having trouble with a spot with heavy milfoil

[burce]

Posted this in another thread but no one replied after I did. I caught a couple of bass last summer at this spot on some watermellon red brush hogs, but haven't caught anything since, and the milfoil is really thick right now. It grew in heavy and there's more and it covers a larger area now

I tried throwing some spro fogs out (have a yellow one with ribbon type stuff on the back, and a black big foot with brown feet), but theyre light and I can't really hit the area I want. I feel like when I use a bullet weight for a trigged senko or brush hog I still collect milfoil and it's pretty annoying (this is what I try most)

Not sure how to handle this best. Never tried jigs, maybe I should (never have used them in general)

I REALLY feel like this is a hot spot for bass though. When I fished it the other day, a bass would splash in this open area but as I said I'm JUST out of reach and I don't want to add weight due to the milfoil I'd get caught up in..theres a lot of high grass in a big area, then it stops and theres a small opening with nothing (that I can't reach with a weightless worm or frog as I said), then the heavy milfoil up until where I am standing about 10ft off shore. I really want to conquer this spot and it's really frustrating because I don't know what to do

Any advice on this spot and how to fish it best with all the milfoil? I know some nice bass are in there (caught the one in my avi in the same spot last summer), and I need to get to them!! thanks everyone

[Catt]

First off if you want to become proficient at fishing grass you had better accept the fact that you will be picking grass of your lure. If picking grass off your lure is too difficult, too time consuming, or too annoying then I suggest you quit fishing grass.

When fishing extremely thick or matted vegetation it is very important you keep your presentation as near vertical as possible.

Ok Catt you keep saying this but we do not understand why!

It's simple geometry

I'm standing on the bank or on the deck of my boat, I make flip 15-20' from my feet while holding my rod at the 10:30-11:00 position and my lure is on the bottom.

Ok now picture in your mind the angle my line is making from my rod tip to my lure...got it?

At this near vertical angle I can ****** my lure off the bottom and clear the surface with relative ease and my lure will come cleanly through the grass.

The farther I flip/pitch/cast away from my feet the greater this angle becomes, now when I try to ****** my lure off the bottom I can no longer clear the surface in one motion. I now must now retrieve my lure back through an increasing amount of grass, then add to the amount of grass I must clean a extremely ticked off bass that does not want to see the surface. Get the picture?

This is why longer rods with plenty of back bone and heavy line is a must when fishing extremely thick or matted vegetation. When you set hook you want move that bass towards the surface as fast as possible or you'll likely end up with 20 lbs of grass and no bass.

[burce]

Ah, thanks Catt I see what you mean. When I head out to this spot tonight I'll keep that in mind.

Should I just stick to these weightless trigged senkos and brush hogs or start getting into jigs to punch through?

[Long Mike]

I would suggest a jig weighing at least one ounce.  Anything weighing less will probably not punch through.

[Catt]

Always attack grass beds by starting at the outside grass line & work inwards 

[burce]

I would suggest a jig weighing at least one ounce. Anything weighing less will probably not punch through.

Just picked up some football head jigs (1/4 oz), and some RT baby craws for trailers. will that be heavy enough? There is probably a lot of milfoil on the bottom so I'm afraid of getting caught up in it even though there is a weed guard on the jigs (never used them so not sure how well they work)

The baitmonkey got me and I picked up a new hula popper too

[burce]

Always attack grass beds by starting at the outside grass line & work inwards

It's difficult to do this, because I can't go along the grass line due to the milfoil. Here's a very skilled, detailed diagram of what the pond is like. The spray is the milfoil, the lines are the tall grass, and the x is me right off the bank. You can see the opening in the milfoil that I can't reach, which is right outside the grass

[garland7]

By the drawing, I would say flip or pitch the openings you can reach, as rec. using heavy enough tackle. That large opening, from where you are at on the bank, your going to have to deal with the grass. You may have some luck with some frog type baits there, but again - have to have heavy enough tackle, and will deal with the grass.

[burce]

Alright thanks for the tips everyone. Tried using some jigs tonight there, but theres just too much milfoil from top to bottom, I kept dragging tons of it in right from the get go.

As it got dark I started using the hula popper but no luck there either. I really feel like I should have gotten some bites but nothing...maybe it was just still too hot even though the sun was about down. Should I have used a black or dark color here? I have a white/green hula popper and a black zara spook, maybe I should've used the spook...

I talked to another fisherman in the area and he said he has a lot of success and it's a good area and that he uses weightless trigged worms, so I guess I'll stick with that for now.

I can't wait for a good spot to actually use these jigs though, they seem like fun.

Just have to keep from being discouraged  :-/

[Bankbeater]

I use a heavy rod with a fast tip and heavy line.

When the bait gets stuck in the grass, I take up the slack, and give it a quick short pull, sort of like setting the hook. Usually jigs and t-rigged plastics pull right through.

[burce]

tonight I'm going to try drop shotting the open area. I figure if theres milfoil on the bottom, the worm will be sitting about a foot above it in the hopefully clear area. let's hope it goes well

I went to dicks to grab some yo zuri hybrid 6# test but they didn't carry it or at least I couldnt find it  :-?