Hover without FFS?

[Choporoz]

Do you use the hover strolling rig jig thing without forward facing sonar?  I don't recall a lure/graph combo like this....ever.  Hover rig seems to be very much a ffs deal.  No doubt it should get bit if you get it near fish regardless of your sonar.  But without being able to watch your lure, are there simply better options?  Or do you toss a hover out there even w/o ffs?

 

Note, I'm not talking about just any finesse-y minnow-like presentation... I'm considering hover to be 90 degree line tie, light nail (or weighted hook) with small minnow plastic.

[TnRiver46]

Yep ! Moping and damiki is what they used to call it before FFS 

[JediAmoeba]

In clear water it works. I played with it a lot last year and caught a bunch blind casting 

[JackstrawIII]

9 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

I played with it a lot last year and caught a bunch blind casting

 

I played with it A BIT last year and caught NOTHING blind casting. 

[TnRiver46]

I also forgot to add the oldest hover rig, a tube jig 

[A-Jay]

Been around a while ~ 

A-Jay

[Bass Rutten]

Just to be clear the damiki rig is vertical whereas hover strolling is horizontal and is cast out and retrieved, very different technique-wise. I'm just dipping my toes into hover strolling it but I've been mid-strolling (very similar) for years with success from bank, boat, and canoe blind casting for bass and panfish with no electronics whatsoever. I see no reason hover strolling won't work just as well if not better, especially shallow. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

I’ve been strolling for years. Just how I usually fished those style of baits. Bottom strolling, cast out hit bottom, steady reel and twitch over bottom. Sometimes stopping it incase the bait rises.  Or they hit on the pause. I do this with my hair jigs as well. 

[padon]

it can be done without ffs. its been done for years by counting down to various depths or letting the lure pendulum through the strike zone.similar to the way you fish a light crappie jig.ffs makes you much more efficient but isnt totally neccesary.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

If you know the water, you definitely dont need FFS to tightline or hover rig.  Its more time consuming, but the effectiveness is undeniable. 

[mcipinkie]

We fished Slider heads down in Alabama over 50 years ago for spotted bass.  Not much different than a hover rig.  We caught the snot out of the big spots without FFS.  Heck ,we only had flashers.

 

FFS makes it easier, no question.  I wonder how many fish we could have caught on Logan Martin in the 1970's with it. 

[Munkin]

Used it a lot this year from the bank actually. Small 4" DS minnow with a 3/64oz Hover jighead. Half the hits were on the fall as it shimmied on the fall like a senko.

 

Allen

[TnRiver46]

A lot like crappie fishing, many days you have to hold the bait still to get a bite. Crappie love a little internally weighted tube 

[Reel]

Would this be called Hoover strolling ? Fishing for crappie from shore with fairly heavy braided line dressed with fly floatant and a 7 foot fluoro leader that sinks and a 1 1/2 inch tube with a 1/16 oz jig head with the 90 degree line tie almost in the middle of the body.  The leader sinks, the tubes hangs vertical in the middle of the water column and the knot serves as a bobber.

 

Like float and fly but without the float.

[Bankbeater]

We used to fish with a 3" or 4" fluke, I can't remember the size.  It was fished on a 1/16 or 1/8 round jighead. Cast it out from the bank let it sink to the bottom and start working it back.