Muskgrass

[BassNub]

Okay, so I fish in a lake here in Michigan, and since the water is so clear the vegetation grows fast! Well I went out today and saw this vegetation which is known as, Muskgrass or Stonewart grass. Well this make's 5-12 FOW look like its 0-2ft deep only.

I'm jw is this grass consider cover?

Is it Fish able?

If so, how would you fish it? What is it like under this thick canopy of grass?

I'm just so confused, my usual spots are being over ran, and I'm clueless on how to deal with this  sort of vegetation. You can always go deeper but, so sort of structure to actually fish off of.

:-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :( :'(

[sodaksker]

I am not familiar with this type of grass but, I do fish water that is 6 to 15 feet deep with cabbage or coontail growing to 2-4 foot below the surface.  There are many ways to fish this water but, the key is finding the productive areas.  I will usually concentrate on the edges both deep and shallow.  I will be throwing anything from senko,jig,spinnerbait,lipless crank to cover the appropriate depth of the edge.  Any bait that has some sort of weedless presentation.  The areas I fish may be 10 to 20 acres bays of this type of water, and again the key is to locate the productive areas.  How do you find the productive areas? For me I concentrate on changes, whether it be change in weed type. bottom structure, depth any little change.  Try anything that looks different from the rest.  Also I will throw topwater early and late on this type of water.  Good luck.

[Paul Roberts]

I believe you are seeing Chara -a macro-algae. It doesn't need a soft bottom to grow on. Chara can grow pretty deep -deeper than you can see. Sonar helps sort things out.

I've read that crayfish will eat it and use it for cover, and I've caught fish in it -drop-shot with a bullet weight, or crankbaits over the top of it. It's tough stuff and if a bass is able to dive into it they can be tough to pull out.

But I do better in other 'weed' species. Chara doesn't seem to attract many bass-at least so far as I've found.

Regardless of vegetation type though, spend your time looking for shallow to mid-depth structure near deep water. You should find some fish to play with there. Fine tune such an area by looking for changes in vegetation, or substrate (boulders would be great).

[Lund Explorer]

I don't think that is what you are looking at.  Chara, Muskgrass or whatever name you want to call it doesn't grow that tall.

[Paul Roberts]

I don't think that is what you are looking at. Chara, Muskgrass or whatever name you want to call it doesn't grow that tall.

Yeah, I haven't seen it that tall either. But I've only seen it in NY and CO. Here it reaches about 3 feet high. And I've not seen it reaching the surface.

If it's Chara, it'll have a skunky odor when crushed (hence 'muskgrass')and tends to be gritty in texture (hence 'sandgrass').

Here's a pic:

[Lund Explorer]

Yeah Paul, that's the stuff I've seen.  Around here there's a few lakes with it, but it only grows a foot or so tall.

As far as fishing in this short junk, I usually rig a very light sinker or split shot about 30" up from the bait C-Rig style.  I don't really drag it, but the leader allows the bait to sit on top of the weeds were the fish can see it.

[BassNub]

All great tips here guys, and thanks for your advice. But still from what your description is, we're talking about 2 different kind of vegetation. Next time when I'm out, I'll try getting a picture for better explanation.

I pitched a jig to the vegetation, and the jig sank straight down like nothing was there to keep it up. My guess is this vegetation is more of a canopy. Which covers the top, and is open below, but not too sure yet either. I'll try getting some pictures though.

[Lund Explorer]

Sounds like a plan BassNub, as it does sound like we're all talking about different veggies here.

Here's to hoping that such an early reply from you this morning means you're getting ready to hit the lake today!  For me, its Chippewa Lake in just about an hour.

[BassNub]

Haha yea I was going to go out today but it was overcast so you wouldn't really see much, so I decided to stay in until there's a nice clear day first. But I'll try getting this picture.

[Lund Explorer]

Another beautiful summer day in Michigan!

A high of 63 up here, NNW wind driving a ticking rain and showers all day long. Gave me a good reason to start up the snow blower to make sure that it was ready to go. I think I'll get out the ice fishing gear today!

>

[BassNub]

haha tell me about it, i'll probably go prime the snow thrower sometime this week making sure that it's ready for this winter. I have a feeling with all this cool weather Winter is gona come early this year.