Spoons In Thick Grass

Bass are never more content than when nestled under a maze of aquatic greenery. The weed growth could be a field of lily pads, a mat of milfoil or hydrilla, a thatch of bulrushes or some other vegetation.
Life is easy beneath the protective canopy. Here bass grow fat on abundant forage and breathe water rich in oxygen. They also see few lures, because most anglers find the cover too imposing.
When bass bury themselves in this fashion, a weedless spoon is one of the most effective means for getting them out. There's more to this type of fishing, however, than most people realize. What follows are 10 tips for spooning bass in grass.
1. USE ENOUGH ROD: Unless you enjoy being whipped by bass on a regular basis, arm yourself with nothing less than a medium-heavy action baitcasting outfit. A heavy action is even more suitable for combating bass in dense grass. And this is no place for pistol grips. Opt for a trigger rod with a long handle which you can brace against a forearm or stomach for more leverage. While a 6 1/2-foot rod is adequate, some anglers feel more secure flinging weedless spoons with flippin' sticks.
Is all this muscle really necessary? Absolutely! When a bass nails a spoon and pulls it down through the mat, the line drapes over the vegetation. The sponginess of the grass can soften the impact of your hookset. A stout rod ensures better hooksets. It also has enough backbone for horsing bass immediately to the surface and hauling them in. A bass wallowing too long in thick grass will invariably become entangled.
2. RELY ON HEAVY LINE: Strong line is essential for withstanding the hard hooksets, the heavy-handed battles and the cover's abra-siveness. Thicker mono-filaments also have less stretch, which is another plus. The minimum should be a 20-pound mono made for toughness more than limpness. Berkley's Trilene XT and Stren's Super Tough fall into this category. Another excellent option: one of the many high-tech braided lines now available. A new-age 80-pound braid has about the same thickness as 20-pound monofilament, virtually no stretch and super abrasion resistance-great for spooning bass from grass.
3. TRY DIFFERENT SPOONS: Weedless spoons come in many styles and sizes. And more than ever, it's wise to show bass a little variety. Their preferences do change. When bass want something with a little more pizzazz, try a walking spoon, such as the P.T. Spoon. It has sharper side-to-side sashays. Spoons with spinners or sputtering blades also have their days. Two of the many choices available are Strike King's Timber Spin with its spinner blade, and Norman's Weed Walker with a paddle blade that spins in an opening in the center of the spoon.
4. VARY RETRIEVES: Dragging a spoon over a carpet of weeds is pretty much the standard presentation. As deadly as the spoon can be, bass may need a little more coaxing. In this case, vary the speed of the retrieve. A slow crawl barely keeps the spoon on top; a brisk pace skims the lure right along. Lighter spoons, such as Heddon's plastic Moss Boss and Bass'N Bait's thin Snakie Spoon, don't sink as readily through matted vegetation. You can work these lures with twitch and pause actions, provided the pause is brief. A bass will often follow a spoon under surface weeds for several feet, pouncing on the lure when it comes to an opening or slides off the edge of a bed. Aggressive fish will snatch the spoon right off the surface. For more hesitant bass, slow down. Let the lure wobble just beneath the surface, or flutter down a foot or so before restarting the retrieve. The Mepps Timber Doodle has an especially nice wobble with subsurface retrieves. It's also a good one for slithering through subsurface weeds, another productive spoon-fishing ploy.
5. FEEL WEIGHT BEFORE YOU SET THE HOOK: This is a tough one. It's hard not to slam the rod back instantly when a bass explodes on a spoon that's skating over the surface. But you have to. Otherwise you'll jerk the spoon away before the bass has fully engulfed it. Don't set the hook with a spoon until you feel the weight of the bass.
6. TINKER WITH TRAILERS: Dressing weedless spoons with trailers dramatically alters the way these lures look and respond in the water. Plastic and vinyl skirts, pork dressings and swimming tail grubs and worms are common additions. They give spoons more bulk, action and color. Skirts are widely used and many spoons come with them already attached. When bass are striking short, trimming the skirt can help ensure solid hookups. Long trailers, such as worms and pork strips, give spoons a snake-like swimming action. Pork frogs and other bulky dressings help spoons make a greater impression on bass. Some anglers will dress the hook of a Snakie Spoon with a double curly-tailed grub. The trailer counterbalances the spoon, resulting in an exaggerated wobbling action. They will also attach their line to the spoon's split ring with a snap swivel, which gives the lure maximum freedom of movement. Experiment with trailers and you'll discover combinations that turn bass on for you.
7. KEY GRASS LOCATIONS: On waters that have vast weed-beds, it's sometimes necessary to comb literally miles of grass with spoons to find the areas that hold bass. Your eyes, however, can usually cut down on this chore. Bypass straight, monotonous weed lines and concentrate on those that have irregularities - isolated weed patches, clumpy weeds, raggedweed edges, areas where two or more species of vegetation meet or mix. Yes, straight lines of weeds will produce. But you'll raise bass in much less time fishing weeds that have more character.
8. SKIP SPOONS INTO TALL GRASS: Professional anglers employ weedless spoons in bulrushes, especially those that have been bent over by the wind. This cover is difficult to penetrate with most lures. They easily get their spoons far back under the stalks by skipping them over the water's surface. The splashy entrance arouses bass. The flash and wobble as the spoon exits evokes exciting responses. Some anglers avoid backlashes by using a flippin' rod that is rigged with spinning guides. They use larger spinning reels that will handle heavy line.
9. DIG 'EM OUT': Face the inevitable. At some point a bass will rudely inhale your spoon, plow down into the weeds and hopelessly enmesh itself. And it will surely be a big bass. All isn't lost, yet. You must move quickly, but with constraint. First, calm down and maintain firm, even pressure. Wrenching on the rod will rip the hook free. Then go to the fish while maintaining even pressure and dig it out by hand. Fishing with a partner is a blessing in this situation, since he can cut through the salad with an electric motor or a push-pole while you tend the rod. If you're alone, stay cool and good luck. You'll need it.
10. FOLLOW UP: Making a follow-up cast to a fish that has just missed a lure is nothing new, but this tactic may work more consistently when spooning weeds than at any other time. For one thing, you can usually see exactly where the bass struck at the lure, thanks to the hole it created during its assault. The bass will linger there for a few moments, searching for the meal it missed. It won't stay long, however. If you quickly cast another lure to the spot you can't go wrong with a Texas-rigged 'worm - the bass will more often than not take it.