The winning technique taking the recent Wild West Bass Trail tournament at Lake Shasta was a float and fly. What? Float and Fly? I have used a float and fly for trout many times with spinning tackle. A torpedo style or water filled bobber trailing a wooly bugger behind it. This can't be the same technique, can it?

Nope, but I am sure about everyone not familiar with the bassing float and fly has employed the basis of technique in the past. Most of us have utilized a slip bobber and small jig fishing for Crappie and panfish and some of us have even caught an incidental bass at the same time. With a few tweaks, you have the technique at its basic form.

Locally, the float and fly technique for bass has been popular on Lake Oroville for many years. But with Oroville based angler Ryan Friend's victory on Lake Shasta, the technique is gaining in interest.

The base components of this technique is a slip bobber and small hair jig, usually an eighth or sixteenth ounce head. The Spro Phat Fly is one of the more popular commercially marketed versions, although many angler's tie their own. While some anglers direct tie the “fly” to their line many use a  2 to 4 foot  4lb fluorocarbon leader below a small barrel swivel. Utilizing light 6 lb test on the spinning reel many practitioners use a relatively long rod with a light tip and backbone to set the hook.

Set the bobber stop to the desired depth, this is the critical part where use of electronics are key to locate suspended fish off the bottom and setting the bobber stop so the bait remains off the bottom or suspended at the depth of the targeted bass.

Cast out the bait and bobber feeding line out to the desired depth as the stop reaches the bobber top the bobber will tilt completely upright, but be mindful and keep constant contact with the bait as it descends as many bass will strike on the fall. Be very mindful of any movement, ever so slight on the bobber as takes are often very light. Set the hook on everything and anything, the worst that can happen is the fly moves and it has to settle again.

There are many variations of fishing this method, some let the fly sit, some tend to yo-yo the fly a bit and some will cast out let it drop and slowly retrieve.

Experiment with this technique a bit as it has proven to be very effective and in Ryan Friend's case profitable as well.  And remember some big bags and bass can come from this method, a 5 fish limit of  18.55 pounds the first day of the tournament should make a believer out of most.