Best Lure/Rig for heavy wood cover

[Firetiger17]

Hey,

 

I never really fished in heavy wood cover before because the fishing for my local species is very different. Caught all my Bass on Spinnerbaits and Crankbaits and Worms.

 

The cover consists mainly out of old, isolated, half- or completetly submerged trees with thick branches and big laydowns around rock bottom. 

 

Like here:

 

I want to use 20# AbrazX on my Avid MHF. The Bass here are not getting really big (8lb+ is huge!). 

 

So there is 3 Methods I seperated but I dont really know what to use/ which one has the best hookup ratio and the lowest snagging ratio in this type of Cover?

 

- Flippin Jig? Very simple but maybe too big profile, have my eyes on the Ike Mini flip Jig. 

 

- Texas Rig with EWG and bobber stop

 

- Texas Rig with flipping Hook snell-knotted and bobber stop

 

paired with beaver baits like Baby DBomb and the Berkley Pit Boss.

 

I plan on fishing lower weights first on the edges of the Cover and then get down in it with the bigger bullets.

Water temp will be around 68 to 77 degrees F. (20-25 deg C)

 

So how should I rig this up? 

 

 

[WRB]

Any good weedless jig will work like Siebert 3/8 to 1/2 oz brush jig. The weight doesn’t need to be heavy around submerged trees unless you are punching heavy vegetation. When the jig stops jiggle it to fall deeper or set the hook!

Your MH rod limits your power, 20 FC is very still line, 15 lb Big Game maybe a good choice.

I am not a fan of EWG worm hooks, prefer straight shank Owner 5103 for your application. Try both a pegged weight and sliding weight with T-rigged worms, creatures or craws.

Fish the outer branches and tight to the trunk, bass live standing trees with ranches.

Tom

[scaleface]

Any of the ones you mentioned are excellent choices . A lot of times I just rig   up whatever soft plastic I pull out of the bag first .  

[bigbassin']

If you're worried about a big jig profile but still want that look/action, a strike king bitsy flip is something you may want to check out.

 

As far as how to tackle it, the jig and t-rig will probably be the most effective and consistent methods.  If the fish are active a squarebill, spinnerbait, or topwater would all work as well.

[CroakHunter]

Arkie head jig, pegged Texas rig with straight shank hook, rage rig.

[Raul]

 

Been fishing it for over 30 years with lipless cranks, lipped cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, worms, grubs, jigs and swimbaits, actually it’s a lot easier to fish wood than vegetation ..... all you need is a reliable plug knocker.

[Catt]

8 hours ago, Raul said:

 

Been fishing it for over 30 years with lipless cranks, lipped cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, worms, grubs, jigs and swimbaits, actually it’s a lot easier to fish wood than vegetation ..... all you need is a reliable plug knocker.

 

Done! 

[Firetiger17]

Thank you for the advices!

18 hours ago, WRB said:

 

Your MH rod limits your power, 20 FC is very still line, 15 lb Big Game maybe a good choice.

What do you mean by that? I already thought about downsizing my Line to 17-18 lb FC because of the handling, I just worry about getting cut off by these nasty branches setting the hook. 

I heard a lot about flipping with this line, but I rather stick with FC on this setup. 

 

11 hours ago, Raul said:

 

Been fishing it for over 30 years with lipless cranks, lipped cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, worms, grubs, jigs and swimbaits, actually it’s a lot easier to fish wood than vegetation ..... all you need is a reliable plug knocker.

Haha I actually have one and this little lead bomb saved me lot of nerves and money already!

But I have never seen anyone using one on the water 

 

People were complaining about the Texas Snell Knot-straight shank combination in wood cover because of the hook getting out on the side when the bullet gets stuck under a branch and eventually pin the wood... No one experienced this before?

[Catt]

47 minutes ago, Firetiger17 said:

People were complaining about the Texas Snell Knot-straight shank combination in wood cover because of the hook getting out on the side when the bullet gets stuck under a branch and eventually pin the wood... No one experienced this before?

 

I fish a lot of brush, standing timber, & laydowns.

 

I do not peg anything & absolutely never Snell anything 

 

I mostly fish Berkley Big Game 15# because the has a high abrasion resistance.

[papajoe222]

If you want to present a jig with a faster fall rate, but with a small profile, trim the skirt on a 3/8oz. or 1/2oz. arkie head jig to the hook bend. You can attach any trailer you want to adjust the fall rate and trim the trailer back to just the action claws to keep the compact profile. 

[scaleface]

My home lake is full of standing timber . I seek out   trees that line a channel, or a road , or farm field or point  ... The simple three part Texas rig   lure , hook and sinker is my top choice . Spinnerbaits , squarebills and top waters esp. a buzzbait all have their place . The major difference between my area and the picture you posted is water clarity . Mine is dingier , thus I tend to fish lures with some chartreuse on them a lot. 

[WRB]

3 hours ago, Firetiger17 said:

Thank you for the advices!

What do you mean by that? I already thought about downsizing my Line to 17-18 lb FC because of the handling, I just worry about getting cut off by these nasty branches setting the hook. 

I heard a lot about flipping with this line, but I rather stick with FC on this setup. 

 

Haha I actually have one and this little lead bomb saved me lot of nerves and money already!

But I have never seen anyone using one on the water 

 

People were complaining about the Texas Snell Knot-straight shank combination in wood cover because of the hook getting out on the side when the bullet gets stuck under a branch and eventually pin the wood... No one experienced this before?

Stiff line.

A 4 lb bass can wrap your line around a branch if you don't know how to finesse it out of a tree. Most anglers tend to horse bass out of trees and that causes the bass to pull hard and dive deeper into cover. Control the bass with even steady pressure and it will swim up and out of the tree in an effort to jump and through the lure.

Tom

[countryboy65]

I fish tubes Texas rigged with a flipping hook for heavy cover situations in the spring.  They come through almost anything, just need a stiff rod for the hook set 

[junyer357]

In a tree like the OP posted, i throw most anything. Squarebills on outer limbs (with the plug knocker close at hand), spinnerbaits/chatterbaits a lil further in, then jigs, senkos, tex worms, and flipping baits as deep in as i can. 

I start casting on outer edges and work in to heart of it. 

[burrows]

Timber tiger 

[thinkingredneck]

I agree with Catt.  I fish some of the gnarliest stuff imaginable from  a kayak.  I try to go where bass boats can't.  Texas rig, Palomar knot, and I use braid 65#.  Or heavy mono.

[Firetiger17]

Okay, I will get me some nice Cover Jigs then, was thinking about the Dirty Jigs. 

The "Go To" and "Alabama Craw" colours look awesome and match the crawfish here pretty good:

 

 

But lets see I will also give the Texas Rig a try and fish some tubes.

Will spool some 17# Abrazx and take some of the big Game Line with me if that stuff is too OP. 

 

[Brad in Texas]

I'd recommend you at least take a look at some of the YouTube videos show *** jigs. They have a reputation of being able to pull through anything. 

 

That's a good point about hooking a bass and how they react. Some try to yank them out of heavy wood, ski them back to the boat, others let the bass decide its direction believing it will be up and out of the tree.

 

Brad

[Raul]

On 11/3/2018 at 10:40 AM, Catt said:

 

I fish a lot of brush, standing timber, & laydowns.

 

I do not peg anything & absolutely never Snell anything 

 

I mostly fish Berkley Big Game 15# because the has a high abrasion resistance.

Hmmm, I think I can fish that ....

 

my everyday lake used to be like that many years ago, now all that brush has gone, thank the Allmighty there are still willows and mesquite trees, those don’t rot easily.