Thanks for the tips, I'll be fishing the weekend of Dec 7/8 (since it's my birthday) - I may not get out before then. If you are going out that weekend and need a backseat let me know.....

We fish a 16th oz craft-hair jig about 10 feet below the floater.  But you don't drift, you fish pretty hard, working the trolling motor until you locate fish.  You also work it a specific way to immitate a wounded baitfish, twitching, reeling, and casting again.   A long rod helps a lot - 8-10'.  It's a a lot like fly fishing.  My dad said there is an article in this month's BassMaster about it, but I haven't seen it yet. 

It works well in the deep, clear lakes of KY and TN, that's why I thought it might work in WA.

I'll be ready to fish next weekend!

Bryan

If you mean running a white maribou jig about 5-6ft below a bobber and drifting it around.... yup, tried it in Sept and Oct in three different lakes and got only one smallie (2lbs) and several Perch!! I was drifting it over 25ft of water at the time in all cases, didn't seem to be a great winner but I still carry a few in my tackle box in case all else fails.

I may well be using it wrong, so any tips would be appreciated.

Look forward to fishing with you when you get here.

Float-n-fly is a technique we use in the midwest and southeast, primarily for smallmouth in the winter months.  The crappier the weather, the better!  It seems like this method would work well all year in the Northwest.  I am no expert, but it's pretty simple as long as you've got a light action 7'+ spinning outfit.   Has anyone done it?