Ryan Williams, a fly-fishing guide out of Oroville, Ca. was the first know winner of a major Bass tournament solely using a fly rod and the float-n-fly technique. The win occurred on January 8, 2021, on Lake Shasta competing against 178 other boats as descripted in the following link: https://www.bassfan.com/docktalk_article/21694/fly-angler-part-of-wwbt-winning-team
The float-n-fly technique has been around a long time with conventional gear and is said to have been perfected in the 80's in the southeast.
Although known mainly as a spotted bass tactic to many, it also can be a very successful tactic for targeting Largemouth bass. On January 23, 2026, Nick Wood fishing a BAM Pro/Am tournament at Lake Shasta caught a 12.23 # largemouth bass using the float-n-fly method, as descripted in this YouTube video of the tournament weigh in @ 1:13:55:
Most of the flies used by these tournament anglers are a jig type fly with either bucktail or marabou bodies. I recently posted in the "What is in your vice" section of this forum, a photo of 40 Bucktail jigs I tied for my grandnephew to use in the BAM Super 60 and BAM Pro/Am tournament trail. He did finish in the top 10 of the above-mentioned January, Lake Shasta tournament, but most of his quality fish were caught on a swimbait and not the float-n-fly.
The float-n-fly technique has been around a long time with conventional gear and is said to have been perfected in the 80's in the southeast.
Although known mainly as a spotted bass tactic to many, it also can be a very successful tactic for targeting Largemouth bass. On January 23, 2026, Nick Wood fishing a BAM Pro/Am tournament at Lake Shasta caught a 12.23 # largemouth bass using the float-n-fly method, as descripted in this YouTube video of the tournament weigh in @ 1:13:55:
Most of the flies used by these tournament anglers are a jig type fly with either bucktail or marabou bodies. I recently posted in the "What is in your vice" section of this forum, a photo of 40 Bucktail jigs I tied for my grandnephew to use in the BAM Super 60 and BAM Pro/Am tournament trail. He did finish in the top 10 of the above-mentioned January, Lake Shasta tournament, but most of his quality fish were caught on a swimbait and not the float-n-fly.
