Need advice w/grass beds/mats

It seems the hydrilla/milfoil mats in the TN river are gradually moving northward. Guntersville's had it for years, Pickwick's getting more grass each year, and, in a tourney this past weekend, my partner and I found mats in the southern (TN) part of KY lake.

I have some questions for you experts:

We found a mat adjacent to a secondary creek channel. The boat was in 12-16 feet and we were flipping the edges of a mat on the drop into the channel (5-8 feet). We fished this mat for 4-5 hours with only 3 good bites: 2 decent keepers (2.5 and 3.5) and had one break off, plus a couple of shorts. We caught the keepers on 3/4 oz. jigs and a chatterbait fished along the edge.

We have several more tourneys on KY lake, from July til Oct.

Here's my questions:

Does this sound like a good grass bed to fish? We found other beds, but with the creek channel right next to it, I thought this one would be good. Do you agree?

Will this grass bed, or others, hold fish all year long?

How would you go about catching them? I'm thinking try for a topwater bite early (spooks, gunfish, pop-r's, etc.) then a fluke or senko or a spinnerbait over the top, then a flipping a jig, chigger craw or swimming a 10" ribbon tailed worm once it got hot.

Here's my problem. Everybody fishes ledges on KY lake during the summer, but most of the ledges are already known by guys that have been fishing the lake for 40 years. Since the grass is relatively new, I thought that if the fish would be in the grass all day and all year, why not just concentrate on the grass?

Any help or advice will be appreciated. By the way, 5 members of my club and I are going to Guntersville next week for 4 days. We'll be staying at Woody's Lodge which is close to Goosepond. Any G-ville advice will be appreciated as well.

Mike C. in West TN

not that I'm an expert by any means, but it sounds like you found a pretty good spot. I'm a fan of grass and weeds next to deep water. That's supposed to be the perfect combination. Only thing I didnt read in your post was consideration of how the sun is hitting the area. That might be something else to consider in picking one grass mat over the other at certain times of the day. I'm learning that mats and grass are better when it's sunny than cloudy. They want to get into shade. If it's cloudy, there's not as much shadows so the roam a little more.

So, if you can hit it when it's sunny and the shadows are cast onto the deeper side, I think you've got a winner !!

you might be able to spice up the area by dragging some wood into the grass. I know a wood and grass combo, or a laydown into grass will ALWAYS hold fish

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

I think you on the right track.......Chad mentioned some good things but maybe woking the "holes" in the grass might be good too.......there have been a couple times on a lake up here that is HEAVILY matted over and "Punching" can help produce a few fish.......typically using a 3/4oz tungsten florida rig with Braided line and a creature bait can get some result pretty fast.......target "Openings" in the grass and see if pitching into those areas produces a bite.......I'll mention to do this on Very Sunny days since there looking to hold there and not come out much.....so outside edges can rpoduce but sometimes working into it might be just as good.

best thing you can do is experiment and find out what the feesh really want http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/USA1.gif

“Does this sound like a good grass bed to fish? We found other beds, but with the creek channel right next to it, I thought this one would be good. Do you agree?”

I agree the sunnier the better, and the better the deep water access the better. Bass don’t seek heavy cover when it’s cloudy, so they feed farther out from the mats. Clouds scatter bass, giving them more security. Sun doesn’t bother bass. Heat and low oxygen does. Hot still water in the mats during cloudy conditions loses dissolved oxygen very quickly when photosynthesis drops due to lack of light, so the food chain moves. Larger bass require lots more DO than minnows, so are the first to leave. For that reason there are generally two groups of bass that use the mats. A few resident bass might find enough daily recharging of oxygen to sustain them, so they stay around, but are relatively small. Large bass often make a daily journey to the mats to feed briefly around and under the mats. They take the same migration routes used to enter and leave for spawning. Before the weeds begin growing actively. Look for those in channels leading into a mat in early morning and late evening.

“Will this grass bed, or others, hold fish all year long?”

Come winter die off, depending on grass species and how far north it is, grass becomes less attractive to bass. Here hydrilla, the most common plant, dies back to leave little more than a carpet of grass that looks mowed. Running a lipless crankbait over it, ticking the tops, is productive. By far the majority of larger bass leave the mats in winter for deep structure. They arrive in numbers over dormant weeds to spawn, then retreat in numbers.

“How would you go about catching them? I'm thinking try for a topwater bite early (spooks, gunfish, pop-r's, etc.) then a fluke or senko or a spinnerbait over the top, then a flipping a jig, chigger craw or swimming a 10" ribbon tailed worm once it got hot.”

Early morning has been the best time to fish a Spook along the edges over drain ditches, in hopes of connecting with some large visiting bass. I’ll fish it up to 100 feet out in open water. I’ll call up bass already moved deeper. How deep? As deep as a thermocline reaches, currently 17 feet here. Resident bass begin following “tunnels” under the mats. The best tunnels are over the slightest ditch. Look at shoreline topography to help find those. Another clue is finding an irregular weedline dip back into the mat. Fingers of weed poking into the lake indicate ridges.

I use a heavy weed jig and slick, legless soft plastic or pork trailer. 1 oz is a good average, capable of penetrating thick cover and finding bottom. I slick them up with Megastrike or a home-made concoction of lard to keep it from sticking to grass. Either slap the water with it or launch it high and let fall straight down. Let it hit bottom, pause, then raise it jigging until it bumps the mat. Pause and you-yo it there a while. Give bass time to course it. They have to work through a tangled mess to get there unless you happen to drop it right over a tunnel. If that happens a bite can occur instantly upon touchdown.

If the lake water level rises and falls enough you might luck onto an inside weedline paralleling the shoreline. Fish that open water with a frog landed on the shore, then drawn out onto the mat, and dropped into any hole in it. I’ll make several holes with the jig, then pick the frog rod up and revisit those holes.

“Here's my problem. Everybody fishes ledges on KY lake during the summer, but most of the ledges are already known by guys that have been fishing the lake for 40 years. Since the grass is relatively new, I thought that if the fish would be in the grass all day and all year, why not just concentrate on the grass?”

Avoid any target that is likely to be worn out. I don’t like fishing used fish. We had the same situation here when hydrilla began spreading. Many anglers swore never to return because of it. I suppose by now they have no lakes left to fish in, or have repented. Those of us that determined to learn to fish it got a big jump on those avoiding it. But it won't be long before too many folks take up mat fishing when they see and hear of big bass coming out of them. ******meyer fished them in a tournament here, won it, and got mats and big jigs in the news. Now every mat has rows of holes and trails through it. Remember to leave if clouds arrive. Also, at noon here the best fishing is off main lake and secondary points, humps, other structures out in open water that have little or no cover. Lots of anglers assume the sun drives them away. Capitalize on that myth.

Jim

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THAT is some great info !!! You are THE MAN !!!

You might also fish the mat in not so sunny conditions. Lots of other bassers pass on the mats in cloudy conditions. I have had good results fishing mats with cloudy conditions as long as the mat holds quality bass.
JAZII