Fishing in the Grass
By Woo Daves

I get a lot of e-mails this time of year on grass fishing and it can be very frustrating, but there is usually a way to catch fish in almost any grass situation. One thing, you can count on, if there is grass there is bass. Bass will get super shallow in grass in hot weather especially in rivers with current. In small ponds and lakes bass tend to like edges and deeper water.

My favorite lure to start with is a frog. I usually start out with a Zoom Horny Toad and fish it like a buzzbait. I will attach two Mustad Ultra Point 5/0 Big Mouth Tube hooks together with a hitchhiker, screw the hitchhiker into the Horny Toad then position the hooks on each side of the body. This will give me a lot better hook up ratio to strikes. When I want a slow presentation with a frog I will use a Poppin’ Furbit frog that is pre-rigged and has actual rabbit fur for a tail. I can let this frog sit for eternity after popping it, to entice bites. I fish these lures on Bass Pro Shops’ 20 lbs. premium Excel line. Don’t fish top water on fluorocarbon line because it sinks and you lose that needed action. I fish these on a Bass Pro Shops’ Woo Daves’ 7 ft. XTR70HT Extreme rod. I want plenty of backbone to get the hook set.

Now if I’m fishing underwater grass say, 6 in. to 2 or 3 ft I will use a Zoom trick worm rigged on a 1/0 Mustad Mega-lite hook with Bass Pro Shops’ 10 to 12 lbs. Fluorocarbon line on a Bass Pro Shops’ Woo Daves’ Extreme 6’6” medium action spinning rod. Simply twitch along and wait for the strike. My second choice and especially if there are big bass in the area is to fish the Zoom Old Monster worm with 5/0 Mustad Ultra lock hook, no weight, Bass Pro Shops’ 17 lbs. fluorocarbon, with a Bass Pro Shops’ heavy action 7’ Woo Daves’ Extreme rod. Again just kind of twitch along slowly and if you get a bite let the bass have it before setting the hook.

If you have a cloudy, rainy type day I want a more aggressive bait. I will take the skirt off a Chatter bait and put a Zoom horny toad or Zoom fluke on and simply make long casts and steady retrieve back. This is deadly in this kind of weather even if you only get it for a few minutes you can get big bass in a hurry. Fish on heavy tackle.

You have your top water lures (hard baits) like Bass Pro Shops’ Popper. My favorites are the Walker, Bass Pro Shops’ Slim Dog, Z-Pop, and Bagleys’ Bango lure. Top water fish can be finicky and you want to try poppers, spinnertail, and walking baits until you find what they like for the day. Some days they want the popper slow. Other times they want it worked more erratic and the same goes for the walking baits or prop bits. Fish these on Bass Pro Shops’ medium action Woo Extreme rods with Bass Pro Shops’ 14 to 17 lbs Excel line.

You also want to use buzzbaits like the Bass Pro Shops’ Lazer Eye and in lines like Uncle Bucks’ buck tail skirt buzzer. I have found you need to change buzzbait sizes if what you’re using is not working. You can have the same exact conditions and one time the bass will want a small buzzbait say 1/8th oz. and the next time they want a ½ oz. Sometimes they want hardly any noise or commotion and next time they want a lot of ruckus.

Early morning and late evening are noted top water times, but believe me plenty of big bass are caught all day long on top water around grass. One key is to watch your Raymarine unit and get just on the edge of the grass and cast ahead trying to bring your bait right along the edge, especially if you can find points on the grass or holes in the grass. Another tip is to always have your trick worm by your side and if you get a boil and miss the fish, reel in fast and pick up the trick worm and try to cast right on the missed strike and let it dead fall. You can catch a lot of bass doing this. Any time during the day you get cloud cover, pick up a top water lure. Top water lures catch big bass and a lot of times you have a small limit you can get a kicker with top water. Top water and grass equal bass and these strikes will get your heart beating like nothing else.

Hope you put some Wildlife energy drinks in your Nitro. They taste great and they also donate part of their funds to wildlife management. Good luck fishing, wear your Woo Shoes, and may God Bless!