My First Fish on FNF Yesterday

Went C'land yesterday determined to give the FnF rig maybe one last try before giving up this cold water technique in favor of my jig and paca chunk sr. Before I went, I got some great advise and tips from other fishin.com memebrs and the videos and articles contained on this website. Well thanks to you all and fishin.com, I caught my first fish on a FnF. Wow what a fight!! I was fishing by myself, so I had a little trouble getting the fish into the boat because of the long leader. It wasn't a keeper smalljaw since it was just 17 & 3/4, but it was enough to give me the FnF bug.
I started the day with a twelve foot leader and kept shortening it until I got to 9', which is where I caught my fish on the bluff wall in front of Jamestown. I think next time though, I won't use the flouralcarbon as the main line. Since the flouralcarbon sinks, it was tipping my float over. Thinking a fish had my jig, I kept setting the hook before I realized what was happining.
WHAT'S SIZE OF FLIES DO YOU ALL PREFER?

Congrats on catching the fish and the fever!

I use flourocarbon as the main line and it does sink although I never had it tip the float over. Question: Did you run the line through both the top and bottom eyes of the bobber? If so, you're only supposed to use the bottom.

As far as the flies, I like the body of the fly relatively small and the weight of the jig head doesn't seem to make any difference to me as long as it's 1/16 oz or 1/32 oz.

congrats buddy.... once u get hooked on it that buggy whip is sure hard to put down and pick up something else to try adn fish with..... i like the 1/16 oz fly i have never used a 1/32 fly so i dunno..... but good job and try using 10lb power pro for your main line adn then use floro on your swivel to your fly..... the braid floats and u should eliminate your bobber falling over.....

Congrats on your first FNF fish. Addicting, very addicting way to catch big Smallies. Wait until you have a 5+ on the other end and for some reason she does not want to be caught.

Everyone has their own opinions on all types of fishing but the ONLY way to go on the FNF is Braid mainline, #4 3-way swivel, 4 or 6lb Flourocarbon leader and hook FNF bobber to 3rd eye of swivel. Again just my opinion but it is an opinion that has tried all the other ways and this is the BEST without a doubt hands down. Elnut

I have been a fan of the 10/2 braid ever since it came on the market. The three way swivel, well I never gave it a try, but i'm going to this coming week. My biggest concern with the 3 way is adjusting the depth.I think I have a plan to work on varing the depth.

Congradultions on your first F-n-F fight!! Fun aint it!! Im the same way as you , caught my 1st f-n-f smallie i earily december and i cant put it down. I dont know but the leaning bobber sounds to me like the fly hasnt settled or could b snagging a ledge or bottom???

[quote=12VoltMan;349773]Went C'land yesterday determined to give the FnF rig maybe one last try before giving up this cold water technique in favor of my jig and paca chunk sr. Before I went, I got some great advise and tips from other fishin.com memebrs and the videos and articles contained on this website. Well thanks to you all and fishin.com, I caught my first fish on a FnF. Wow what a fight!! I was fishing by myself, so I had a little trouble getting the fish into the boat because of the long leader. It wasn't a keeper smalljaw since it was just 17 & 3/4, but it was enough to give me the FnF bug.
I started the day with a twelve foot leader and kept shortening it until I got to 9', which is where I caught my fish on the bluff wall in front of Jamestown. I think next time though, I won't use the flouralcarbon as the main line. Since the flouralcarbon sinks, it was tipping my float over. Thinking a fish had my jig, I kept setting the hook before I realized what was happining.
WHAT'S SIZE OF FLIES DO YOU ALL PREFER?[/quote]
congrats on your firstone i got mine back in the middle of Dec. on Dale Hollow Ed. Bowen

Way to go!! It is by far my favorite method of fishing in the winter. Once you get the FnF bug it's over with. I can just close my eyes and picture that bobber going down at mach 10 and it brings a smile to my face.

The sinking flourocarbon causes a lot of water resistance. You will be amazed at how much water just the line actually resists. If you are using it for your main line it will sink and it will cause your bobber to tip on its side. The FNF bobbers are designed so that just 1/16th of an ounce will make it stand up or tip over. Guaranteed that sinking flouro gives off more than 1/16th of an ounce resistance to make your bobber tip over. My bet is that if you make a cast and let it sit for a long period of time and don't move it that when you reel in the bobber actually will sink under the water a foot or so because of the sinking line. When I fish DEEP crankbaits I always use flourocarbon and will actually make the cast then let it sit for a few seconds up to 20 so the line will sink first and this will help pull DOWN the crankbait right off the bat to get it to the max depth quicker. Maybe it is only helps a bit but I do know it helps. One thing to remember on the FNF, you want the fly doing as little moving as possible and you don't want any un-natural movements. With braid as your main line it will float and the only action you are giving is to the bobber and to the jig. If you main line is sinking and your bobber is tipping or bobbing up and down the the jig is bobbing up and down in the water column which is not natural this time of year. Slow quivering movements are natural and if your bobber stays on top and just twitches slightly then the jig with twitch slightly as well. Just my opinion but I don't plan on changing anytime soon, just TOO much success doing what I do. Elnut

Thanks Elnut! What do you use as your main line?

I too am fairly new to fnf. My first experience was winter-before-last at Barkley and for right out of the gate I think I did pretty well. In a couple of short outings over New Years, I caught two keeper sized bass, one LM and one SM and lost a SM somewhere in the 5# neighborhood and I caught bunches of drum between 3 and 8 #s with a couple over 10. Pretty fun for the noodle rod. I keep reading about using braid for the main line, 3 way swivel, and flouro leader but I just use 6# mono and a spinning reel with a very smooth drag. It is way simple to adjust the bobber and I don't have any issue with the bobber not floating right. The only downside I can see to this is where the bobber clips onto the line could kink and weaken. I just watch that close and cut the line at the bobber if it doesn't look good. My first and only real SM trip with the fnf on Cumberland two weekends ago I took a 6.25# SM. So far so good on the mono. Maybe over time I will break some off at the bobber and change my tune but for now simple is good for me.

kc

The bobber to the main line is the set up that everyone use's when the white bass run happen's on Dix River and the Lord only knows how many white's have been landed with this method .A #1,#2,or #3 pop-eye with a 3/4 to 1 inch pear cork and mono with up to a 7 1/2 ft leader. Also the prize of Dix river being the occassional "Hybrid" landed with this method as well. And there are some big Hybrid that make a run up the river from Herrington Lake and they are mean . There are some guy's on this board that know what i'm talking about. Whatever works though , it's still fun..........