Many lunker bass grow fat and die of old age in parts of Lake Tohopekaliga, one of the lakes in the legendary Kissimmee Chain, without ever seeing lures because thick grass mats prevent access.
While most anglers fish the edges, anglers who want big bass must go into their lairs where others would not think of fishing. To fish matted grass effectively, anglers must either pull lures over the top or punch through the salad.
“In this thick, matted grass, nothing works better than a weightless soft-plastic bait rigged Texas-style,” said Terry Segraves, a pro from Kissimmee, Fla. “I like to use a Yum Houdini Shad. I work it over the top of the grass just like a top-water bait.”
Unweighted, floating plastic jerkbaits, frogs, lizards, shads, worms and similar baits combine attributes of fast top-water action along with the fish-finding abilities of buzzbaits and the weedless enticement of Texas-rigged soft plastics, Segraves said. They slither over matted grass like live prey where other baits simply could not move. Light and lifelike, these soft-plastic baits look, feel and act like natural prey, creating silhouettes bass cannot resist. Often, monster bucketmouths erupt through vegetation to blast one of these temptations.
Anglers can fish these floating soft plastics with two basic methods. Use either a steady retrieve like a buzzbait or the “stop-sink-go” approach similar to working spinnerbaits through patchy weeds.
For a steady retrieve, toss a soft-plastic bait across thickly matted cover. Hold the rod tip high and crank the reel slowly so that the bait skitters across the surface or just beneath it in a continuous motion. In matted cover, use streamlined selections that easily slice through weeds. Curly tails occasionally wrap around pad stems or leaves.
In broken cover, try the stop, sink and go approach. Cast to a likely spot and let it remain motionless a moment. Depending upon hook size and cover thickness, it might start to sink slowly. Pull it a couple of feet and let it rest again. When crossing pockets, let it sink and twitch before “crawling” it over pads or thick grass. On pads, let it sit briefly. After a few moments, ease it off the edge and let it sink into the pocket. After it sinks a foot or two, pull it back up and try again in the next pocket. Bass in pockets often strike on the fall.
Light, floating plastics attract bass, but people often cannot cast them long distances. On a windy day, forget it. Some people add a tiny split-shot to the line about 12 inches above the bait to form a modified Carolina rig.
In many places, especially the bayou country of the Louisiana Delta, water hyacinths congeal into almost solid rafts. Sometimes, mats grow so thick that boats cannot push through them. Anglers often avoid such places, believing they cannot successfully fish them. Safe from fishermen and airborne predators, bass may never see lures under these living “security blankets.”
Often, these mats cut off sunlight, cooling the water and killing any submerged vegetation beneath them. While rafts might engulf the surface, water under the mats usually remains clear and open. In steaming Southern summers, bass frequently congregate under these shady, well-oxygenated canopies. Anglers just need to punch through the mats to reach fish lurking below.
“If grass is matted or canopied, bass love to sit under the cover,” said Stratos pro Larry Nixon, a tournament veteran from Bee Branch, Ark. “A big jig punches through that roof, but it tends to catch on grass. When pulling it out, it might mess up a big section. I like a Texas-rigged worm with a small bullet weight that slips easily through cover and doesn’t mess anything up or scare fish.”
Others prefer heavy jigs tipped with pork rinds, plastic crawworms or creature baits to smash through grassy cover with pinpoint accuracy at short range. Silently approach cover until only about twice a rod length away. With a long rod, place temptations next to cover or in tiny pockets between hyacinth clumps. Work baits slowly, probing specific grass clumps or individual lily pads. After the bait hits bottom, bounce it a few times.
“I fish fairly close,” Nixon said. “I pitch to cover, let it fall straight down and then slide it out. I use sinkers up to 1 1/4 ounces. I prefer to use 1/2- or 3/8-ounces. Certain weather situations – cold fronts and warm sunshine – will put bass under cover.”
During brutal summer days, bass under mats may not move far from their cool, comfortable lairs. Sometimes, anglers almost need to tap them on the heads with baits before they strike. Bass usually strike either immediately or not at all.
In pockets between matted grass, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits also work well. Fish these between thick patches or let them drop at the edges of weedbeds almost as if fishing a solid shoreline. Slim willow-leaf blades cut through broken grass better than other blades, but Colorado blades push more water and make more noise. Anglers often run spinnerbaits just below the surface with steady retrieves, or they “helicopter” them down.
“In grass, nothing beats a spinnerbait on the right day,” Nixon said. “I like a tandem spinnerbait with two Colorado blades or a Colorado in front of a willow-leaf blade. Make the cast ahead of the target zone. Either bump cover or rip the bait through cover and `kill’ it by letting it flutter a bit. Frequently, an erratic movement like that will trigger a bass into striking.”
Long, unbroken rafts of grass can intimidate many anglers. However, nothing looks better to a lunker bass. Sometimes, anglers just need to go in and root them out.