Yank-Um Custom Tackle Floating Fly
CLEAR AND COLD
Alabama rigs , jerkbaits , blade baits , spider jigs – when it comes to winter offerings , these are what most people turn to . Hollowell is among them in many instances on the lakes near his home in Indiana for one key reason .
“ The lakes by me are too dirty [ for hair jigs and flies ],” Hollowell says . “ These are small , slow offerings the fish need to be able to see .”
So then how did Kilpatrick put on his lesson on a lake like Chickamauga , which has the classic Tennessee River green tint that one could hardly consider clear water ?
“ It was all about location ,” Kilpatrick explains . “ Soddy Creek is known as the clearest creek on Chickamauga , and since it was the winter , it was even clearer .
“ I ’ d say you need at least 4 or 5 feet of visibility for the techniques to work , with more obviously being better . But with how precise you can be now with electronics , 5 feet is enough .”
He had more than enough of that in Soddy Creek that day , and he also had another necessity : water below 55 degrees ( it was 51 degrees that day ).
That magic double-nickel number is Kilpatrick ’ s cue to start digging out the floating flies , as that ’ s often the cue for baitfish to start schooling up in deep water . Considering these techniques are not ones to cover water , Kilpatrick wants the baitfish schooled tight so he can be as precise as possible with his offerings .
Precision often also means being extra precise with where the baitfish are located .
“ When I enter a creek , I set my side-scanning sonar at 60 feet and idle around for bait balls ,” Kilpatrick says . “ Once I find some , I then switch to down-scanning sonar to look for the closest structure to the bait . Usually , it ’ s nooks and crannies on secondary points midway back in creeks . It could even be a transition from gravel to clay . Whatever it is , if it has deep water nearby ( 30 feet or more ), that ’ s the spot .”
From there , it ’ s just a matter of which offering to throw and , just as important , how to throw it .
58
FLOATING FLY
• Water temperature : 40-55 degrees
• Setup : 8-foot Yank-Um Custom Tackle medium-light spinning rod , Lew ’ s MC spinning reel , 5-pound-test K9 Crappie Braid to a three-way swivel , with the weighted bobber attached to one end of the swivel and a 10-foot leader of 6- pound-test K9 Clear Fluorocarbon tied to a 1 / 16-ounce Yank- Um Custom Tackle Floating Fly
• Presentation : Imagine a tiny gnat buzzing and dancing right in your face . Regardless of how much patience you have , at some point you ’ re going to snap and swat at that thing . It ’ s just too annoying .
That ’ s exactly the mindset behind a floating fly . Let it sit in a bass ’ face long enough and he ’ s going to eat it .
Kilpatrick will set his boat right on the edge of deep water off the structure he ’ s fishing , casting as far as he can . Once the lure hits the water , it ’ s going to take a while to get to the bottom ( it ’ s only 1 / 16-ounce after all ). Fortunately , the bobber will lay on its side the entire descent , finally tipping up only once the jig is at the end of the leader .
From there , Kilpatrick uses his rod tip to twitch the bobber VERY subtly to try and almost walk it like you would a walk-thedog topwater lure . He ’ ll twitch it a couple times and then let it sit at a dead stop for 10 to 15 seconds before “ walking ” the bobber ever so slowly forward .
“ It probably takes me five minutes to retrieve each cast ,” Kilpatrick explains . “ But the fish can eat that fly at the beginning of the cast or almost right next to the boat . You just need to really watch that bobber when it ’ s stopped , because they always eat it on the stop . Even a 7-pounder will take it down slowly like a bream bite .” In terms of colors , if he ’ s just fishing for smallmouth , he ’ ll go with a shad imitator – the flank feather off a mallard is cream colored with black bars , making it Kilpatrick ’ s favorite shad color . However , if there ’ s a mix of green and brown bass , he ’ ll switch to a crayfish color – the olive orange and brown hairs from an artic fox are his favorite , as they move even better than traditional bucktail hair and far more than synthetic hair .
In terms of why he starts with the floating fly over the others is twofold : It seems to work better with slightly warmer water temperatures , and it also seems to catch bigger fish .
MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | DECEMBER-JANUARY 2022