Chris Catignani

Like all things fishing...people will put their own spin on it and say they have improved the process. But that being said...this is how it was taught to me by Steve Headrick, Bobby Gentry and Bob Coan. I have talked to these gents at length about the FnF. First lets talk about the rod...I have a custom rod I made for myself...it basically a 9' 9wt two piece fly rod that has a Tennessee handle. The reel I use is just an old Shakespeare 2052 with no bail...any reel will work. I use 6lb mono. The floats you use are custom. This is something that Bob Coan showed me. He took that cheap Styrofoam float with the weight at the bottom...cut in two...and moved the weight into the middle of the float. What this does is tell you when a fish hits the fly(jig) and rises in the water column...the float will roll over. The preferred jigs are the marabou...they look like their moving when stationary. But people use other things under the float. The long rods are needed for casting...because the floats a fixed to the line about 10' up the line. Its almost like a hybrid fly cast to get the rig where you want it. Keep in mind also that this is how they do it on Dale Hollow. The water is gin clear and the lake is deep and full of points. The FnF seems to work better when its gets colder in Jan and Feb. The juvenile thread fin shad will start to die off and its easy prey for the smallies. As for presentation...you get somewhat close to your spot (say a point) and then you troll motor in somewhat close. You want to be sneaky and not spook the fish...they will be suspended and will also come out of the depths. Make your first casts way off the point first...you really want to just leave the rig alone and not work it...its tempting to reel but just let it "soak" for a bit. Here is a picture of a kit thats sold by Dale Hollow Tackle...you can see what the jigs look like.

Looking at the rods at the component level: Guides: Anything over a $20 set of Aconite guides is overkill. Handle components: Cork is cork...cheaper cork is a little more pitted. Reel seat: Functionally they all do the same thing...though some seats are more desirable. Thread: Is just thread. Rods: This is where the rubber meets the road. Graphite typically cost more than a glass rod. Long rods cost more than short rods. Higher modulus rods typically cost more the lower modulus rods. So...if you ask me, "What's a better deal?" A: 6'6" - 57 modulus graphite for $100. B: 6'6" - 57 modulus graphite for $300. I have to go with A. Reminds me of what is the best kind of salt to buy. Kosher, sea, flake, Himalayan, black, Hawaiian, Celtic....etc...etc... Under the hood its all NaCl (sodium chloride).

A floating Rattle Trap is a bait I throw a lot in shallow water... @the reel ess mentioned this above.

Kakashi

Fly n rind, FnF, Ned, drop shot, Whirlee B and Slider. Winter fishing is what got me into finesse fishing...

Welcome to the forum!

Something to think about... Its a sorta damned if you do damned if you dont. Its a known fact that applying a little heat will release air bubbles from the mix. Its also a known fact that applying heat will change the drying time of epoxy. There is also the exothermic reaction of the mix that effects the drying time...you will see this when you mix up finish in a smaller container and it gets hot. Sometimes I think people are doing things to shorten the pot life of the mix and air bubbles from the tread are getting caught.

No... One thing I forgot to add...and I think this has a lot to do with my success. I will put on two coats. The first coat will go on somewhat on the thin side. Once it cures you will be able to see the tops of some of the thread. The second coat will cover the rest. Doing it like this helps eliminating bubbles. IMO...the bubbles are coming from the tread...not the mix. By applying a thinner first coat...this will allow the air in the thread (and in the tunnel) to release. As for the second coat...there is no air to release.

Jeff...I have seen and read a hundred different people do it a hundred different ways. This is how I've done it for many years. Using FlexCoat High build: 1. Measure 3cc resin and 3cc hardener. 2. Mix by stirring for two minutes. (when finished...it has lots of bubbles) 3. Appy to thread...and that's it...put it on the dryer. I do it the same way on thread with or without color preserver. There have been occasions where I have put finish on a second rod (or third) and the mix had gotten a little viscus ...in those cases I will sometimes use a hair dryer. To me...the magic is in the longer pot life of the epoxy.

Congrats @TnRiver46

City!...That there is 100% bonified...KEEPER! Now...take my wife for example...I was tellin her all about an Arduino Sensitivity device I invented for measuring rod materials...etc...etc. An was thinking on doing a presentation at with it at a rod show. She said, "I dont know why you wanna do a talk on sensitivity. Your the most insensitive man I know!" I said, "Honey...you still mad at me about the trolling motor I bought you for Christmas?"

If after a while you think the Outback is just not cutting it...upgrade. In the short run..you can just up get some really nice slotted front rotors and sacrificial pads.

Welcome!

Try and include as much of the weight as you can.

Dale Hollow...19" The highlight of the day was driving up on a friend of mine and seeing him catch a 5lb smallie on a lure I made.

This is what you do when you store credit card information. You have the credit card number; you also have a fabricated key. You pass the credit card number and key into an encryption function, and it returns some long undecipherable string. You then store this string in the database. Now when someone hacks your database, they can't read the number (unless they also have the key). If the company need to access you card number, they will need to unencrypt it to see it. Like I said earlier...this is a visa mastercard regulation. Now...there are other ways to hack to obtain data. Someone could, theoretically hack into the place where they store source code and possibly get the encryption key. They could hack the original source files from the original credit card processor (this is not encrypted but is received over encrypted lines). And sometimes (and easier than a hack) someone may have gotten access to an email account where people would send data via email. A good rule to follow is to never send PII data and financial data over an email. If you have to...then encrypt it with something like protonmail .

Visa MasterCard regulation specifically state you must encrypt the credit card number....and most certainly NEVER store the CVV code.

You just like to troll.

When the guy in the back of the boat: 1. Keeps casting over your line. 2. Keeps casting (in opposite direction were moving) and getting hung up. 3. Keeps casting into the trees.

Occam's razor...

On first reading the OP...I was thinking of how the fisheries are managed here and that, as crowded as it is at times, we are only catching a very small percentage of the fish that exist. That being said...there are times on the lake when someone asks if I was catching any and I say "NO". Any one ever hook a fish and then open the bail when another boat goes by?

If I had to guess.... "a cut off the main lake". In southern speak...a cut is about a half acre or less. Off the main lake means its not in a creek but off the main river channel. And "dead center" means the deepest part of the cut...ie in the middle.