Identifying Grass

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

So as my bass fishing fever grows a little more each day, I decided to do some research on my local pond/lagoon system I fish in NOLA City Park. The water here is full of vegetation, so I figured knowing exactly what was there, and more specifically what was in different areas would be a plus. I've identified 7 different types of vegetation, but I'm not sure about this last one. I'd appreciate any input. 

[Team9nine]

Looks a lot like coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum) to me. 

 

-T9

 

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

1 minute ago, Team9nine said:

Looks a lot like coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum) to me. 

 

-T9

 

That's what I was thinking too, but a few pics of milfoil I saw had me thinking it might be milfoil 

[NCbassraider]

Looks like a form of hydrilla.

[Team9nine]

Just now, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

That's what I was thinking too, but a few pics of milfoil I saw had me thinking it might be milfoil 

 

Definitely not milfoil IMO...at least not the invasive type. Still sticking w/coontail for now

[NCbassraider]

I've had a eurasian milfoil in my lake and if is much finer than his pic.  It grows exponentially and almost overtook the lake.

Whatever it is, it's an invasive species.

[RoLo]

Team9nine nailed it.

The Y-shaped fronds are a prominent field mark.

 

Roger

[IndianaFinesse]

Yep, definitely coontail.

 

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

Any of you guys have any experience fishing coontail? Just wondering if there's any techniques I haven't tried that I need to bust out

[IndianaFinesse]

12 minutes ago, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

Any of you guys have any experience fishing coontail? Just wondering if there's any techniques I haven't tried that I need to bust out

No different than fishing around other weeds, except coontail seems to be somewhat brittle and easier to break off with a quick pop of the rod. As such fishing a rattle trap or jerkbait right above them works well, occasionally jerking it threw them and popping them off erratically.

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

29 minutes ago, IndianaFinesse said:

No different than fishing around other weeds, except coontail seems to be somewhat brittle and easier to break off with a quick pop of the rod. As such fishing a rattle trap or jerkbait right above them works well, occasionally jerking it threw them and popping them off erratically.

Rattle traps are my go-to bait pretty much year round. Followed by a jig or T-rig on the edges of the grass 

["hamma"]

Looks like coontail to me as well,.also known as combomba weed,...if I spelled that right.

 As this stuff grows sunmerged, I will run a single bladed colorado spinnerbait over it, or a jerkbait with rattles, a topwater wont hurt either. I try to "call" bass out of it. When its reached the surface,.. I will frog fish the thick mats, and run a spinnerbait/jerkbait along its edges

 When bass bury themselves in it they seem to be alot tougher to catch, bait harbors in it well too, with all the room in the world to live their lives amungst the thick protected strands. At times a treble hooked lure will drive one nuts as this stuff will grow to some decent depths, and as you fish the "edge" there maybe more of it submerged that you cant see. A texas rigged worm is at home in this stuff, but the weeds "patch" can be huge, and texas rigged fishing can become a tedious, and exhausting task

 Its a good weed though (in my opinion) bass love it, lakes up here that have it are well known bass lakes, and can produce some good sized bass,. Again, when they arent buried in it, "dormaint"

  But,... when removal of the invasive specie of weed takes place, fishing will become tough, real tough. You'd think the opposite, less weed? easier fishing? but that usually doesnt take place. Its "almost" as if the fish are now homeless, and seek out whatever they can to relate to, apparently upset that they have been evicted, they become uncooperative. Either that, or the shiner bearing shore fisherman,  plucks out the fish before I get there,...lol

[kickerfish1]

Upon quick glance at the 1st pic with the darker green and the red decorative piece I was thinking part of a Christmas tree, but then I realized I am a few weeks out of season.

[RoLo]

Cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana), also known as fanwort is actually a different plant. One difference is that ‘coontail’ has no true root system, while fanwort is a rooted submergent.

Since the title of this thread is "Identifying Grass", let me share a quick way to distinguish between the 3 most common bottlebrush-shaped submergents:

 

 

Hydrilla

Hydrilla is debatably the favorite weed of largemouth bass. It has the general shape of bottlebrushes underwater with foliage that's hard and stiff. When hydrilla is removed from the lake it retains its shape totally, which is a very distinguishing feature. In addition, hydrilla has a raspy feel all its own.

 

Coontail

Coontail is cherished by northern pike, being second only to cabbage (pondweed). Coontail consists of firm, Y-shaped filaments with an overall shape resembling the tail of a coon (no surprise there). When coontail is removed from the lake it retains most its shape but not as rigidly as hydrilla.   Coontail has no true root system, just hold-tight filaments at the bottom of its stems. For this reason, coontail beds can be relocated by high winds or strong current, but they normally colonize in protected bays or amidst a companion plant like hydrilla,

water lilies, and so on 

 

Milfoil

Milfoil (actually 'Eurasian watermilfoil') is beloved by muskies. a plant with soft, wispy foliage that resembles down feathers. Milfoil has an overall shape that reminds me of Christmas garland. When removed from the lake, milfoil collapses completely, a real giveaway trait.

 

Roger

[Paul Roberts]

Also, you can see the little "teeth" on the leaves. Milfoil is smooth leaved, and much less dense.

[Catt]

[Paul Roberts]

["hamma"]

  Thanks for the clarification RoLo, I've been confusing them for years, I find alot of the fanwort here then, as they are rooted, and dont float away with wind or current. Bass sure do like it.

 I stand corrected

[Team9nine]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Triple Rattleback Jig ?

 

1 hour ago, Paul Roberts said:

 

Mango jig ?

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

Thanks everyone. I know it doesn't make a huge difference, but as I get more into bass fishing I find that every detail, even small things, can help when trying to locate fish. It's crazy... I put 100,000% more "study time" in when it comes to fishing versus when I was in school lol. My wife thinks I'm crazy bc I tend to do tons of research and I like to take notes 

[lonnie g]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 10:22 PM, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

Any of you guys have any experience fishing coontail? Just wondering if there's any techniques I haven't tried that I need to bust out

 it holds bass well. crank a red eyed shad close to it. or maybe a revo also used pop r in warmer weather.

[scaleface]

It can grow  thick in the lakes here but not deep .My three top lures for it are worms both weighted and unweighted  , spinnerbaits and buzzbaits .

[RoLo]

 

THE JIGLESS JIG

In the 'Florida Slop', my most weedless probe is what I call a 'jigless-jig'

The 'crawless-craw' is a Deps 4.5" Twin-Tail Grub (Very tough plastic)

The skirt is 'live rubber'

The Hook is a 5/0 grip-pin rebarb straight-shank

Dyn-o-mite 

 

Roger

 

[scbassin]

Here you go.

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/

[Paul Roberts]

The two major fishing weeds where I live are milfoil and coontail. Both hold fish but milfoil is easier to fish, being more brittle and less dense. Milfoil also needs a lot of light (more than coontail), so milfoil tends to die back underneath leaving space for bass to move and hunt. When water levels drop in summer the milfoil canopy collapses creating great mat fishing. During dark overcast summers, milfoil dies back and coontail takes over. Coontail is denser and can mat too, but often too densely IME.