(This is part 2 of a 2-part Pro Fishing Tip about why, how and where to use the float 'n fly technique.)
Mark Mauldin noted that the float 'n fly is thought of primarily as a smallmouth weapon, because that's what the majority of float 'n fly anglers in East Tennessee target.
"But it may be a chicken and the egg thing," he added. "Maybe it's because most of our lakes are typically clearer and have more smallmouths than spots. And lakes that are shallower, or have more largemouth cover, don't lend themselves to float 'n fly fishing anyway.
"It's definitely more than a smallmouth and spot thing though. You can catch largemouths on it."
Gearing Up
A fairly long rod is key to the technique – you need it to cast the light combo a good distance. Mauldin prefers a medium-action 7' spinning model made locally by Joe's Custom Rods in Cleveland, Tenn. And he's been experimenting with an 8' model.
In terms of the cast, Mauldin noted there's a general rule of thumb: You can fish a float 'n fly about twice as deep as your rod is long. So with a 7-foot rod, he can keep 14 feet between his fly and float. Any more than that and the rig becomes uncastable.
That's pushing it, though. A much better distance is a setting 2 to 4 feet deeper than the rod is long.
He recommends a high-speed spinning reel with an oversize spool, and 6-pound mono (he fishes Trilene XL or Stren Original). He noted that since fluorocarbon sinks more, it'll eventually affect how the bait acts during a long soak.
For a float, he always uses a fixed, pear-shaped model because "a lot of the bites will just roll the float up – they'll come up and just take the weight off the float. Half of your bites will be where it turns up."
He fishes mostly 1/16-ounce hand-tied hair jigs (flies), typically with a few strips of mylar or tinsel tied in. For heavy wind, he sometimes steps up to 1/8-ounce, with a slightly bigger float, but he "definitely" gets more bites on the smaller versions.
"Color can be a big deal," he added. "Anything that's kind of a shad pattern will be the deal, but with that being said, I have some pinks, some blues, and some red/blacks. There are times when you get a real dark, rainy kind of day and some darker colors might work, but I fish greens, blues and browns mostly. Blue and white's another real good one. And sometime brown and orange can be good."
Fishing It
Mauldin said the float 'n fly is at its best with winds and clouds – the chop bobs the bait up and down under the float, and the cloud cover loosens up the fish and they'll often suspend, and more readily come up for a bait.
To use a typical Tennessee impoundment as an example, Mauldin usually starts out with the fly about 7 feet below the float and probes steep, bluff banks with descent angles anywhere between 45 and 90 degrees. "Something you have to figure out with each individual lake or day is what type of (break) they're on."
He'll cast toward the bank, then slowly work the float 'n fly over the top of the drop. If the water's more stained, he wants his bait to start as close to the bank as possible without the fly touching bottom. In clearer water, he's comfortable starting a little further away from the bank.
"Once the float stands up (meaning, one the water's deep enough to keep the fly off bottom), depending on wave action and wind, a lot of times you don't want to move it any," he noted. "You just keep the line tight and let the float kind of bob in the wind.
"If there's only a light breeze, I throw it out, let it stand maybe 5 or 10 seconds, then take the slack up and slowly drag it towards me. A lot of it depends on what the fish do. Sometimes I shake it, sometimes I shake it pretty aggressively, sometimes I pull it a foot and stop it. That's the part of the technique that varies with each individual day."
Another tip from Mauldin is to target any irregularities in the bluffs or breaks. If one small section is steeper, or there's a rockslide, or a cut, be sure to work it thoroughly.
Setting The Hook
Strikes on the float 'n fly come in all shapes and sizes, but since the bait is small, there's now doubt a fish has got it once the strike is detected. But that doesn't always mean you want to swing right away.
According to Mauldin, the majority of the strikes will show as the float disappearing under the water. But spotted bass will often pull the float down about 2 inches and then sit there. A big smallmouth might make the float bob a second or two, like a bluegill, before dragging it out of sight. And sometimes the float will bob once real hard, then roll over like it's on bottom.
"Any of those are indications of strikes," he said.
"When you get bit, you want to use a pressure-type hookset," he added. "You want to pause a little to see if the float pulls down, and it's almost like a topwater bite, in that you want to wait until you feel him.
"You won't feel him with the float, but there's a time when the float starts down when you want to set the hook. With practice, you'll figure it out."
Other Applications
As the FLW Tour proved, the float 'n fly is dynamite outside its native Tennessee range. And we know it works in California, through the work of Bill Siemantel and others.
The question then becomes, where should BassFans be throwing it? That's ultimately up to them to answer, but a few obvious examples come to mind.
One is the Great Lakes, where smallmouths often suspend. There, too, anglers have to deal with summer mayfly hatches – when bass turn their attention almost exclusively to the nymphs and emergers as the hatch gains strength. That's when a small bait can play huge.
In fact, BassFan Gary Paustenbach from Canton, Ohio wrote in about his largest-ever Erie smallmouth, caught on a float 'n fly.
He wrote: "As an avid user of the float 'n fly from Tennessee to Lake Erie, your suspicion that the strength of this method is not exclusive to cold water is correct. My largest smallmouth caught on Erie (6-08) was suspended in August with water temps approaching 80 degrees. Over 8 years and after many conversations with Charlie's brother Eddie (Nuckols), it's provided livewells of fish even when live bait failed."
Also consider the clear waters of Georgia like Lanier, or areas throughout the Upper Midwest and Northeast, that likewise seem ripe for a float 'n fly renaissance.
Notable
> Mauldin said that in some instances, like calm days, he'll fish the fly without a float.
– End of part 2 (of 2) –
