Structure/cover

[Catt]

This one always makes me scratch my head!

Someone will ask about punching "weeds" & they are given answers about punch rigs, tungsten weights, snelled knots, high dollar hooks, super lines, xyz rods, & 15:1 reels.

But the answer never contains the word structure!

I see em out on the lake wondering around aimlessly punching every glob of grass in hopes of making contact with a bass.

Those of us who are successful at punching grass know what structure lies beneath!

[corn-on-the-rob]

Some lakes are covered in weeds/good-looking cover and look "bassy" all over the place but there is a reason some weeds work and some don't, which likely comes down to structure. I am still learning my self but it makes sense.

[Don't Tell The Wife]

This one always makes me scratch my head!

Someone will ask about punching "weeds" & they are given answers about punch rigs, tungsten weights, snelled knots, high dollar hooks, super lines, xyz rods, & 15:1 reels.

But the answer never contains the word structure!

I see em out on the lake wondering around aimlessly punching every glob of grass in hopes of making contact with a bass.

Those of us who are successful at punching grass know what structure lies beneath!

I think this is why I usually hate lake with trees everywhere. I am taking the challenge and just got the spoon plugging book. Time to go read.....

[senile1]

Catt is correct that the best locations to find bass in a weedbed are dictated by the structure underneath, as well as differences in cover (i.e. lines where two types of weeds mix or meet, wood buried in a weedbed, etc.).  One reason anglers may be randomly fishing a weedbed is because they can't get up into the weeds to see what is underneath with their sonar.  And even the best maps that they would have studied before going on the lake won't show any depth change less than one foot.  Essentially, unless the angler knows the lake well, he or she is going to be unaware of what lies beneath the mats on top without some indicator of some kind.  In situations like this, I check the shoreline for washes, slight gullies, old tree or shrub lines, etc. that may possibly extend further out into the water beneath a weedbed.  I would also check the water out beyond the weedline for the same things to see if they continue to extend into the water beneath the mats.  And the most obvious things to check for are wood or different types of vegetation as well as points and pockets that are visible in the weedbed itself.

[A-Jay]

We hear it all the time -

 

Sometimes it's all about The Spot on The Spot . . . . . .

 

A-Jay

[Senko lover]

It's also good to have a weedbed  adjacent to deep water, I've heard. Don't fish 'em a lot personally.

[HoosierHawgs]

It's also good to have a weedbed adjacent to deep water, I've heard. Don't fish 'em a lot personally

.

"Deeper Water".. Is what a lot of the cover you fish should be adjacent to. It makes the bass feel safer/gives them an ambush point.. It I always relative.

[Paul Roberts]

Several things at work in heavy cover areas, vegetation in particular -why underlying structure and hard cover objects are so important in these situations:

 

-Depth is a component of bass habitat in general. This may or not play a major role in every location but at bare minimum it plays a seasonal role.

 

-Physical objects are attractive to bass.

 

-Breaks in cover allow bass to capture cryptic and elusive prey effectively.

[Bluebasser86]

Same thing goes for docks. Get on a lake like LOZ and guys try to just go down a bank pitching as many docks as they can when they could just hit a few and move on if they knew what structure was under them. 

[Paul Roberts]

Several things at work in dock situations -why underlying structure and mixed or breaks in cover are so important in these situations:

 

-Depth is a component of bass habitat in general. This may or not play a major role in every location but at bare minimum it plays a seasonal role.

 

-Physical objects are attractive to bass.

 

-Breaks in cover allow bass to capture cryptic and elusive prey effectively. I should add (and to my above post) that complexity/diversity of cover both attracts prey fish and provides edges/breaks bass can exploit.

[RB 77]

We hear it all the time -

 

Sometimes it's all about The Spot on The Spot . . . . . .

 

A-Jay

 

Yes Sir!

[gardnerjigman]

Same thing goes for docks. Get on a lake like LOZ and guys try to just go down a bank pitching as many docks as they can when they could just hit a few and move on if they knew what structure was under them.

Exactly. See it all the time when I'm there. Especially at BBB. I may only fish a handful of docks out of a stretch, simply because I would rather spend my time on the "high percentage" docks.