Fishing grass mats.

[Blue Raider Bob]

Looking for lure ideas to fish grassy flats. The areas I'm fishing on the Tennessee River Lake Nickajack are covered with different grasses that grow to the waters surface. These areas are too thick with vegetation to use anything that has hooks that hang, so It's strictly topwater. The problem is, I can't get a topwater bite with buzzbaits, and poppers and walking baits foul. The Bass are in there because it is a non-stop feeding frenzy chasing Shad. I did catch a keeper on a ToadZ weightless, but it was the only frog bite I got. I tried a weightless Fluke to no avail and my questions is....does anyone make a shad imitation that can be fished weedless across the grass that would get the attention of the marauding largies? Anyone use or would recommend a spoon, like a Johnson Silver Minnow? If so, do you use a trailer? One fish for two hours of chasing blowups beats working but I'm hungry for more.

thanks

[TnRiver46]

Johnson silver minnow is indeed good with a split tail spinnerbait trailer . Strike kind rage shad and popping perch are good. White frog works as a shad imitator. White trick worm with no weight can be effective 

[Mike L]

The first bait I throw in a “non-stop feeding frenzy chasing shad” situation regardless if it’s in grass or not is a white pearl Super Fluke with a nail in the back. 
 

I throw it along the edge of the ball. 
As soon as it hits the water I hit it hard to get it down and then kill it and let it fall doing the same all the way around. 
 

Now that said, in any emergent or topped out grass a T rigged Magnum UV Speed Worm with a unpegged 3/16 weight is always my first choice. 
A standard size Honey Candy Rage Cut R is 2nd. 
 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[Bankbeater]

Have you tried punching through it? 

[Swamp Girl]

Bob, I know you tried a fluke, but I've had some luck skittering a fluke over grass, retrieving it so fast that you might think a bass wouldn't have a chance to hit it. 

[casts_by_fly]

A silver minnow with a 3-4” grub as a trailer would do it. I use other spoons that are discontinued so I can’t recommend them here. One is still offered though.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Heddon_Moss_Boss_Spoon/descpage-HMBS.html?from=gpmax&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADkexy6wVhp0l4QEorAsi1H-BJ71-&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlsy5BhDeARIsABRc6ZumXxaYzGg9K8anB-lCgKqpN1MSfwB9oc8IjJfxIYPSifCtAx621zQaArwDEALw_wcB

[Swamp Girl]

10 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

A silver minnow with a 3-4” grub as a trailer would do it. I use other spoons that are discontinued so I can’t recommend them here. One is still offered though.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Heddon_Moss_Boss_Spoon/descpage-HMBS.html?from=gpmax&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADkexy6wVhp0l4QEorAsi1H-BJ71-&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlsy5BhDeARIsABRc6ZumXxaYzGg9K8anB-lCgKqpN1MSfwB9oc8IjJfxIYPSifCtAx621zQaArwDEALw_wcB

 

What does it feel like when a bass hits a Silver Minnow?

[casts_by_fly]

30 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

What does it feel like when a bass hits a Silver Minnow?

on a straight retrieve or bopping along the surface, usually pretty violent. If you’re letting it drop down into holes (you should), then sometimes violent and sometimes not. Think of it like a swim

jig and you won’t be far off. 

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

on a straight retrieve or bopping along the surface, usually pretty violent. If you’re letting it drop down into holes (you should), then sometimes violent and sometimes not. Think of it like a swim

jig and you won’t be far off. 

 

Thank you. I have some, but have yet to use them. Ever. I really should because I fish grass a lot and it often intimidates me. 

[Reel]

One lure that is ''very old school '' that I would use in such a situation is the Flapping Shad in white with a bit of red.  Use a nail weight if the grass is very thick.  Let fall into holes when there are some.

[Born 2 fish]

I would punch it if your not getting anything on top.

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Thank you. I have some, but have yet to use them. Ever. I really should because I fish grass a lot and it often intimidates me. 

 

yes you should.  Probably a lot more people should also.  it's an old lure but it works.  

[Pat Brown]

It may not be the lures but the way you're retrieving the lures that is presenting problems in this scenario.

 

A couple details on the mechanics of fishing emergent vegetation that have made it far less frustrating and far more productive over the past couple years -  when I'm casting around sparser vegetation this doesn't really apply but it sounds like you're fishing the thick stuff so here we go.

 

1.  Keep your rod tip up.  When I am working pads or grass I gotta keep the rod tip up.  It keeps the slack line from getting all tangled up in stuff.   It Spooks the fish less than line that's touching the water.  *Generally* I am fishing any bait I'm fishing in the scenario you're describing fairly rapidly across the surface of the pads.  This rod tip up retrieve greatly benefits keeping the bait on the top of the vegetation and in the strike zone AND keeps your line tight and in communion with your rod tip.

 

2. Get your boat situated.  There are very few things that will deter me faster in vegetation or around vegetation then my boat blowing all over the place and creating large u-shapes in my line that are wrapping around emergent stalks of vegetation.  I'm very unlikely to feel a bite, let alone be able to pick up the slack and set the hook on a fish that bites in this scenario and even if I did fighting the fish would be very difficult with the line wrapped around tons of vegetation from the get-go.  I have found that the best way to remedy this is to let my boat get into the vegetation somewhere where it is not going to move and then begin to fish for a while because I want my boat stationery and my line tight and straight so that when a fish eats or bites I can reel down and set the hook instantly with as little slack in the line as possible. 

 

3.  Make super long casts.  I find that when I'm fishing vegetation where I see a lot of activity around me, the big fish that bite are usually far far away from where I am in the vegetation.  I find that usually there are pieces of structure or cover within the vegetation, often near the banks where there could be creek channels or ditches with little stumps and things like that and a lot of times the bigger fish hang back there and I can catch those fish with slower retrieves on things like frogs.  If you can kind of identify these key pieces of cover or structure or whatever it may be that the fish May relate to, you could come back at another time when they're on a similar bite and approach the area and position your boat for optimum distance and likelihood of getting bites on this area that you've located. Things like this have paid off big time for me in the past. 

 

 

 

My favorite baits for these types of areas are definitely weightless plastics/buzz toads, hollow frogs,  punching rigs and little swimbaits on keel weighted hooks or big swim baits on keel weighted hooks sometimes with blades, sometimes without blades, you got to kind of play around with all that stuff.  Jigs can also be pretty good sometimes and I always toss a jig in there when it's happening just to see if it's a jig day.  Almost every bait, I work on a straight tight line basically on the surface of the pads or the vegetation sometimes quickly twitching the reel and stopping and sometimes with very slow or very fast steady retrieves with pauses or no pauses etc. All this stuff is just let the fish tell you. 

 

The weightless fluke and the speed worm are both incredibly good suggestions for this scenario because you can work them a ton of different ways and they both cast really well on braided line which is what you need to use for these techniques and this kind of area.   I find sometimes I have to work the fluke or the speed worm like you would imagine somebody working a Carolina rig in the winter time.  Sometimes I have to work the fluke or the speed worm the way that you see people fishing buzz baits or jerk baits or crank baits.  Sometimes I fish them more at targets and get bit the minute they hit the water - so they're very versatile in these types of areas for picking the areas apart without disturbing the fish - I recommend, while dissecting these sorts of areas, starting with lures like fluke/speed worm and then maybe trying other stuff in the areas they are biting best in.

[Blue Raider Bob]

16 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

Have you tried punching through it? 

No, its a thick solid mass of Millfoil and Eelgrass. It has paths through it that look like cattle trails through woods. I try oi fish the infrequent open areas but the bass are everywhere.

13 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Bob, I know you tried a fluke, but I've had some luck skittering a fluke over grass, retrieving it so fast that you might think a bass wouldn't have a chance to hit it. 

Tried it but will keep on trying. Just too many bass to leave the spot.

Thanks everyone! The monkey just got a big order!

[Glenn]

 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

I have found that the best way to remedy this is to let my boat get into the vegetation somewhere where it is not going to move and then begin to fish for a while because I want my boat stationery and my line tight and straight so that when a fish eats or bites I can reel down and set the hook instantly with as little slack in the line as possible. 

 

Again and again, Pat dispenses 24K advice. I'm also a fast reeler, rod tip-upper, long caster, and I too park my canoe on the weeds so it'll stick to that spot.

[Catt]

[river-rat]

 

What CATT said. I have used the Silver Minnow with a skirt trailer for many years when fishing heavy grass. Be sure to sharpen the hook before trying to use it. The plating process when the spoon is made makes the hook very dull. 

 

The only other thing I would try is fishing punching with a grass jig (like Oldham's Eye Max jig) or a tungsten slip sinker of 1 oz. or more if needed. Try punching the edges of the grass mats if you think the middle is too thick.

 

[Catt]

[Blue Raider Bob]

5 hours ago, Glenn said:

 

thanks! That was fun!

[Glenn]

Then you'll like this one too!

 

[Texas Flood]

I love how Glenn has a video for everything. 
 

 

“Has anyone ever used a 13 foot rod for fish 400 feet deep?”

 

Glenn: “I got just the video for you”

[Glenn]

Hmmmm.... you're giving me ideas.

 

[Texas Flood]

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Texas Flood said:

I love how Glenn has a video for everything

 

That's why he the Boss!