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Water
Bodies Services Interactive Misc.
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Sinking Float??
Sinking float.......kind of sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? But it is a technique that can help you put more of those suspended or lock jawed fish in your boat. When I accidentally stumbled onto this technique I was trying to lure small mouth bass that were ten feet down over twenty five feet of water. I was in a flat bottomed bay and the lone piece of structure was an old upright white pine log that came within eight feet of the surface. The smallies were hovering near the top of the log. I knew this because I could see them in the gin clear water. I did what most of us would do. I started off dropping light jigs with every chunk of plastic I had. I caught one fish on the retrieve. Not one would sniff at the jig while it dropped. I tried crank baits, spoons and even a wooly bugger fly. This fly drew the most interest. The problem was holding it in the zone. To high they didn't want it. If it sank below them they didn't chase it. Move it off to the side, to them it didn't exist. So what I intended to do was use a slip float with the right amount of line and jig the fly in front of them. But when I did this, the resistance of the float when they did take the fly caused the bass to spit it out. Now I was ready to pack it in when I decided to add a little more weight to the line. Problem was I was out of that magic size of shot. The stuff I had left was to big. The float sank.......there's that oxymoron again. The rate of sinking was very very slow though. I shortened up the leader by moving my bobber stop. Saying to myself "One last cast" as I flipped one out. The float sank very slowly. Through my years of fishing I learned to watch my line for those subtle bites and this night that paid off. The smallies inhaled the fly long enough for me to set the hook. This "mistake of not having the right stuff" proved to pay dividends on that night.
Now I have been using the Sinking Float on many of my outings. This is what I have learned. 1, Be a line watcher. Any twitch to the line indicates a fish or you have hit bottom. You usually won't feel a bite because of the almost 90 degree angle your line is at in comparison to your rod and bait. 2, You can cast this mess out and jig a consistent depth back to the boat. Use it like a count down. When it hits the water start counting at a consistent rate. When a fish hits remember the number. 3, This works with flies really well. Also plastics. I had a great day using Senkos. 4, Try this for mid day walleyes but use a leech. Minnows pretty much tow the rig around. So grab a lunch of jumbo shrimp, jump down into that little big boat of yours and try out the sinking float. Roger Mayer.
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