So Yall Want To Learn Toledo Bend?

[Catt]

I'm not working the sparser outer edges located away from the mat or even the grass line itself. The focus of this technique is the outer 15 to 25 yards of the mat itself; in this area the grass is a little sparser, simply pitch or flip the jig in a near vertical presentation. The main objective is to keep the jig in contact with the bottom at all times, something most anglers fishing grass fail to do. When the jig stops falling many anglers believe they have reached bottom, but from an underwater view the jig has only settled on the thick base stems of the Hydrilla. Once the jig has penetrated all the way to the bottom it is easily seen by the bass located in the caves, tunnels, & caverns. Besides trying to locate bass you are trying to locate the caves, tunnels, & caverns because the bass will usually not swim through the matted Hydrilla. Yes bass will be found in the sparse outer edges and even along the grass line but their house/home is under the matted Hydrilla.

As for lures any weed less lure will produce but I prefer Oldham's Lures Trailer Hitch Jig, 3/4 oz Black/Blue, Gene Larew Salty Hawg Craws in 6 with 1 ½ cut off the tail. The reason being is a jig offers a larger profile and the craw worm is screwed onto the jig insuring it stays in place.

I've documented evidence showing this technique has won more tournaments and caught more Hawgs on Toledo Bend than any other technique.          

[shaneus]

awesome info catt!!! i know what i will be doing monday when i hit the water!

[Bearonthewater]

Great info Catt,

 

Funny you should post this information on pitching around the hydrilla mats.

 

Just recently Louisianasportsman.com had an instructional video posted from a series Greg Hackney has been doing.

The video takes place in the Housen area with Greg fishing the way he's best known for..............pitching mats with jigs & craws.

 

The concept is very similar to what you have described with Tommy Martin's findings and techniques.

In case anyone is interested, the link to the Hackney video is below:

It's funny, entertaining, and instructional.

 

http://www.louisianasportsman.com/sportsmantv/details.php?id=5380

 

Thanks again Catt.

As always, it's great to read about the legends, stories, and tips of the great Toledo Bend.

[Catt]

Bearonthewater, Tommy Martin's "Deep Grass Jigging" Video is shot mostly on the grass flat just south off the mouth of Hurricane!

[Bass_Fanatic]

Fished most of the day friday.  Caught over 40 fish, but most were small.  I really struggled to find fish besides the schoolers.  I fished anything from 15-35 ft. with and with out grass and couldnt find em.  Caught one a football jig, a few on topwater, and the rest on jerkbaits.   I punched deep grass for over an hour without a bite too.  I probably wont be back till September or so.

[shaneus]

im heading to the lake tonight, ready for some fishing its been too long, im putting in at six mile ill be in a white/red triton.......im also fishing tomorrow before i gotta work....will report when i get home about this "flipping"

[Cooyahn73]

Went yesterday, fished from daylight until 1130am! Fished Indain Mounds ended up with 13 nice fish! I dropped DD at the trolling motor! All fish were caught from 12-25 fow on football jig, c-rig or t-rig, big fish was hooked on t-rig 10" worm, blk/blu!  

[Catt]

Great report, I need to get over to the Mounds

[Bass_Fanatic]

Went yesterday, fished from daylight until 1130am! Fished Indain Mounds ended up with 13 nice fish! I dropped DD at the trolling motor! All fish were caught from 12-25 fow on football jig, c-rig or t-rig, big fish was hooked on t-rig 10" worm, blk/blu!  

Awesome!  Much better than I did.

[shaneus]

Went today caught a few, big one being 6.08 flippin grass with A big jig...... How do I post a picture?

[TBendBassin]

Are you using the mobile version of bass resource?

[Bass_Fanatic]

Went today caught a few, big one being 6.08 flippin grass with A big jig...... How do I post a picture?

NICE!!  I need to commit an entire day to flipping grass.  I do it alot, but if I dont get bit within an hour or so I go back to the trusty ol football jig or crank.

[shaneus]

yes for now i am, guess I'll have to wait to get to a computer, i wanted to post a picture of my first flippin fish

[TBendBassin]

On the mobile version just scroll all the way down and you will see a tab that says full version. Click on it and should be to figure out from there.

[shaneus]

my first flippin fish! i fished where hackney did no fish went to one spot i got lucky and found on my side imaging while idling through the stumps and pulled this guy off!

[shaneus]

that is also my toledo bend PB 6.08

[Cooyahn73]

that is also my toledo bend PB 6.08

Nice, congrats!!!!!

[Catt]

Texas Redneck Bubba Bass

[Catt]

Texas Redneck Bubba Bass

[shaneus]

FLIPPIN IS AWESOME i love punching mats just as much, when i hit that fish it peeled drag and it was all the way cranked down when he rolled on the surface i didnt know what to do i was so excited i figured out something new with yalls help, one boat had just left the area about 30 yards away, he stopped looked and turned around lol.......i was following a creek and saw one little patch of grass in 23 fow on my side imaging, stopped to fish it and caught him on like the second flip fished for another hour without another bite then i left and headed out.....i think this is exactly what yall are talking about fishing and flipping the isolated grass? correct me if im wrong? but as i went farther into the creek it was solid grass and so i just turned around because i figured i couldnt locate the fish because there was grass everywhere and none was isolated......im sure there were fish there but it would have taken a long time to find them, so i left and went and searched every creek on the north side of housen looking for the same thing......no more of these isolated patches....im going to try this on the main lake next time

[shaneus]

 i was using an oldhams jig in the same color hackney was using, with a green pumpkin trailer, i looked around for that jig he was using and found them on sale at another site for 2.99 a piece for the 1 1/2 ounce, the oldhams was 3/4 ounce and i had to work a little to get it to the bottom every time, so i want to try the 1.5 ounce see if it hits the bottom easier.....

[Bearonthewater]

Congrats on the new TB PB

Nice fish.

That's just how it's done....

Great report.

[Catt]

Shaneus, you are correct about fishing isolated patches of grass but do not be intimidated by areas of matted grass. When looking at matted grass think of it as an island & look for points, bays, areas with sparser grass, cuts/guts. Also keep in mind there are 2 "break lines" associated with a grass flat. The one you can easily see (the wall of the matted area) and the one farther out that can only be seen with your electronics.

More to come

[Catt]

When I approach a grass flat I'll start casting with a Texas Rig from the distance of a long cast feeling for non-visible grass. If I get bite I'll anchor and fan cast the area with both the Texas Rig and a Jig-N-Craw. Bass will cruse this outer "break line" searching fot prey giving the angler easy access.

Now on to the matt itself, as stated earlier I'll look for irregularities and target them with a Texas Rig and Jig-N-Craw.

Funny you should mention the coves on the "north" side of Housen', here's a freebie; I don't fish any of them except during pre-spawn and spawn. I'll fish Hurricane and skip all the way over to Bull and Ashmore.

Now with that being said there is a huge flat just west of the island in the mouth of Hurricane and it runs all the way to Ashmore.

[Bass_Fanatic]

Now with that being said there is a huge flat just west of the island in the mouth of Hurricane and it runs all the way to Ashmore.

Yea that flat is matted with grass right now, but you can see the creeks running through it.  Wouldnt be a bad place to start...