First time success with the F-N-F

[Hlleonard]

For the last two or three weeks I have been catching A decent number of bass on stoner tossing a jig and plastic trailer or a tube rigged on a small jig head.....went today and for two hours caught only 2 short fish on a tube.
water temp is in high 40's...creek is starting to clear up...prolly clear to 3 or 4 feet.....I bought the F-N-F equipment last year but only thing it had accomplished so far was cluttering up my boat.....I got it out and started tossing it around and started catching a few fish...nutin' to brag about but it was a start....biggest fish was 16 inches or so.....got a question,
how the H (add rest of the letters) can you ever get a 5 pound bass in the boat when a pound and a half bass just about whipped me..lol..it looks like a fellow needs to be 10 or 11 feet tall to do the job correctly...by the way, that is a fun way to catch a bass.

[FlyLie]

Careful now, you just may get "hooked on the fly".

Boone

[stoner]

You need a net! lol
Stoner

[elnutsmalljaws]

10 foot long FNF rod and 11 foot long arms, what is the problem??? Wait until you try a deep lake with a 15 foot leader and you are fishing by yourself. That is when you have to lay down the rod and hand line them into the net the last 5 feet or so. Nothing like trying to keep tension on the line as you are laying down your rod then to have the fish take that one last run on you and you are scrambling to pick back up your rod to fight the fish some more. It is addicting, this FNF stuff. Surely you are not using that long of a leader in the creeks to catch fish. You should be able to net any fish by yourself with a 10' rod upto a leader length of around 12 feet long. I take my rod in my right hand and pretty much raise the tip as far away from me towards 2 o'clock and work the fish into the net. This gives you the most angle for the money to get the fish as close to you as possible before netting. Another key is to fight the fish until she is pretty tired before trying to net her because they will take that one last lunge when they see the net or at least when they see my ugly face they really don't want to get close.

[Hlleonard]

Stoner is prolly right.....I quit using a net 15 or 20 years ago....I quit fishing tournaments and decided I would as soon some fish get away as to put up with the net in the way.
The maximum depth in the creek is around 15 feet and it varies to maybe half that in some places even in the middle of the creek....was using a leader that was maybe 7 feet .....I fish by myself maybe 95% of the time Elwood,most of the older guys that retire always seem to need something to do so they end up getting a "little" job to fill in the blank space......I just fill in the blanks with a day on the water...lol...
I'll prolly still be hard headed about the net...ifn i lose several good fish I might change my mind...its about as much a pain as trying to get hold of the fish by hand...never tried to pick up a net in my life that wasn't tangled up in something or other.

[goosecreekguy]

Okay, I've GOT to give the FnF a chance and learn it...

[18'stratos]

Ok....I went last year to Cumberland and fished the F-N-F and just used a slip bobber. Was easy to set the depth and did'nt have to worry about the 10 foot long arms. I guess that most of you prefere the long poles and the stationary bobber. I didnt have to worry about the fish and a net cause I could reel him right up. Why not the slip bobber?

[Hlleonard]

That sounds like the right idea to me too but so far I have tried a couple versions of the slip bobbers but I haven't found the right bobber just yet.....I did see one advertised somewere that had somesort of locking device on it that released on the hookset..... wasn't in a store anywhere...had to order the thing with a $20 investment (plus shipping) sounded a little pricey for something I hadn't seen.

[elnutsmalljaws]

Ok....I went last year to Cumberland and fished the F-N-F and just used a slip bobber. Was easy to set the depth and did'nt have to worry about the 10 foot long arms. I guess that most of you prefere the long poles and the stationary bobber. I didnt have to worry about the fish and a net cause I could reel him right up. Why not the slip bobber?

I have never tried the slip bobber but from what I have read on that topic, a 1/16oz or 1/32oz jig has a very hard time in freefalling and pulling all the line thru the top of the bobber to reach the desired set depth, due to its weight being so little. How would you ever know if your jig is actually getting down to the depth that you set the bobber? Many have talked of using the slip bobber method on this site as well as the other 4 sites I am involved in and to what I can remember, nobody has ever experienced great succes with it. Just what I have read.

[Hlleonard]

A slip bobber of some kind would be a great improvement to the system for me.... I would like not having to mess with the long rod as well but I played with the stuff a little last year (never caught a fish during the time) and had the problem Elnut was describing with the line not wanting to slip through the bobber...I think if I had a bobber I could easily get hold of and release myself I might like that better than the long rod.... casting the long leaders don't bother me as much as trying to get the fish in the boat with the long leaders.

[18'stratos]

I didn't use a fly that small. I guess if I was going to use a 1/16 or a 1/32oz i would also use a split shot about 2 feet above it. bait would still move freely and the added weight would get it down.
Just thought of another problem.....Temps below freezing may cause the slip to freeze up. I guesss it is just a more reliable way to fish with the longer pole and stationary bobber. I'll try to invest more time with both this year and find out.
Thanks for the feedback.......Bill

[redneckshadrap]

Stratoes..

Wind....if blowing the right direction and speed will pull the line and jig up out of the strike zone....