Hydrilla/Millfoil

[weknowhowtolive]

So I'm pretty new to fishing these kids of dense cover. I read a lot about people fishing jigs and other "weedless" stuff through hydrilla but while in TX, I was fishing heavy cover and nothing weedless seemed to really be weedless. It seemed like no matter what I did I was pulling gunk off my bait or lure every single cast. Is this normal?

[fishinfiend]

Your experience has been the same as mine. What I like to do is to find "holes" is the grass beds where the grass is not as thick and flip into it and bring it back through. It may be a pain in the put to pick that crud of your line and lure but I promise the reward will be worth it!   8-)

[weknowhowtolive]

Yeah I did that, and I didnt really mind picking the weeds off but I worry that if I'm flipping into some weeds and its dragging them down with it, its not going to look very realistic moving around with half a pound of green stuff around it. One dink I caught had more weeds wrapped around it by the time I got it out than there was fish

[jiggerpole]

I like to use baits that allow me to fish the edges (Weed Line) or flip in the holes or work the top of the matts with a rat, frog or trick worm. Anything that I can get down to where I think the Bass are holding or will explode on. Yes it is sometimes a pain and you need more patience than I have but pulling up a 5 pounder with 10 pounds of weeds is worth it.

[Catt]

Keep it vertical is the key; Flip or Pitch close to the boat  

[fishfordollars]

I am constantly pulling weeds off my lure. It seems that it is every cast. That's part of it. Don't let it get to you. And as Catt said fish vertical as much as you can. It really helps.

[weknowhowtolive]

ALright thanks guys!

Offtopic, catt and fishfordollars, did either of you get hit by those huge wind gusts last week and did you have any luck at all?

[Catt]

We are still having days with sustained winds of 20-30 mph & gusting; another reason to night fish is the wind dies at dusk.

Simple put you are going to pick weeds it is part of the game so get over it; I have a friend who can't stand to pick weeds, loose tackle to brush & trees so he fishes open water with no cover. He wonders why he catches only 6-10 bass & bream!

[gatrboy53]

as you become accustomed to fishin the knarrly stuff you'll have fewer and fewer issues w/ stuff clingin to your baits.once you make friends w/ the stuff it will treat you better and you'll ever hardly notice it. now... the stuff we call snot grass is another story. after many yrs. me and snot grass have yet to become friends and he treats me very bad.i dont like snot grass and its apparent it dont like me!

[Ellesar]

One of the lakes I fish regularly has lots of grass. I've found that I catch the most fish in the holes in the grass (as mentioned above). But I also find that if I don't get a bite while the lure is in the hole, I will pick up grass in the thicker areas the bait has to move through in order to back to the boat. So, I tend to target the far side of these holes and bring the bait through it, and its not got grass on it at that point. But by the time I get it back to the boat it usually has a bit.

I felt the same way you did at first, "weedless" hardly seemed "weedless". I guess its like a lot of things that claim to be "waterproof" or "fat free"!

[senile1]

Keep it vertical is the key; Flip or Pitch close to the boat  

And for extremely thick mats, use a compact lure without appendages sticking out very far from its body.  Once its down under the mat, you can  wiggle it, jerk it up to the bottom of the mat, etc.  If you don't get a bite and you retrieve it to pitch to another spot, you will be cleaning off your weight or jighead after just about every retrieve, unless you pitched to a hole.  This type of fishing requires patience when you're not getting bit, but once you find one there'll generally be other fish in the nearby vicinity.  

[fishfordollars]

Yes I did. The main lake was terrible. It pretty much did in my grass fishing out in the lake. I stayed out of it as much as possible. The runs from place to place were rough and wet. Caught lots of small bass. Largest for my trip was 2.88 and I was glad to get it.

[.dsaavedra.]

hyrdilla and millfoil are what i would call "structured vegetation". if your lure is rigged properly, it will come thru them with no problem. my t-rigged worms never catch any hydrilla/millfoil.

what they do catch is that unstructured slimy snot grass. i dont even know what its called but i despise it with a passion. its very slimy and its a pale green color and no matter how weedless you rig your lure it will always stick to it and when you go to pull it off your lure its just a slimy glob and it sticks to everything.

anyone know that stuff im talking about?

[senile1]

I know of the grass of which you speak.    Most of the hydrilla, milfoil, and coontail that I fish also has the green slimy stuff.  If I'm going to fish vegetation I'm generally fishing the green slime as well.

[fishfordollars]

We refer to it as Gorilla snot. Not sure what the correct name is.

[Catt]

We refer to it as Gorilla snot. Not sure what the correct name is.

 That's what we call it

[JShrock07]

Yah I have to agree with ya'll. The Snot grass is annoying and I hate it too. However, It is a great place that bass love to hide. Grass will always hold bass. I fish the tidal Potomac and if you don't fish the grass you wont catch anything and thats a fact!!!! Dont give up. I am new to the whole concept of grass fishing too. I was told when I first started fishing grass to fish vertically and always use some type of scent. Not only will the scent attract the bas but it will also help the bait slide thru the grass without getting hung up. Try it and you wont be disappointed!!!

Good Luck to you in your new quest!!!