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Since one of your posts back in december I have wondered how you could land a nice (say four pound or more) smallmouth by yourself on the float-n-fly. I certainly won't say I've had a lot of experience but the few I have tangled with I sure was happy someone else was in the boat to do the net work. With ten foot or more line below that bobber, even with a ten foot rod I can't figure out how to get a nice one to the net by myself. Your advice would be very much appreciated.
I use a 10' rod which give me a little more length over the 9' or 9'6" rods which helps some. I can land fish with a leader up to 12' with no problems at all using my net. When I go to 13-14' deep it becomes an issue. For one, I really fight the fish to get the big girl as tired as possible. I may even fight her longer than I should but I want to make sure she is ready to go in the net before making the attempt. The other thing I do is get off the top deck and step down to the center of my boat which puts me closer to the water. I have a Deep V boat that sits high out of the water so when on the top deck I can barely reach the water with the net. When ready, I hold the rod in my right hand as high and back over my shoulder which alloys me to put the fish in the net. On the longer leaders, when she is tired then I will raise the rod as high as possible and grab the line with my left, sit the rod down and free line her to the boat to lip or into the net. I know free lining is not the best way to land them but I know I will have to do this when I go to the deeper leader. I will only try the deeper leader when 10', 8', and 12' is not putting any in the boat. My motto is "Better to hook and lose them than not hook them at all" If 13-14 feet deep is what it takes then so be it. I do have a VERY LONG handled huge striper net that would allow me to net them even with a long leader. The problem is that it weighs a ton and is hard to manuever with only one hand. I don't usually fish that deep until the water really cold, 40 or below. 60% of the time my leader is 10', 10% 8', 20% 12, and only 10% deeper in that order. I always start at 10, go up to 8 feet, then down to 12 before deeper to 14. Water clarity, sunlight, time of day and frontal conditions all play a part in my decision making. Hope this helps.
Tight Lines
Thanks much for the detailed explaination. I too use the 10 foot rod (which I like very much) but I now see why I would have had problems. The bottom line is I have been too anxious to get the ol' brown fish in the boat. I'm sure if I just wear her down a bit more I should be able to get the job done. Patience is something I am a little short of when I want to get my hands on this beautiful fish. I'll also remember the longer handled nets. Thanks again.
That's why I some folks use Flourocarbon leaders.That way they can land it by hand...so to speak. I, for one, will not. But it is an alternative to the longer leader single fisherman.
BIlly
Redneckshadrap
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elnut's advice is right on the money, I should know I am his brother-in-law and I've seen him do it. Getting down in the middle of the boat can gain you a good 3 or more feet of crucial landing length that you are going to need. An extended handle on your net will also help.
Years ago when I was a kid, we had a similiar landing problem on a local pond where we bass fished . We would hook some real lunkers but the bank was so muddy that we couldn't get to them and sucsessfully land them without dragging them up the bank. This is what I did. I bought a cheap aluminum handled dip net at a yard sale a screwed a long painters handle on it. That became my pond net, not good for anything else but it worked. It was light in weight and long enough to snatch them from the water. If you make yourself a net like that then you will be faced with a new problem, how to take a good picture of yourself and your hawg!
p.s. Elnut hasn't figured out how to master that part yet.
He always needs a new challenge.
remember..eatsleepfish
I have a seperate landing net that I use just for the FNF. I just bought a regular landing net and took the rubber handle off the bottom and went to the hardware store and bought a long handle that a roller paint brush fits on the end. Just slide the pole up into the landing net pole. It was a perfect fit. I slid it about three feet up into the handle and put four screws into it just to make sure it does not come apart. The pole can be extended out to ten feet but three feet of it is up in the handle but the round hoop makes it about nine feet long when it is let out all the way. You can land them buy yourself with no problem if you have a nine foot long landing net LOL. If you use a pole on your net like this dont try to hold it at the end of the pole because it will be hard to control the net. Grab a hold of it about two feet from the end and let the end of the pole run down your arm and brace it on the bottom of your arm and elbow. I know this setup may seem akward but it is the best way I have found to land a fish buy myself when I got a ten foot leader hanging off the rod tip.
R19
Great post. The only thing I would add is to elaborate.....that fighting the fish and keeping the optimimum pressure on the fish is super important. Since it's been so warm, we haven't been getting as many doubles....so when we hook up, we usually keep pressure on the fish from one direction and circle the boat. You'll see pros do this quite frequently. This helps because the pressure is constant and you don't want to give a hot fish a chance to jump and shake off.
Netting.....I'm 6'2"+ my reach is 3'+my rod is 9.5'+my net is 6' ....asome how this equates to I can't have a leader more than 17'....based on a bad experience with 4lb. flouro and a huge freak'n smallie. 10' is the magic depth...only in tough conditions would I switch. Finally, I would add that you can't net down in the water much more that 2-3' no matter how long your net.. just make sure it's light and moves through the water easy.
Keep jack'n jaws!
Mark