Fishing really tall moss...pegged sinker or free sliding?

[Highcentered]

I'm talking moss 10-15' off the bottom. I've had it work both ways but never know which way is best on any given day. I've kicked a boater's butt from the back of the boat with a pegged sinker and then the next week he kicked my butt with free sliding on an unpegged sinker while mine was pegged again. Is it more of a guessing game or is there a science behind whether to peg or not?

[Jbass123]

The first step in catching fish is getting the bait to them; second step is getting them to bite the bait. If a free-sliding sinker allows you to get the bait to the fish, with a fair degree of efficiency, you can move on to step 2. I know guys who peg the sinker every single time, regardless of water conditions or cover. I used to do that also, but in recent years I’ve done some rethinking and realized that the bait works more naturally, plus also floats more up into the eyesight of the bass, if unpegged. I don’t have any hard evidence, but unpegged makes more sense to me if the cover allows the bait to go through.

[WarEagle24]

This is a great video with a side by side comparison.

[ECobb91]

This is a great video with a side by side comparison.

this guy does a great job with his videos. Short, and bs filler free.

I would say an unpegged sinker is best and even a free rig might be even better. IMO, you want it above the moss. Once it gets into that green slime that sticks to everything the bass won’t touch it

[basscatlildave]

I always unpeg unless trying to punch down it it.

[dwtaylor]

Moss or grass? Moss is a pain in the butt as it gets all over your bait and I feel that fish won't eat a moss covered bait. In that case, I like an unpegged sinker to keep the bait off the bottom better and I use a floating plastic more often than not, like zman baits. A split shot rig or a light carolina rig with a long leader and a floating plastic and a lighter/smaller hook (prevents the bait from sinking) can be really good in this crap. Even a drop shot works well here.

Grass on the other hand, I love fishing as baits usually come through clean, or a quick pop will clean it up. I usually can't have long casts like I can with moss, so most of the time I fish a pegged sinker or a stopper about 6-8 inches above the bait and I am usually pitching by bait to keep the line more vertical to reduce the line picking up on grass.

[Rider99XX]

I've lost a LOT of soft plastics while fishing brush when the weight runs off and leaves the bait on the backside of a limb so I peg almost always.

[ColtonM]

I personally would run un-pegged in that situation. However a big factor is the front "nose" shape of the bait too. Something more rounded and cylindrical.

[C0MRAD]

Never peg unless you are flipping heavy cover, and your bait won't go down into the water without a peg.

[Rangerdeepv]

I use a rubber weight stopper and can move it depending on conditions.

[Highcentered]

Moss or grass? Moss is a pain in the butt as it gets all over your bait and I feel that fish won't eat a moss covered bait. In that case, I like an unpegged sinker to keep the bait off the bottom better and I use a floating plastic more often than not, like zman baits. A split shot rig or a light carolina rig with a long leader and a floating plastic and a lighter/smaller hook (prevents the bait from sinking) can be really good in this crap. Even a drop shot works well here.

Grass on the other hand, I love fishing as baits usually come through clean, or a quick pop will clean it up. I usually can't have long casts like I can with moss, so most of the time I fish a pegged sinker or a stopper about 6-8 inches above the bait and I am usually pitching by bait to keep the line more vertical to reduce the line picking up on grass.

Hydrilla with some of that BS moss that sticks to everything in the mix too.

[Highcentered]

I personally would run un-pegged in that situation. However a big factor is the front "nose" shape of the bait too. Something more rounded and cylindrical.

Takes a true worm weight in this stuff. Learned from experience the weights I have to use in the rocks on my home lake don't work so great in grass.