Weedline how to

[Eric Hug]

Can someone break down the process they use to fish weedlines? Like graphing, marking, what to look for, best or favorite baits, and any other tidbits.

[Dens228]

For me.....

When working a weedline I also like looking for differences along the weedline such as a slight outcrop of the line, or an indent in the line, or a small batch where other vegetation is mixed in, or a break, or near a steeper drop off.  I'm sure you get what I'm saying. 

 

Currrently my favorite techniques are swimming a swim jig/chattebait/underspin along the edge of the weedline at various depths.  The other one that is working for me right now, especially in clear water is to cast a pitching jig along the weeds and drag it parallel to the weeds along the bottom. 

 

And a surface bait like a Whopper Plopper or wake bait along the edge of the weeds on the surface.  This has only really worked early morning before the sun breaks the trees or when it's cloudy/rainy. 

[FryDog62]

If I’m fishing alone or with a partner, I like to parallel the weedline.  Guy in front pitch an AT Grassmaster jig to the outer 1/3 or so of the weeds and partner in back throw a frog deeper in.  Alot of times I also throw a Neko just outside the weed edge to see what’s cruising the perimeter.  
 

As far as electronics go, I use Livescope to see down the weedline and it’s very good to show exactly where it starts/ends. That can help you know where to pinpoint throwing the Neko. 360 Imaging works great for this too.

[TnRiver46]

I like twitching a fluke along the milfoil edges near my house. And of course frog, oh the frog!

[FryDog62]

If the vegetation is a reed bed with a hard bottom below, I can’t pass without throwing a Cavitron buzzbait.  The squeakier the Buzzbait, the more violent the strikes!  Although the really big ones seem to suck it down like a toilet bowl flushing 

[r83srock]

I’ll second the grass jig. The all terrain is a good one, basically any oversized swim jig with a big hook. I usually throw 1/2-1oz and let it fall on semi slack line, so the jig falls straight down, making note of the time it takes for the jig to hit bottom. I feel the cabbage or whatever vegetation I’m in, I can feel the tick, tick , tick as the jig hits the leaves, I also know what bottom feels like. When the jig hits bottom, wait a few seconds. I may stroke the jig once or twice and then quickly reel it up for another short cast. If I feel something out of the ordinary, I set the hook, if I never feel bottom I set the hook. I want a jig just heavy enough to cleanly go through the vegetation. If it’s really clear water, I may up my weight, so the fish doesn’t get a good look at it, if the fish is spitting the jig real fast I may drop my weight some. Also never set on slack line. If it’s windy I may throw a big Spinnerbait instead. In the morning you might catch them on the inside of the edge, try a top water or swim jig here. Sometimes I will swim the big jig, but usually on the very edge. 

As far as what to look for on the edge. I look for anything that is different, the difference in vegetation, bottom type, a tight contour, a long tapering point, a bend or point in the weedline. Is the wind blowing into the weedline? Current? Wind creates current, try fishing the “current” side.  If you have a ton of different grass in your lake, they will often be on a specific grass from one day to the next. The fish are usually grouped up on the weedlines, keep fishing until you catch one, when you catch one just back off the spot a touch. You may find if the bite is a frenzy, and you miss one on a hook set, or lose one, the bite may shut off. Try a different bait at this point, like a Carolina rig or a big Texas rigged worm. Mark the spot, and come back later if all else fails.

[waymont]

This summer I've had great luck casting a whopper plopper about 3' out side the weedline and retrieving it parallel to the line. Doing the same with chatterbaits too. When working slower, I've been short casting a wacky worm with a jighead and cleaning up.

[Bankbeater]

All the vegetation is a little different. I look to see is it matted, submerged, just off of the bottom, thick, or sparse. After I see what the weeds look like I start fishing the water column to see what the bass are doing. Are they coming out of the weeds after prey, are they waiting until the prey comes close to the weeds?

i use the same baits I fish with in water without vegetation. Topwaters, shallow crankbaits, and plastics or a jig on the bottom. 

[Eric Hug]

13 hours ago, Dens228 said:

For me.....

When working a weedline I also like looking for differences along the weedline such as a slight outcrop of the line, or an indent in the line, or a small batch where other vegetation is mixed in, or a break, or near a steeper drop off.  I'm sure you get what I'm saying.

Assuming all of the weedline is submerged, how do you determine where these "changes" are?

 

3 hours ago, r83srock said:

As far as what to look for on the edge. I look for anything that is different, the difference in vegetation, bottom type, a tight contour, a long tapering point, a bend or point in the weedline. Is the wind blowing into the weedline? Current?

same question here

[Dens228]

2 minutes ago, Eric Hug said:

Assuming all of the weedline is submerged, how do you determine where these "changes" are?

 

same question here

My Garmin.

 

[Eric Hug]

3 minutes ago, Dens228 said:

My Garmin.

 

Very helpful....

[Dens228]

16 minutes ago, Eric Hug said:

Very helpful....

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. Seriously, I upped my electronics this year and my success has gone up quite a bit.  I'm able to see things I would have passed right by, or I would spend hours working a long weedline or drop off where now I can concentrate on the best spots along the weedline.  Without the Garmin it would be difficult.  Especially on new water. 

 

[Eric Hug]

3 minutes ago, Dens228 said:

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. Seriously, I upped my electronics this year and my success has gone up quite a bit.  I'm able to see things I would have passed right by, or I would spend hours working a long weedline or drop off where now I can concentrate on the best spots along the weedline.  Without the Garmin it would be difficult.  Especially on new water. 

 

So, how? Dropping points along the whole line? Just the points? Working it on spot lock from 60 ft out? What do you do with your electronics?

[Dens228]

I have side imaging so I can literally see the line out to the side including distance as I parallel it. I'm in a kayak so I can get pretty close or I can see what I'm looking for, paddle past, turn around and cast parallel to my target and reel it past.  The beauty of reeling along the weedline is you can cover a lot of weedline with a cast.   I usually stay about 10-20 feet off the weeds.

 

 

Last summer me and a buddy we in our yaks fishing a new lake (to us) and it was owning us. I was paddling across the lake and almost in the middle when by pure accident I came across a thick row of tall weeds in 12 feet of water that stopped about 3 feet below the surface.  Without electronics I would have never known they were there.  I worked along the line with a crankbait and started catching bass.  My buddy didn't have electronics so he followed a distance behind and caught them too. 

 

[r83srock]

So I will look at Navionics for example, I’ll look for main lake points if the lake has them and start there. I will idle along, using my electronics to determine where the weeds start. In my case 10-12 feet on my home lake, although some areas the weeds don’t grow any deeper than 8. Some lakes down south will have hydrilla in 25 feet. If grass can grow that deep, bass can live that deep. Idling along the edge, I might see where the weeds stop, and then start again. There could be a bunch of reasons for this, but I will mark that spot. Maybe there is a rock pile there, or hard bottom. The point is the spot, but this area is what I call the spot on a spot. Maybe the weedline is non existent, but while idling you notice a clump on your graph. That’s a spot you want to fish. If you do not have electronics, get navionics on your phone, or a good topo map. A Carolina rig and a big crankbait make an excellent depth finder as well.

[Catt]

One of many ?

 

 

[Jleebesaw]

It depends on many factors, just like everything with fishing. But ive gathered that you are asking about submerged weeds not surface weeds.

     I just zig zag across it with DI on putting a waypoint every time i cross over the edge where the weeds stop. This gives me a line to follow on my map. Then i will follow that line while watching Si and DI looking for any additional cover. Weedlines themselves are cover but if there is a rock, brushpile, a hole or hump, anything really, i will mark that with a waypoint as well. Its that simple. Now you have the weedline graphed out and you can fish it. As far as fishing it goes, there are a million tactics that you can use.

    If its not windy, i like t-rigs or dropshot. Fish it parallel with dropshot. Just keep dragging it along the edge. Texas rig i will throw it just into the weedline and work it out to deeper water. Thats where the rocks or additional cover comes in. Ill toss t-tigs at specific targets. 

     If its windy i like crankbaits. Either fished parallel to the line or from shallower to deeper. I use lipless cranks a lot around weedlines if its windy. You can fish them deep, shallow, fast, slow,  whatever you think will work. All that said, remember that you can use any d**n lure you want. Putting it in the right place is the important thing.

   Also, as far as graphing it goes. This is basically how you graph any offshore structure as well as points. Just rough it out with waypoints and then follow your waypoints to get a closer look.

[Eric Hug]

2 hours ago, Jleebesaw said:

It depends on many factors, just like everything with fishing. But ive gathered that you are asking about submerged weeds not surface weeds.

     I just zig zag across it with DI on putting a waypoint every time i cross over the edge where the weeds stop. This gives me a line to follow on my map. Then i will follow that line while watching Si and DI looking for any additional cover. Weedlines themselves are cover but if there is a rock, brushpile, a hole or hump, anything really, i will mark that with a waypoint as well. Its that simple. Now you have the weedline graphed out and you can fish it. As far as fishing it goes, there are a million tactics that you can use.

    If its not windy, i like t-rigs or dropshot. Fish it parallel with dropshot. Just keep dragging it along the edge. Texas rig i will throw it just into the weedline and work it out to deeper water. Thats where the rocks or additional cover comes in. Ill toss t-tigs at specific targets. 

     If its windy i like crankbaits. Either fished parallel to the line or from shallower to deeper. I use lipless cranks a lot around weedlines if its windy. You can fish them deep, shallow, fast, slow,  whatever you think will work. All that said, remember that you can use any d**n lure you want. Putting it in the right place is the important thing.

   Also, as far as graphing it goes. This is basically how you graph any offshore structure as well as points. Just rough it out with waypoints and then follow your waypoints to get a closer look.

THIS is awesome! Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Ogandrews]

In general I will mark out where the outer and inner edge is with side imaging and make a waypoint map for myself to fish. Main lures are a heavy wire swim jig, Texas rigged dropshot on heavier line and a baitcaster, Texas rigged weightless senko of course, frog of course, rat or wake bait on the outside, punch rig on the fringes and any sparse spots in the weeds.

 

In my fisheries there are usually much bigger predators than bass so most will be on the inner edge. I will very consistently find the biggest fish in that weed patch in the open water right outside of the outer edge, I think that this is because they aren’t as likely to get eaten by a pike or musky once they get past 4-5lbs although they easily still could be by a big one. Don’t overlook the open water near it, especially on a point or turn in the weed bed.