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John N. Felsher's Bass Fishing Adventures
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Takes skill and some finesse to pull
Ol' Mossbacks from his weedy lair
Ol' Mossbacks from his weedy lair
TOP: Roger Stegall, a
professional bass
angler from Iuka,
Miss., lands a bass he
caught on a soft plastic
lizard while fishing
thick cover at Reelfoot
Lake, Tenn.
RIGHT: A buzzbait
churns over a thick
grass mat.
professional bass
angler from Iuka,
Miss., lands a bass he
caught on a soft plastic
lizard while fishing
thick cover at Reelfoot
Lake, Tenn.
RIGHT: A buzzbait
churns over a thick
grass mat.
In summer swelter, big bass seek shelter in cooling weeds, but pulling
them out of thick salads may prove an awesome challenge.
With their green and black camouflage, bass hide in thick weeds to
ambush prey. Not known for speed, largemouths pounce on unsuspecting
morsels that pass their way. Unfortunately, thick grass mats make bass
almost unreachable, but a few baits can lure Ol’ Mossbacks from a
vegetative lair.
Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits can work effectively in weedy cover.
Buzzbaits climb atop weeds to sputter and gurgle over the surface. Bass
may rise to smack them, even during the hottest periods of the day. Slim
willow-leaf blades on spinnerbaits cut through weeds better than other
types.
“The willow-leaf blade is probably the subtlest presentation, but it also
offers the most flash,” explained Denny Brauer, a former Bassmaster
Classic champion. “It has more of a baitfish silhouette. A Colorado blade
puts out the most pressure waves, so it works in dirty water. An Indiana
blade is a compromise between a Colorado and a willow-leaf. With its
teardrop shape, it gives good vibration and flash.”
Many people only fish around the edges of weeds, but big bass hunker
down in the thickest vegetation. Even willow-leaf spinners can’t slice
through solid mats, but they can easily slip across small openings or seams
and run through broken patches. Pull a spinnerbait a few feet until it hits a
pocket in the weeds. Then, allow it to sink, or “helicopter” down a few feet.
Blades continue turning as it sinks. Bass often strike falling baits.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make is they throw a spinnerbait
around the cover,” said George Cochran, a two-time Bassmaster Classic
champion from Hot Springs, Ark. “A spinnerbait is very versatile and
weedless. People catch more fish by running a bait through cover and
bouncing it off objects. I try to get a reaction bite. If fish aren’t aggressive,
about 90 percent of the strikes I get are because I triggered an instinct. I
bounce it off the cover, stop and start it. Always shake the rod making the
bait look like it’s crippled.”
In super thick grass, weedless spoons sweetened with pork chunks
provoke strikes from monsters. Bounce 1/4- to 3/4-ounce gold or silver
spoons tipped with pork frogs slowly over lilies or matted weeds. Through
sparse patches, rip it over the water like fleeing baitfish. Stop to let it sink a
foot or two into holes or pockets. Let it twitch a moment in the pocket
before pulling it out.
Sometimes, hot, finicky bass prefer a more subtle approach. A
weightless plastic lizard, fluke or frog skittering over a weed bed looks
natural to hungry bass. Light and lifelike, these soft-plastic temptations
combine attributes of fast topwater action, fish-finding abilities of buzzbaits
and the weedless enticement of Texas-rigged worms. Bass slobber to
attack their silhouettes.
Fish weightless soft plastics with a steady retrieve like a buzzbait or a
“stop-sink-go” approach similar to working spinnerbaits or spoons. For a
steady retrieve, toss a lizard across matted cover. Hold the rod tip high and
crank a reel slowly to skitter it over the surface or just beneath it in an
alluring continuous motion.
In broken cover, try the sink and go approach. Cast to a likely spot and
let it remain briefly motionless. Depending upon hook size and cover
thickness, it might start to sink slowly. Pull it a few 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 next pocket. After it sinks about a foot or
two, pull it back up and try it again in another pocket.
Sometimes, bass love weeds so much they refuse to move. In that
case, anglers need to punch through mats to invade their lairs. A 1-ounce
jig tipped with tempting pork or plastic smashes through grassy cover.
Silently approach a weed bed, only using a trolling motor sparingly.
With a 7-foot rod, gently place temptations with soft, pinpoint accuracy.
Work slowly along weedy edges, probing every tiny hole. Target specific
pockets between grass clumps or individual pads with jigs or Texas-rigged
worms. After the bait hits bottom, vertically bounce it a few times before
dropping it into the next pocket. Bass usually hit immediately or not at all.
Don’t waste time on an unproductive pocket.
them out of thick salads may prove an awesome challenge.
With their green and black camouflage, bass hide in thick weeds to
ambush prey. Not known for speed, largemouths pounce on unsuspecting
morsels that pass their way. Unfortunately, thick grass mats make bass
almost unreachable, but a few baits can lure Ol’ Mossbacks from a
vegetative lair.
Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits can work effectively in weedy cover.
Buzzbaits climb atop weeds to sputter and gurgle over the surface. Bass
may rise to smack them, even during the hottest periods of the day. Slim
willow-leaf blades on spinnerbaits cut through weeds better than other
types.
“The willow-leaf blade is probably the subtlest presentation, but it also
offers the most flash,” explained Denny Brauer, a former Bassmaster
Classic champion. “It has more of a baitfish silhouette. A Colorado blade
puts out the most pressure waves, so it works in dirty water. An Indiana
blade is a compromise between a Colorado and a willow-leaf. With its
teardrop shape, it gives good vibration and flash.”
Many people only fish around the edges of weeds, but big bass hunker
down in the thickest vegetation. Even willow-leaf spinners can’t slice
through solid mats, but they can easily slip across small openings or seams
and run through broken patches. Pull a spinnerbait a few feet until it hits a
pocket in the weeds. Then, allow it to sink, or “helicopter” down a few feet.
Blades continue turning as it sinks. Bass often strike falling baits.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make is they throw a spinnerbait
around the cover,” said George Cochran, a two-time Bassmaster Classic
champion from Hot Springs, Ark. “A spinnerbait is very versatile and
weedless. People catch more fish by running a bait through cover and
bouncing it off objects. I try to get a reaction bite. If fish aren’t aggressive,
about 90 percent of the strikes I get are because I triggered an instinct. I
bounce it off the cover, stop and start it. Always shake the rod making the
bait look like it’s crippled.”
In super thick grass, weedless spoons sweetened with pork chunks
provoke strikes from monsters. Bounce 1/4- to 3/4-ounce gold or silver
spoons tipped with pork frogs slowly over lilies or matted weeds. Through
sparse patches, rip it over the water like fleeing baitfish. Stop to let it sink a
foot or two into holes or pockets. Let it twitch a moment in the pocket
before pulling it out.
Sometimes, hot, finicky bass prefer a more subtle approach. A
weightless plastic lizard, fluke or frog skittering over a weed bed looks
natural to hungry bass. Light and lifelike, these soft-plastic temptations
combine attributes of fast topwater action, fish-finding abilities of buzzbaits
and the weedless enticement of Texas-rigged worms. Bass slobber to
attack their silhouettes.
Fish weightless soft plastics with a steady retrieve like a buzzbait or a
“stop-sink-go” approach similar to working spinnerbaits or spoons. For a
steady retrieve, toss a lizard across matted cover. Hold the rod tip high and
crank a reel slowly to skitter it over the surface or just beneath it in an
alluring continuous motion.
In broken cover, try the sink and go approach. Cast to a likely spot and
let it remain briefly motionless. Depending upon hook size and cover
thickness, it might start to sink slowly. Pull it a few 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 next pocket. After it sinks about a foot or
two, pull it back up and try it again in another pocket.
Sometimes, bass love weeds so much they refuse to move. In that
case, anglers need to punch through mats to invade their lairs. A 1-ounce
jig tipped with tempting pork or plastic smashes through grassy cover.
Silently approach a weed bed, only using a trolling motor sparingly.
With a 7-foot rod, gently place temptations with soft, pinpoint accuracy.
Work slowly along weedy edges, probing every tiny hole. Target specific
pockets between grass clumps or individual pads with jigs or Texas-rigged
worms. After the bait hits bottom, vertically bounce it a few times before
dropping it into the next pocket. Bass usually hit immediately or not at all.
Don’t waste time on an unproductive pocket.
