Notes: Float N Fly rigs go back to the early 1980's. They were used with conventional gear within the southern smallmouth waters such as Cumberland Lake and Dale Hollow. Bass fisherman, Charlie Nickols, is considered to be the one who brought the technique to the forefront and helped to perfect the technique. Sometime after 2010, the technique made it's way to our bass lakes in the Sierra. Guides Hogan Brown, Ryan Williams, and Chuck Ragan refined the patterns and the rigs to our Sierran lakes and the technique has become quite popular during the Winter and early Spring months. Basically, it's a dead minnow drift that is presented to the bass at the proper depth controlled by a floating indicator. This is similar to midging but on a bigger scale. The "minnow" is usually a Japanese Pond Smelt which was introduced to these lakes in the 1970's as a food source. The Japanese name for the smelt is "Wakasugi". Ryan Williams markets a Williams Wakasugi Minnow on his website, North Valley Fly Fishing. Most of the patterns utilize craft fur and bucktail for the body. The craft fur has a nice undulating effect within the water column that will trigger a response from the bass. Some patterns will utilize Mallard Flank for the body, similar to a Hornberg pattern.
Float N Fly rigs go back to the early 1980's. They were used with conventional gear within the southern smallmouth waters such as Cumberland Lake and Dale Hollow. Bass fisherman, Charlie Nickols, is considered to be the one who brought the technique to the forefront and helped to perfect the technique. Sometime after 2010, the technique made it's way to our bass lakes in the Sierra. Guides Hogan Brown, Ryan Williams, and Chuck Ragan refined the patterns and the rigs to our Sierran lakes and the technique has become quite popular during the Winter and early Spring months. Basically, it's a dead minnow drift that is presented to the bass at the proper depth controlled by a floating indicator. This is similar to midging but on a bigger scale. The "minnow" is usually a Japanese Pond Smelt which was introduced to these lakes in the 1970's as a food source. The Japanese name for the smelt is "Wakasugi". Ryan Williams markets a Williams Wakasugi Minnow on his website, 
