfish me with it - my problem is I get impatient and go back to my stand-byes and then he catches another fish and I kick myself for not sticking with it... again.

Glad to see you're still at it, Andrew! I have not been bass fishing much, I have been distracted chasing redfish - been fishing from a kayak on the shallow flats this winter, managed to figure out a pattern that works about 70% of the days; getting dragged around by a 36 inch red in 2 feet of water just never gets old! (Plus the bass here are small and disappointing). It's almost Sheepshead season and then comes triggerfish, and then snapper! What's a lapsed bass angler to do!? Hope you guys are well up there!

I would love to get into some of those bull reds. Those fish are definitely on my to do list.

Hope all is well with you. Catch one for me.

 

[SurfRider]

Andrew, I sent an email to your yahoo email address just saying hey and giving an update. If you didn't get it, let me know. Best way is text me 336-471- eight three five zero. Hope you're well bud!