Systems Of Suspense Are Better Than Most Anglers Can Believe

“Worm fishing for perch in Europe is similar to fishing smallmouths, in terms of the size of the fish, the leaders, and the bait,” he said, “and the Ultra Grayling is a popular float for that over there. The Grayling Ultra is basically a cane stem in a cork body, which makes it very durable. The more delicate ones are balsa. The Ultra is the muck-about float, as we call it in Europe, because you can muck it about and still have a float to fish with. People in America get upset with floats that aren’t durable, which makes the Grayling Ultra one of the most popular of the true European floats over here. Over there, some floats sell for $35 apiece, and those aren’t designed to be rugged.”

Choosing any old float won’t do. Put yourself in these moccasins for a moment: Smallmouths are bumping, but not taking, a jig-grub combo on a river flat. Anchor the boat. Break out the float rod. Tie on a 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jig-grub combo. Pitch it out. Check (hold the float back) heavily and often. The jig rises a few feet and sits there, the plastic tail working, right over their fussy little heads. That’s how a fixed float catches smallmouths in ways a slipfloat can’t. Check a slipfloat in current and the bait is pulled up against the float. Here, the stem float rules, and the bubble is an option that won’t track quite as efficiently when being checked.

On lakes, in wind and waves, when it’s important to hold a lure or bait next to objects like boulders or dead heads for a minute or more, a tall waggler is preferred. The bulk of a waggler is held under the surface, with only a colorful stem protruding above, making it less susceptible to wind. This float holds a bait or plastic worm near key cover much longer in wind. A plastic bubble allows you to cover water in wind, however. And windswept shorelines and reefs tend to hold active fish.

A few slipfloats in different shapes and sizes and you’re on your way. Smallmouth floats are a bit more rough-and-tumble than the average panfish float and a bit cruder than the average steelhead float. Sensitivity is not required to the same degree that it might be for steelhead or brown trout. Even a finicky smallmouth, once it decides to eat something, just flat eats it. No need to be dainty about it, mate.

With any float and any kind of lure or bait, manipulating the float itself or manipulating the drift of the float can trigger strikes. Want to see something wild? Create a tandem rig with 2 wacky-rigged worms a foot or more apart and dangle it by the boat. Snap it, then pop it, then sweep it, and watch all the crazy things those two worms will do irrespective of each other.

A jig can be made to rise and fall slowly, stopping dead in its tracks any distance from bottom you choose. A small swimbait can be crawled along with a slow stop-and-go retrieve under a float. Jiggling a float by vibrating the rod tip with a tight line will make a jig quiver, a worm flutter, or a hair jig undulate. Letting the line bow in current or wind, then slowly tightening the line, will make a jig or plastic arc and vector back toward a straight track, a tactic that can sweep a float under a dock or fallen tree while prompting unique action from the bait.

A slight breeze is blowing in off the lake. Smallmouths are gathered shallow in water so clear you can see them 100 feet away. Long casts with light jigs and plastics produce a few follows, but the fish dart away quickly after approaching within 25 feet. Back the boat up, turn everything off, and drift back in, anchor at the ready. Drop the hook two cast lengths out and drift in a little further. Pick up the float rod. Cast upwind of the fish. Sit still. Let the wind work. And watch your opinion of “bass bobbers” drastically change.