Here is the press release for Humminbird’s new Down Imaging which will be a FREE download available in Jan 2010.

Humminbird Press Release

By: “Triton” Mike Bucca

I fully expect to be taunted by several of my fellow anglers by writing about a bobber and crappie jig technique that just so happens to involve a 10ft fairly wand in any serious bass fishing publication. But I can guarantee you one thing. If your lakes meet all the requirements and conditions for this technique and you put this tactic to work for you I can pretty much GUARANTEE you success and not to mention a lot of winter time memories.   With this technique it will literally BLOW YOUR MIND how many quality fish you will catch on this setup if you follow this article and apply it to your area.  To be brutally honest, I haven’t even written about this technique in my local journals that I write for until now, for the sole reason that I really didn’t want it to gain a lot of notoriety. It’s pretty powerful and is probably one of the easiest if not the easiest technique to master in all of fishing.

As a Spotted Bass guide here in Atlanta, GA, I have found it to be imperative to become an extremely versatile angler. Due to the nature of spots and their finicky nature you have to be just as comfortable fishing deep as you are shallow and be strong at a lot of different techniques in order to be successful throughout the year. Those that are one or two technique wonders are usually strong in certain seasons, but lack in others. But the most successful spotted bass anglers that I know can do it all and also know how to fish for suspended fish, which is what this float and fly technique mostly revolves around.

Back in the mid 90’s I visited a tackle shop near Bristol, Tennessee while I was on vacation with my family. I always like to check out the local talent to see if there is anything unique that I could bring home with me. While visiting this one particular shop I met a gentleman talking about this Float and Fly technique for catching trophy smallmouth and spotted bass like candy in the dead of winter on their east Tennessee impoundments. Little did I know, but much later through some research and a few phone calls I found out that he was the “Father” of the Float and Fly, Charlie Nukols. I remember spending about an hour with Charlie listening to him and asking him questions about the technique so that I can try it back home in Memphis, TN where I resided at the time. I bought the rod, the jigs and the floats and the small diameter monofilament line (Fluorocarbon wasn’t an option for bass anglers back then) and enough information to be dangerous and when I tried the technique I had instant success. I still have the rod I got from him. It has zero markings on it and it’s a fairly heavy and unbalanced rod compared to the more modern rods that we have now. Along with some help and support of other friends that I have in East Tennessee, Tim Maxfield and Matt Lewis just to name a few, I was able to refine what I have already learned from Charlie. I have dabbled on and off with the Float N Fly for several years due to moving to areas (Texas/Mississippi) where there are a lack of smallmouth and spotted bass reservoirs that held good concentrations of spots. However, during the coldest days of winter I usually hang up my rods and put my boat in storage and spend a lot of time in the deer woods hunting. Now with the Float N Fly in my arsenal I don’t deer hunt near as much as I used to.

Winter Suspenders

The Float N Fly was born in Eastern Tennessee and it started when the crappie anglers in the area were complaining about catching smallmouth while fishing for crappie by fishing crappie jigs under a float. Basically what happens in the dead of winter is that once the water temp gets in the 40’s the fish become less active and less prone to chase lures. I know for a fact, that in my 25 years in fishing for spotted bass they spend a good bit of their time in a suspended state after a cold front passes. So it only made sense that this float and fly technique would work. I spent many years targeting these suspended fish because I found that those suspended fish were typically bigger in size than the fish I caught with other tactics in the winter. While learning the Float N Fly, the jigging spoon was my favorite suspended fish bait, followed by the Fish Head spin and then the Lucky Craft Staysee 90. But the problem with these 3 baits is they lacked the ability to stay in the strike zone for ample periods of time and don’t offer an extremely subtle presentation for these fairly inactive fish. Let’s face it — fishing for reaction strikes in the dead of winter is a tough sell for any kind of bass. A subtle presentation at the desired depth that the fish are holding at is the absolute KEY to catching these winter time suspended fish and that is where the Float N Fly shines.

THE EQUIPMENT

The float used in the Float and Fly technique is by far the most controversial depending on who you ask. The balance between your fly and your float is of paramount importance for this technique to be 100% effective. Let me explain. You are basically suspending a 1/16 fly (Hair jig) anywhere from 8 to 23ft deep under a float. Obviously when we were kids and we saw the cork go under we would set the hook. But the fact that we are dealing with extensive leader lengths and lethargic fish, what happens when a fish eats the fly but moves upward in the water column and doesn’t sink the float but has your hair jig in its mouth (this is called a “lift bite”)? With a normal float you will never know if you have a bite unless you see your float sink. Well with this particular balanced setup when you cast out your fly on a long leader the float will lay on its side (horizontal) until the weight of your fly gets to it’s desired depth and turns the float over vertically. So when you get a lift bite hit on your fly you will notice that when your float turns over on its side (horizontally) that you have a bite OR your bait is on the bottom. So you do need to pay attention to how long it takes your float to go vertical directly after the cast to insure that a fish hasn’t taken in your offering. Also remember what color you see on your float when your float is vertical. Any other color you see means you have a bite or your fly is dragging on the bottom. It takes some getting used to as in bass fishing you usually feel the bite or see them hit your bait but in the float and fly your cork just turns over on it’s side. It’s weird at first but after the first time you see this happen you will quickly learn to pay attention to the float colors you are seeing. This is why I say it’s a fairly simple technique, but very specific due to the importance of this balance between the float and the fly. It has been my experience that about 10-15% of the bites you get will be a lift bite. Still a fairly small margin but enough to make it worth your while to pay attention to the balance of your cork.

Just in case you get a wild hair and try to improve upon this system with a slip float type rig DON’T! There are two problems with the slip float idea. One is the fact that a 1/16 jig is generally not heavy enough to effectively make the line slip through the cork. The second problem with this is when you go to gently pop your float to make the fly dance your fly will eventually work its way up the water column which defeats the purpose of the keeping your bait at a desired depth. This also messes with your ability to determine if you have a lift bite by a fish on your bait as well. Can you make this system work? Absolutely, but it’s not worth the hassle in most applications. However it does have a use in fishing inside boat houses where more accurate casting is needed.

ADVANCED BOBBERS 201

If you read a lot of articles on the Float N Fly you can be easily confused, hence causing you not to experiment with different things within the technique. I’m a tinkerer to the highest degree and I wasn’t satisfied fully with the bobber choices that are out there. You have many different bobber systems with the float N Fly and they all work to a degree, but they all have disadvantages. The two main systems that come to light is the Bob’s bobber system which involves a custom made internally weighted styrofoam bobber and a small #4 size 3 way swivel. The other school of thought is the Nukols system which includes a simple 7/8″ or 1″ inch pear shape float. I am going to go over the advantages and disadvantages of both systems and also add the details of what I use that I think is a good compromise of both systems.

BOB’S BOBBER

The Bob’s bobber system was designed by Bob Coan, a well known Guide/Float N Fly enthusiast on Dale Hallow Lake in Celina, TN where the Float N Fly technique was born. Basically the Bob’s bobber is a custom made internally weighted styrofoam cork.

The advantages of the Bob’s bobber is that with a weighted bobber and a 3 way swivel it makes it easier to cast (although it still no cakewalk in casting it especially in the wind) than the initial way that Charlie came up with and it’s also a little easier to see a lift bite from a distance. However there are a few disadvantages of the Coan method. The biggest disadvantage is you have 2 extra knots to tie. You have the braid tied to one loop on the 3 way swivel and your fluorocarbon leader tied to the other swivel and you clip on the bobber to the 3rd loop. I don’t know about you guys, but my hands simply don’t work well in freezing air temps in the winter time of the year tying knots with line the diameter of sewing thread. Another disadvantage of the Coan method is that it disallows you to change your leader length at an instance without having to break your line and retying it to adjust the leader length which is extremely important to insure that your fly is at the correct depth. Another disadvantage is that these corks cost $5.00 for a pair. I will admit you rarely lose corks using this technique and you can make your own similiarly weighted corks if you prefer to cut costs.

NUCKOL’S SYSTEM

Now lets go over the Nukol’s bobber system. Charlie’s system is composed of a simple 7/8″ inch or 1″ pear shape float. The beauty of this rig is in its simplicity. There are no knots or 3 way swivels required. You simply slide the line through the top clip and through the bottom clip and with this method you can easily slide your bobber up and down the leader to adjust your leader depth without having to retie any knots or created a new leader. One of my favorite reasons for liking this system is if you get hung up on the bottom or snagged in in some over hanging limbs all you have to do is take your bobber off and reel the tip of your 10ft long rod to the fly and push it off with the rod tip then reinstall your bobber and you are back to fishing. Since there is no 3 way swivel involved in this method, no lure retriever is needed on most occasions. Those two reasons alone are huge time savers and prevent a lot of retying knots as if you were using a 3 way swivel method. Another advantage of the pear shape float is they cost like .25 cents a piece. However the biggest disadvantage of the Nuckol’s method is in its castability (even harder than the Coan menthod and especially in the wind). It’s a tough deal casting a weightless bobber and it’s a little hard on the eyes watching your bobber for a lift bite or even seeing it for that matter especially in a light chop.

The bobber method that I personally use is a combination of the Coan and Nuckols method. The float that I use is a 1 ¼ inch pear shape, Plastilite brand float. Be careful when you go to measure a float. A lot of people think you measure the float by the LENGTH of the float, but in actuality you measure the diameter of the float to get the correct 1 ¼ inch measurements needed for this technique. The ones that I have are half orange and half yellow and they are just like Charlie Nukol’s 7/8″ and 1 inch bobbers but I am using the next biggest size which is the 1 ¼ inch size and Christie has these in stock at Natures Tackle Box.

With no wind this method works perfectly and literally casts like a rocket due to the added weight of the cork, even with fairly stiff winds you can still use your float to decipher a lift bite when it falls horizontally to its side. It’s a bigger cork so you can see it easier and as stated earlier you can cast it easier as well and when you get hung up you can still take your bobber off and put it in your pocket and reel your rod tip down to your fly and dislodge it from its hangup which saves time and money. I actually take a sharpie at times and mark my fluorocarbon leader so that I know what depth to reinstall my bobber at. Also with the fact that the bobber is heavier it packs your line tighter on the spool of your spinning reel causing less overruns.

The ONLY disadvantage of this method is during fairly windy days the wind can tilt your cork slightly (due to the bobber being bigger and more exposed above the surface of the water) and the wind can create some drag on your line and cause your cork to sit at a slight angle which happens to a degree with all 3 methods and that can cause you some confusion on whether you have a possible lift bite or not. The way that I fix this is to attach a 3 way swivel to the bottom of the 1 1/4″ cork and using it as a counter weighting mechanism and NOT as a line attachment method. Just hook the 3 way swivel onto one of the wire cork hooks and you’re done (don’t tie your line to the 3 way swivel). The unique thing about a 3 way swivel is you can cut off a limb or two on the 3 way swivel with your pliers to get the perfect balancing of the cork while fishing in the wind.

I have found that when fishing with this bigger cork I can cast longer leaders much more easily and accurately and I have noticed that when I get a bite they really tank this cork under, unlike with Bob’s and Charile’s method. Alot of times you get very subtle bites with the smaller cork but with the bigger cork it takes more for the fish to sink it and it goes along with the same reason why I use a heavier dropshot weight than most. When the fish feels a little added pressure it seems to grab onto the bait harder.

In closing on the topics of bobbers. All 3 methods have been proven over time and they work very well. The moral of the story is experiment with each method and find out what works best for you and try to improve upon what your dislikes are of each method. I have no doubt that I will find a better bobber solution than what I have already found. Essentially almost ANY bobber will work with counter weighting as an option, including both weighted and unweighted corks. I have taken out quite a few experienced Float N Fly enthusiasts on guide trips and they all loved the bigger bobber concept and have incorporated it into their float n fly system because it seems to be an improvement over traditional methods.

ROD

The other important aspect of this system is the rod. The best way to describe the rods used in a float and fly is long and limber much like a fly rod. The lengths of most Float N Fly rods are 8 to 11ft. I personally use a 2 piece 10ft Silstar and a 9ft 6 inch Bass Pro Micro lite rod. The purpose of such a long and limber rod is foremost being able to cast a float and fly with long leaders (8 to 23ft in length). The second importance is to be able to fight and land a fish on fairly light line (2 to 8lb test). Some companies make rods just for the purpose of the Float N Fly technique. I know G Loomis, All Pro, B ‘n’ M Poles, Silstar and St Croix all have their own Float N Fly models. Some guys use long crappie rods in a pinch with great success. I’ll be honest here you don’t need a high end rod to catch fish on the Float N Fly technique as rod sensitivity is of ZERO importance here since you’re just watching a cork to determine if you have a bite or not. You want a long spinning rod with about a 2/3rds flex and you should be good to go. The balance seems to be the biggest factor variance from one rod to the other.  Just remember a 10ft rod is going to be more cumbersome than your normal bass gear but the key here is to find a rod that balances your outfit and is light weigh that is comfortable for you. I will say from my experiences is that a 10ft rod noticeably casts farther and easier than a 9ft 6 inch rod.  There are plenty of good choices out there without having to spend more than $60.00 for a Float N Fly rod.  Granted I think this summer I am going to build me a custom float n fly rod to see if I can improve on the design some. 

The only modification I make on my float and fly rod is to mark the rod at 2ft intervals upward from the BUTT end of the rod. If I know my rod is 10ft I know that if my leader is flush with the butt end I have 10ft of leader line. So what I am doing now is marking my rod with small pieces of tape in 2ft intervals from the butt so I can quickly determine where to install my cork when I want to fish with leaders that are longer or shorter than 10ft by using the tape markings I have set on the rod as a means of having a more accurate guideline. Some think I go a little overboard with this, but leader length is an extremely important aspect of the technique. I get alot of questions about how to store your rods with such long leaders. I simply just take my cork off and put it in my pocket and attach my fly to a guide. By using a sharpie marker to mark your leader or by using the tape leader trick mentioned above it makes those tangles alot less apt to happen.

THE FLY

I have experimented a good bit with the different types of flies/hair jigs and I have spent a good deal of time virtually watching the action that the different types of hair jigs emit in an aquarium. Most Flies consist of a 1/16oz hair jig and some use readily available marabou or crappie jigs. I personally prefer the hair jigs but when the fish are really biting sometimes they will hit any kind of bait. The biggest thing to worry about on a tough bite with the hair jig design is the profile of the jig and the weight. Not only is length important but also thickness as well. It has gotten to the point that I buy my flies custom made by master fly tier David Lester of Natures Tackle Box in Hiram, GA (678-567-1211). The hook that he uses is a Matzuo Sickle Hook and he uses a basic fox hair combined with feathers and craft and chigger hair that you can get at most fly shops and it gives you the best of all worlds by having a little bit of everything in the mix. When you watch the fly in action in an aquarium the hair moves fluidly and expands some and looks more realistic than any other hair I have seen.

The good thing about most custom flies is that most tiers use the whip finisher knot which is by far a superior knot to secure the thread/hair to the head of the fly without it unraveling after a few fish. Most commercial Float N Fly tyers don’t do this step.  So a good dose of glue around the wraps is even more added insurance. These reasons are just a few of the advantages that you incur when either making your own flies or buying custom ones. If you use commercially made flies you can easily tell if they use glue to secure the wraps due to the slight gleam on the wraps that is put off by the epoxy/glue. If you don’t see this gleam it might be wise to glue the wrap area on the fly to get better securement or eventually they will come unraveled and start losing hair.

I like my hair jigs made to about 1 to 1.5 inches and there are times when I have a bite and I will miss the fish due to them soft mouthing the hair below the hook. This is when I will cut the hair down shorter with a pair of scissors to make the profile of the jig smaller to enhance my hookups. Now as far as hair jig weights I almost strictly use 1/16 oz heads. The reason being is these weights look the most natural when giving them action. The 1/8oz head just doesn’t have that natural action that the other two sizes have and is just too heavy in my opinion. When you impart action to the 1/8oz hair jigs they go up instantly and fall down fairly fast giving off a very unattractive action and it doesn’t look fluid at all. The smaller size heads mentioned above are much more fluid like and realistic looking.

Another thing I like in my flies is a hook with a bigger bite. The bigger the bite and the longer the shank the less chances you have of not hooking a fish or skin hooking a fish. The Matzuo Sickle Hooks has a slightly wider gap and longer shank than any other fly manufacturer that I have seen have been the best that I have used thus far.

The biggest thing you need to realize about this technique is that it is a very ultra finesse type technique. The fish are very lethargic and inactive and will get very close to your bait to inspect it and even smell it. I purposely don’t paint the heads of any of my hair jigs and just use them unpainted (plain lead appearance). 90% of the time I use a color called “Spot Candy” and Spot Sushi” color made by custom fly tier David Lester of Nature’s Tackle Box which is composed of craft and fox hair with some purple pearl crystal flash mixed in. The Spot Sushi has some peach hair in it and some barred duck feathers in the mix.  This color is great for both very clear and stained colored water. Spotted Bass are notorious for liking off the wall and bright colors. I’m a huge fan of using painted chart and white blades with pink in my spinnerbaits and I do extremely well with these off the wall colors because they have the best visibility in stained and clear water. This keeps things very simple and reduces your color selection drastically. My other favorite color is white fox hair with yellow neck feathers.

There are a few other baits that I use in a pinch in place of the hair on a 1/16oz and 1/32oz jig. I do very well with the Gary Yamamoto 2 inch Yamaminnow and 3 inch Tiny Ika’s. Sometimes I will bite an inch off the Tiny Ika just to keep in line with the size of the hatch that I am dealing with at the time. Gulp 3 inch minnows is also becoming quite popular among the locals in East Tennessee. Again play with these things in the sink or aquarium to get an idea of their action in the water. You will be surprised what you can learn about fishing by playing with baits and watching the action they emit in the kitchen sink or aquarium. Another thing that I am starting to do is bringing along my 10ft cast net on my fishing trips and when I see bait deep on my graph I will net some bait to get an idea of what size bait I am dealing with an then I will adjust my bait profile appropriately.

MISCELLANEOUS

The rest of the ingredients as it pertains to equipment for the float N Fly technique is the line and the reel. For the main line I use anywhere from 2 to 8lb fluorocarbon line but mostly I use 4 to 6lb. I personally use Triple Fish fluorocarbon (www.triplefishlines.com) as it is a great quality fluorocarbon that comes at a very affordable price. Without going into a fluorocarbon infomercial the biggest things I want from this line are less visibility and ease of handling (less memory). Quite obviously the key here is you are going to have to play the fish out fully before landing it since your using a fairly soft action rod and light line.

One other twist as it pertains to line is by using braid as your main line. This to me is the only way to fly with the float N Fly outfit. I prefer using a brightly colored braid as it aides a lot with determining how much slack you have in your line by being able to clearly see it. I like Power Pro in Yellow and also Fire Line Crystal in white both in 8 or 10lb test. Lets face it the fish will never see your braided line with a 8ft + leader so you might as well have a braid that will work for you and aide you in some way by being able to see your line.  Another advantage of the colored braids is that they are easier to untie tangles if they happen to arise. Both of the above mentioned are great braids and handle very well on spinning equipment especially if you fill them up flush with the edge of the spool. Braid obviously handles better on spinning reels than most lines and I adjoin the braid to a 15ft fluorocarbon leader which is ajoined to the braid by using a uni to uni knot. The reason why I make my leader significantly longer is because I like to make sure my float is attached to the fluorocarbon part of the leader due to the fact that braid will float. By having 15ft of fluorocarbon as a leader this gives me multiple times to retie as well as having plenty of room to adjust the float/depth of my fly and if I happen to need to retie or break off on some under water structure my line will usually break close to the knot and it will leave me enough leader material so that I won’t have to tie on another leader and still give me plenty of room to have my float still attached to the flouorocarbon leader.

The reel part of the equation is to make sure you have a 2000 size spinning reel with an incredibly smooth drag or if you prefer you can back reel. I personally use the Ardent S-400M. The Ardent 400M handles fluorocarbon incredibly well and has the ability to micro adjust the drag setting as needed when using finesse size lines. To be honest the reel is the least important component in Float and Fly fishing.

THE CASTING TECHNIQUE

There is a technique to follow when trying to cast your float n Fly rig which contains a bobber and a 1/16th oz hair jig on a 12ft leader with a 10ft rod. Obviously the longer rod allows you to effectively throw such a lengthy rig, but the technique lies in how you cast the rig. With the rod in front of you and the float about a foot to a foot and a half below the rod tip extend your arm back over your shoulder and lay the jig out by letting it hit the water. Then go forward with the rod tip and release the line and the rig will propel forward. It is KEY that you let the jig hit the water on your backhand. By allowing your jig to hit the water behind you the jig is loading up your rod tip. When you thrust forward to cast you force the jig out of the water which loads up the rod tips and propels the rig forward. By having at least a foot between the cork and your rod tip this lessens the helicoptering effect thus giving you more accuracy and more distance in your cast. Also don’t force the bait by trying to cast it harder thinking it will cast farther. To cast it correctly make sure your casting arm stays mostly extended during the entire cast. This gives you a nice lob cast which in effect will give you the best distance and casting accuracy.

FLOAT AND FLY CONDITIONS & TIPS

The float N Fly shines in very specific situations. The ideal conditions are fairly clear to very clear water (3ft clarity and clearer) and water temps below 50 degrees. To me the clearer the water the better the technique works. Technically water temps in the mid 40’s is ideal and post frontal conditions with some wind makes it even more effective since frontal conditions make a lot of the bass suspend and inactive. This is about the only time of the year where I pray for post frontal conditions as it’s the actual pressure that makes the fish suspend not the cooler air temps.

There are many types of structures that I would try the float and fly around. I do very well on the bluff walls, end of long points, over deep brush and also around docks, boat houses and piers. The biggest thing that I would recommend is if you are fishing as partners both fishing the Float N Fly is to make sure both of you are fishing different length leaders. The depth is a very key aspect of the Float N Fly and by using a slideable float it instantly allows you to change the depth of your presentation. Typically what I like to do is to try to make sure my fly is suspending at the level of the fish or slightly above the depth that the fish are holding at. Reason being is that most fish feed upward vs downward and I assume that that goes along the same theory that the fish’s eyes are on top of its head and naturally feeds upward. I like a little bit of wind when fishing this technique.

The cool thing about the wind is it imparts action into your fly versus the angler imparting the action. It also seems to give the fly a more natural action. When there is no wind I usually twitch my rod tip just enough to tip the cork to impart the action to the fly. When I twitch it I just gently twitch it to get the desired action. Just like in jerkbait fishing you need to vary your cadence some to determine what the fish are looking for. I have been doing this long enough to know that there is a lot involved in the cadence on those days where the fish are finicky. One person in the back of the boat could easily out catch the guy in the front with everything the same, but the cadence. Some days it’s a stop and pause deal, some days it’s a long gruesome pause and other days they like that fly bouncing up and down fairly erratically. I find that the colder the water temp the more subtle my twitches are. Again watch your bait in the kitchen sink or aquarium to see what I am talking about when I say subtle. You also have to keep in mind here that when the water temps get consistently in the low 40’s the threadfin shad start to die off by the thousands. When they are dying they aren’t exactly moving up and down but more or less quivering and that is the action that you are trying to imitate with your fly. This is the very reason why the float N Fly is very effective as it takes advantage of the subtle movement of a dying shad and also the fact that spots like to suspend a lot in post frontal conditions.

One thing that I have noticed is that on post frontal days the fish are usually shallower than in prefrontal. By shallower I mean 6 to 8ft in length. I know that doesn’t make much sense but it is something that I have observed but I believe it has to do with those post frontal days are usually clear and sunny and the fish are moving up in the water column to catch the warmer sun’s rays throughout the day. In pre frontal situations, I can be anywhere from 10 to 14ft deep with my fly and post frontal I’m usually around 8 to 10ft deep on my fly. In the summer time I often get my leaders as long as 24ft in length to reach the thermocline when it develops but that’s another story for another day.

In closing don’t ever underestimate the float N fly technique. It will catch them on the nastiest days of the year and that little fly can account for some truly MAGNUM Spotted Bass when nothing else will. The above is the mere basics of the float N Fly technique as I was taught by Mr. Nukols back in the early 90’s and what I have learned through my own trials and errors along the way. There are many variations of the technique but the basics still remain the same. A special thanks to the late Charlie Nukols for taking time out to talk with me about the Float N Fly.

Mike Bucca

www.TritonMike.com

Water Temp early 70’s

Water Clarity mostly clear

Water level .99ft above full pool

Moon Phase 57%

Fishing for numbers is on fire now on Allatoona. I’m averaging 20+ a trip and at times pushing over 30 and missing bunches more. Really alot of things are working but I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a bait that catches more numbers than the 4 inch Senko. The key for me is to do the “run and shoot” offense. Either you are on them or your not and keep running and shooting until you find them. Spots are very very close to start their spawning ritual and the largemouths are at the very tipsy end of their spawning season.

I was out with the DNR electro fishing for 2 days this past week and I saw very little spot spawning activity that I can see. I did a full report in the General Fishing section on my outing at http://www.AllatoonaBass.com

Shell Crackers are just about to start spawning as well with some in the mix now and I will be doing some shell cracker trips this year for those that have kids. We have some massive shell crackers in Allatoona. Here is a trip I did with my 3 year old last year and was the first time ever he has been fishing with his dad in the boat . We rigged up his snoopy rod and he went to work on these fish and caught well over half of them on his own while I was taking them off and re baiting his hook.

Good luck out there .  The fish are biting so go fishing!

Mike

Water Temp 59
Water clarity clear to stain
water level 1.08ft high
Moon Phase: 3/4 full

Water is stained from Kellogg and North and fairly clear south of Kellogg.  Fishing this week was horrible at the beginning and fairly strong at the end.  My fish didn’t like all that rain one bit but now that things have settled they are right back where they were a week an a half ago.  The spots are still staging and schooling and just went back into that mode today it seems.  There are some males (largemouth) on the bed but the vast majority of the females haven’t locked on yet. I’m seeing some decent cruisers in the vicinity of the beds but nothing any size and in any numbers.  I am positive someone somewhere can find a good fish or 3 on the bed if you look hard enough.  But today was the best day for looking in over a week it seems due to clouds, wind, rain etc etc.  Then to make matters more confusing we will be in the 20’s on Mon and Tuesday of this coming week and in the 30’s on Wed……  Looks like we will be prolonging spring  ;D

As I said earlier the spots are busting in pockets early and late.  Pick your poison on what you want to throw at them.  We got them on topwater, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, traps, Jigs etc etc. 

Since I have finally almost caught up on all of my orders I have been doing some testing as of late on a few new bait designs/sizes that I am working on.  Here’s the fish (Spotted Bass)  of the week on an almost 9 inch Bull Shad prototype. 

Water Temp 52-60
Water Clarity clear to stained
Water Level 1.78ft low

Fishing is good….  Due to the rains last week we got a good bit of debris on the water from one end of the lake to the other.  Some areas are “unfishable” due to the wind packing the debris. Water temps are starting at 52-53 and ending up almost 60 degrees by early afternoon. 

Like clockwork the big bait bite is on and just cranking up.  I know of one 6lb spot caught this week on a swimbait and one of my good previous clients got a 6lb largemouth on the Bull Shad and I also got a few good fish this week while pig hunting myself.  I’m concentrating on the short pockets just off the main lake for the heads and main lake points for the spots.  I have seen a few males up shallow but nothing on the bed yet but as the week goes on there should be more going shallow weather permitting. 

I’m throwing a modified 8 inch Triple Trout (modified to 10.5 inches) and the 7 inch Bull Shad on 25lb Triple Fish Camo Line and using a Dobyns Rods 795ML.  In the stained water the Triple Trout is the deal.  There simply isn’t a better swimbait for working stained to muddy water due to the massive amount of vibration and water that it pushes.  In the clearer stuff I’m going to a more natural swiming bait and using the 7 and 8 inch (prototype) Bull Shad. 

With the big baits your fishing for one or two bites for the bigger fish. 

Nature’s Tackle Box in Hiram, GA (678-567-1211) is the newest 22nd Century/Triple Trout dealer and Natures Tackle Box along with Hammonds Fishing Center in Cumming, GA and Hookeduptackle.com all  exclusively carry the Bull Shad. 

This is only just the beginning, more big fish pics to come….  ;D

Mike

As a guide I get to see alot of different styles of fishing and along the ways  and I have learned alot from my clients, but on the flip side I have also seen alot of bad habits that have formed as well.  Topwater fishing is probably the most exciting technique of fishing there is.  It’s also probably the techinque with the most hits and misses..  I have said this many times but some of the best topwater anglers that I know are those that fish for Spots, because spots are notorious for being finicky and they certainly try your last nerve due to their pocket picking nature.  Often times they will hit your bait repeatidly without getting hookups.  I can’t think of another fish that can slam a topwater or jerkbait full of hooks without getting stuck.  It simply amazes me how I can get pricked by a hook with no problem but spots can’t?  Last year along I had to pull a hook out of my hand/arm/leg on 4 different occasions last year (a record for me LOL)

I think my record is a spot hitting my topwater on 16 different occasions on the same cast.  Yes they are very aggressive but sometimes when you see that explosion you can’t help but to set the hook and often times when you do you end up missing and also scare the fish off from coming back for another strike.

Topwater fishing is probably the hardest method to teach amatuers.  I mean when you see the explosion on the surface common knowledge tells you to cross their eyes.  Well that works on some occasions, but not all of them.  You can try the close your eyes method and wait for the rod to load up, but heck thats no fun  as half the fun of fishing topwater is watching the explosion take place right?  The absolute key to fishing topwater is to wait until you feel the fish.  If your walking a sammy or any kind of bait keep walking it and wait for you to feel the fish before pulling into the fish.   This takes A TON of patiences and control on your part.  But over time you will realize that those missed hooksets are also missed opportunties on catching that fish.  How many times have you set the hook and missed and never got that repeat 2nd return bite?  It happens alot.  Sometimes you get lucky and the fish is just overly committed, but 9 times out of 10 when you set the hook and miss thats the only shot you get.  So by waiting to feel the fish is key here.  Just keep that bait walking and popping as you were and wait for that fish to come back for a second or 16th attempt at getting your bait.  Trust me by doing so this will land you more fish and you’ll quickly land more fish that hit than you lose.

One other trick.  .  I’m not sure if you guys know this or not but Lucky Craft has come out with a Sammy 105.  This is technically a Sammy with THREE treble hooks and only 5 millimeters longer than the popular Sammy 100.  When I saw this bait at Icast last year I immediatly said “There is a god!!”  For crying out loud MORE hooks is just what we need!!  I mean by all means chose the weapon that gives you more bullets (hooks) and your chances increase dramatically.  I felt like the good lord was listenting to me all the time I was cussing those spots for pocket picking me for all these years by sending me the Sammy 105..  I now go to the lake with a evil smirk on my face knowing those pocking picking $*$&$# SPOTS don’t have a $*()*$# chance in *#$*# *$*$ in missing my topwater now!!  The action of the Sammy 105 is a little flatter than the Sammy 100, but still walks very nicely, still casts like a bullet and best of all my Spots absolutely hate it!!  Sweet Revenge!!

Tacklewarehouse has all of the colors in stock

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageHDTLUCKY-LCSM.html

Water Temp 57-62
Water Clarity clear to stained
Water Level 4.57ft low

Fishing is pretty good especially on numbers,  Water is mostly stained in the vicinity of the dam area.  The rest of the lake is fairly clear. 

I have spent the last 3 days on the water pretty much sun up to almost sun down.  Things are changing daily as we are transitioning from Post Winter to Pre Spring.  There is always a lull for me between the two seaons which scatters the fish out a good bit before they concentrate again. 

Mon and Tuesday the hybirds were going NUTZ at first light.  LIterally I believe we had a SOLID MILE of boiling hybrids on top for atleast an hour and a half to two hours.  At the end of both of those topwater marathons I was POOPED but my guys had a blast on Monday!  I started with a fresh Sammy 100 and by the end of day 2 I had to change out my hooks and I had a one eyed sammy. 

See video link

http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o314/TritonMike/SpotCountryMike/?action=view&current=toonabill013.flv

The bass fishing part of Mon and Tuesday after the hybrid marathon was on the tough side since it was just prior to the full moon and I was trying for pigs.  We did get quite a few jerkbait bites up above victoria in the short pockets.  I also got three bull shad spots yesterday and all three were in the vicinity of 3 lbs (See hockeyruss’s report).  I did manage one big striper during the search for the big heads.

Then today with the full moon I had a trip with Bill and we were planning on a three peat of the Hybrid fest which was a total dissapointment.  After today I am totally convinced the full moon has an effect on the hybrids.  I’ve seen it too many times especially in the summer where prior to a full moon they are balls to the walls then the day of the full moon POOF.  Anyway, While we waited for the no show hybirds Bill caught this nice spot on a wounded spook.

Shortly after we saw a trickle of hybrid activity and we got 2 hybrids on topwater then 3 more on jerkbaits.  After leaving the no show hybrids we went searching for spots.   I went back to an area that I fished on Monday which was FULL of bait.  It almost looks like they were spawning in the back of the cove there were so many shad, but on Monday there was very little fish except for one lone 3lb spot caught on the bull shad. I figured surely after 2 days some fish have found all of the shad and I was right they were exploding on the shad back in the shallows.  Bill got 10 fish on 10 consecutive casts on the jerkbait then caught another 10 more throwing at the boiling fish. 

Then right before we left I went to one of my ace in the hole spots and Bill had a 4lb head on his wounded spook and lost her.  He casted about 10 more times and lost a 3lb spot in the same hole.  After a few more casts he changed to another rod with a jerkbait and numerous casts with no luck. I threw the bull shad (www.tritonmike.com/bullshad ) in there and got the 4lb Head on the first cast oops!!. 

Throughout the rest of the day after I dropped Bill off I threw the bull shad a good bit and got a few decent spots in the mix, but the highlight of the day was by far the jerkbait.  Ricky K and I kept texting back and forth keeping in touch and Ricky found 2 good schools of fish busting shad and invited me to play (thanks Ricky).  One of the schools Ricky found it kept everything we had to keep the boat from blowing us into the school of fish but we both got atleast 10 fish a piece out of our last school which was a mixture of whites and spots all on jerkbaits. I was using a pointer 100 in Table Rock Shad and Ricky was using a BIG  Flashminnow 130 (unknown color??).   BTW Ricky how many small fish did you get on that “big” jerkbait  ;D.  The jerkbait bite is doing very well. They key ingredients here is relatively short pockets with shad in them.  If you see shad it’s not a matter of IF but when it will hold fish so keep checking back often to those areas. 

Mike

http://www.TritonMike.com