Hydrilla

[LrgmouthShad]

Hey y’all,

 

Recently started fishing a hydrilla lake. It is not yet heavily matted, but grows out very deep. In some place out to 19ft. The water is very clear. I would say about 7-8ft visibility. 
 

I am asking for tips on fishing hydrilla. What to look for. This grass is new to me, but I love fishing it. I can pull and rip through it cleanly. I’ve been concentrating on the grasslines, but I also want to know what to look for in the shallower, thicker hydrilla. I believe there are a lot of fish that hide in the thick stuff during the day and then come out to the edges during darker periods. 

[TnRiver46]

I don’t suppose I’ve ever laid eyes on hydrilla, maybe in FLA. 
 

one of my buddies would say “throw a spinner blade thru it…….”

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t suppose I’ve ever laid eyes on hydrilla, maybe in FLA. 
 

one of my buddies would say “throw a spinner blade thru it…….”

They’ve been turning their noses up at my spinnerbaits and I’m triggered

 

I want to keep this focused on what to look for in the grass, not on techniques

[Catt]

Fish the structure not the grass!

[LrgmouthShad]

12 minutes ago, Catt said:

Fish the structure not the grass!

Never saw that coming ?

 

Seriously, thank you

[Zcoker]

It’s everywhere down here in a south Florida. I get some nice strikes fishing the edges, running a bait parallel. When it gets topped out, the deeper holes explode when running a topwater bait over them. Can also punch the thicker sections because there’s underwater caves and tunnels throughout the matts. That’s probably my best tip about hydrilla: it can appear thick up top and unfishable which causes many to pass it up. In actuality, the hydrilla has many open caverns and tunnels underwater in which bass thrive in. That’s why I always recommend no less than 50 pound braid when fishing it. The heavy braid helps saw the fish out. Light line just gonna snap. Some of my bigger fish are caught in hydrilla (8 pounds and up) down here in my neck of the woods. 

[Darth-Baiter]

we say, "find the grass, find the bass."

 

since it is clear (water) send a tex rig into the pockets?   hydrilla fans out as it goes up.  there are openings underneath, and since bass cant wear sunglasses, they like the shade.  

[Mike L]

Now you’re talking! ☺️

If it’s thick enough you’re gonna have to punch through it.
It’s it matted up tight start with a pegged 3/4 weight and go up from there. 
Don’t be surprised if you end up with a 1 or 1 1/2 oz. 

If it’s not too matted you can try fishing it weightless, but use a  plastic of your choice with not too many long appendages to lessen the chances of them hanging up. 

 

Regardless, use a minimum 50# braid. 
On mine I use 80# down here, but 65# is most common and probably be enough. 

 

You don’t need to make bomb casts, just pitch it in and be ready once it breaks though. 
You can probe the outer edges only going back a few feet at a time as you work your way out.  
If no hits give it a shake, hop a few times pull it out and do it again all the way back. 
If you see any open holes or thinning areas hit those first. 
 

Good Luck

Best way to fish for Bass

 

 

 

 

Mike 
 

[Chris Catignani]

Dont shy away from fishing a jerk bait over the top of it.

[Darth-Baiter]

10 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

Dont shy away from fishing a jerk bait over the top of it.

i do this, but a square bill crank.  something you can rip thru the tips.  

 

this happened once to me, and i have been chasing the thrill ever since.  i slow cranked a MegaBass Freestyle Magdraft.  it was coming thru the upper portion SEXY-LIKE(!).  the bass that slammed it was angry!!  it made me scream in joy.    hasnt happend again.  

[Catt]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Never saw that coming ?

 

Seriously, thank you

 

Probably the biggest mistake anglers make is not fishing the structure under the grass. 

 

Structure is the cake...grass is the icing!

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

 

41 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Probably the biggest mistake anglers make is not fishing the structure under the grass. 

 

Structure is the cake...grass is the icing!

 

 

You know, I gotta say. For me, and the way I like to fish, cover and bottom composition is the cake, and structure is the icing. That still puts my focus on cover on structure. Just slightly different priorities

 

Why do I feel this way? Because people still catch the crap outta em fishing grass with no structure 

[Darth-Baiter]

I kinda think (right or wrong) that grass is a type of structure.   Just me, the rookie. 

[LrgmouthShad]

3 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I kinda think (right or wrong) that grass is a type of structure.   Just me, the rookie. 

I follow what you’re saying

 

Varying height of the grass, perhaps? 

[Darth-Baiter]

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I follow what you’re saying

 

Varying height of the grass, perhaps? 

I’ve fished lakes with bottoms like swimming pools.  The fish will nestle next to a sunken bottle.  Or shopping cart. 
 

A fluff of hydrilla would be luxurious!    A soft structure 

[Captain Phil]

Wherever there is hydrilla, there are fish.   Before it was released into our waterways, hydrilla was placed in pet fish tanks as prime habitat.  That said, hydrilla can cover vast areas of water.  This means you have to find the fish in the hydrilla.  Some have suggested fishing structure in the hydrilla.  That is a good plan if you have hard structure.  Not going to help you much in a shallow dishpan lake like we have here in Florida.  Hydrilla itself can create it's own structure.  Edges and holes are places that bass can use as ambush points.  Lakes with a lot of hydrilla are normally clear.  This makes top water a great choice. Be sure to use heavy tackle as your bass will probably come in the boat covered in a bushel of grass.  Punching or Flipping is a great way to find bass in hydrilla.  You don't need extra heavy weights if you look for holes in the grass.   The sunlight streaming down those holes positions the bass around them.  If you are lucky enough fish a lake with enough clear water over the hydrilla, a Rattle Trap will work well.

[Catt]

19 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

bottom composition

 

Structure ?

 

Structure isn't necessarily humps, ridges, dropoffs, channels.

 

[LrgmouthShad]

6 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Structure ?

 

Structure isn't necessarily humps, ridges, dropoffs, channels.

 

Well I didn’t know that that is considered structure. Learned something new today

[Jar11591]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

one of my buddies would say “throw a spinner blade thru it…….”

I am honored you consider me one of your buddies 

[Mobasser]

I'll agree with Catt on this. It's what's below the hydrilla that counts.

[Catt]

9 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Well I didn’t know that that is considered structure. Learned something new today

 

If there is edges & holes, what ya think cause that?

 

Depth changes or bottom composition changes. 

 

If there is various types of aquatic vegetation you can learn the bottom composition because some grow on different bottom composition. 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

If there is edges & holes, what ya think cause that?

 

Depth changes or bottom composition changes. 

 

If there is various types of aquatic vegetation you can learn the bottom composition because some grow on different bottom composition. 

So do you know what bottom composition/hardness best facilitates hydrilla growth? 

[Darth-Baiter]

38 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

Wherever there is hydrilla, there are fish.   Before it was released into our waterways, hydrilla was placed in pet fish tanks as prime habitat.  That said, hydrilla can cover vast areas of water.  This means you have to find the fish in the hydrilla.  Some have suggested fishing structure in the hydrilla.  That is a good plan if you have hard structure.  Not going to help you much in a shallow dishpan lake like we have here in Florida.  Hydrilla itself can create it's own structure.  Edges and holes are places that bass can use as ambush points.  Lakes with a lot of hydrilla are normally clear.  This makes top water a great choice. Be sure to use heavy tackle as your bass will probably come in the boat covered in a bushel of grass.  Punching or Flipping is a great way to find bass in hydrilla.  You don't need extra heavy weights if you look for holes in the grass.   The sunlight streaming down those holes positions the bass around them.  If you are lucky enough fish a lake with enough clear water over the hydrilla, a Rattle Trap will work well.

it was released on purpose?  all our lakes require boats to be clean to stop the spread.  (very lukewarm effort)

 

i have a special negative reaction to invasive species.  i dug Bamboo out of my newly purchase house lot for two years.  it was no joke, and i am very aware of any "pandora's box" type of stuff i could potentially plant in my yard.  

[Catt]

24 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

So do you know what bottom composition/hardness best facilitates hydrilla growth? 

 

It can grow in almost any freshwater system including springs, lakes, marshes, ditches, rivers and tidal zones. Hydrilla can grow in water as shallow as a few inches and up to 20 feet deep. It can grow in as little as 1% of full sunlight University of Florida 

https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/hydrilla-verticillata/#:~:text=It can grow in almost,as 1% of full sunlight.

 

Being such a hardy plant you need to research data put out by your state Wildlife & Fisheries.

[Captain Phil]

16 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

it was released on purpose?  all our lakes require boats to be clean to stop the spread.  (very lukewarm effort)

 No one knows how or when it was released. They suspect someone dumped a fish tank and it took off from there.  I don't remember hydrilla being a problem in the sixties. By the mid eighties, it became a serious issue here in Florida.  Invasive species is a term used to describe living things that are not native to an area.  By now, hydrilla is native to Florida.  Scorched Earth hydrilla policies cause more damage than they fix.   Hydrilla can rejuvenate an aging fishery.  This has happened all over the country.  However, it must be managed.  This takes tax payer money, which is the real issue.