How to fish bottom baits

[BassSam5]

All of my lakes have weeds everywhere with no hard bottom and I try to fish jigs and t-rigs but they just get weeded up. Do you have any recommendations for how to fish these and more bottom baits?

[Largies4Life]

When it's really weedy like that, I tend to not make long casts, rather, short precise casts into and gaps or holes in the weeds and that has worked very well for me for those bottom contact baits. If there are any weed edges where the weeds break off, definitely target those spots as well. Heavier and thicker weed patches, I will get a much heavier bullet weight in the 1 oz. range usually and punch right through it. Also, try to go with more slender plastics on your t-rig and jigs as trailers so they can get through the weeds easier and get hung up less.

[gbassman519]

I have same prob. fish a worm or any bottom bait within 15 ft. of bank comes back with a ton of  stinky garlic smelling hydrilla on it! I try to keep jigs just above it when I can .

[craww]

It can be tough sledding a few things that help me:

 

-Nail weights. Insert them into the plastic instead of using a bullet sinker in the nose. An absolutely killer finesse rig when working a pocket in the thick stuff is a trick worm w/a nail in the tail...Beyond that if the water is not very deep or you’re not trying to get through a mat of surface slop- use heavier/denser plastics like Yamamoto with no additional weights.

 

-Cover the knot with your plastic. That little tag catches alot of stuff, especially algae. You may tear up a few more baits, fyi.

 

-With jigs, use models designed for grass- especially made w/a vertical line tie. I dont know why, but there’s a significant difference in horizontal vs vertical line ties in vegetation. Also Pay attention to how the heads are shaped, angle of the hook etc. People will tell you to grab heavy 3/4 oz jigs, but theres also a place for little 1/8 models that dont bury themselves into the hydrilla carpet as quickly.

[FryDog62]

Referring to the reply above - using jigs specifically designed for grass helps.  An obvious choice, but I use an All-Terrain Grassmaster jig.  Has the right line tie/angle.  For me if a standard variety jig comes back 3 out of 4 times full of slop, the Grassmaster jig comes back clean for me 2 times out of 4.  Not perfect, but best I’ve used.  That particular jig has better angle to the head/tie than I’ve found with any others.  Maybe worth a try...

[Timberwolf530]

In addition to what has already been mentioned, try weightless Texas rigged Senkos, tubes & drop shots. If you want moving baits, a swim Senko with a weighted hook or a swim jig usually come through weeds pretty good. 

[Catt]

Most anglers try forcing a t-rig/jig through grass which is all wrong, you gotta finesse em through grass!

 

When you feel the jig starting to load up in the grass...stop. Release pressure, pull up until you feel heaviness again but apply slightly more pressure, then release, continue until the jig breaks free. You want the motion to be similar to & as fast as working a shaky head, you're just applying more pressure.