Fishing the Grass for Summertime Bass

    Take a look at any of Arizona's large desert reservoirs in the summertime and you will find many bass boats pushed back 30 to 40 yards off the bank targeting deep underwater structure like ledges and points.  For many reasons main lake points are a great place to target summertime bass.  However, something else you will find in the summertime at any of Arizona's large desert reservoirs are jet skis, wake boarders, and large party barges.  When fishing from a bass boat these party-goers can be an annoyance and distraction, but when fishing from a 10 foot kayak, the scenario becomes dangerous and can make fishing nearly impossible.

    When I can't fish these desirable summertime locations, I'm forced to look elsewhere.  Somewhere off the main lake in a small protected shallow cove.  To know what to look for I consider what it is about a main lake point that makes it so attractive to a big lazy bass.  Bass will setup on a point to ambush their prey as they travel across, especially when there is a current or steady wind blowing across the point.  The point also makes it quick and easy for bass to travel from cooler deep water where they relax to shallow water to feed.  Bass will move around a point all day long, moving in fairly predictable patters on that point.  The key here is not depth, rather it is cool, oxygenated water filled with an abundance of food. 

    Shallow grass contains the same key properties as main lake points.  The dense cover provides shade and cool water, and the abundance or green vegetation provides plenty of oxygen even in the warmest of water.  In the late spring/early summer bluegill will spawn in these grassy flats providing plenty of food for bass all summer long.  The problem with fishing grass is the frustration it causes for many anglers.  Snags happen, and constantly pulling weeds off your lure between each cast might cause a rise in blood-pressure.  You've got to realize however that if you are not getting snagged, if you are not constantly pulling weeds off your line, you're probably not catching fish either!

    I'm going to outline a few techniques you can use to help pull in some "bass salad", but first we need to differentiate the types of grass.  There are several different types of grass, lots of different names of grass, densities of grass, colors of grass, and textures of grass.  Try not to get lost in all the minor details you hear about, for practicality's sake, there are two types of grass: submerged grass (grass that is entirely underwater), and emergent grass (grass that grows past the surface of the water creating mats on the surface and hollow tunnels beneath).  Look for submerged grass in 5 to 15 feet of water, and emergent grass in the 2 to 5 foot range.  Think back to the main lake point discussed earlier, bass will feed where it's shallow, and rest where it's deep.  In grass, the opposite is true.  Bass will be actively feeding in the deeper submerged grass and will retreat to the shade and safety of the shallow emergent grass as the day goes on.  Below are four techniques you can try this summer too hook into a monster covered in weeds:

1. Lipless Crank

Rod: 7' Medium Heavy - Fast Casting Rod

Reel: High Speed 7:1 Baitcaster

Line: 15 lb Flurocarbon or Monofilament

Color: Shad or Bluegill Imitation

    I use a Strike King Red Eye Shad in submerged grass at a depth of about ten feet (this means the bottom is ten feet deep, the top of the grass will be around 5 feet below the surface).  Early in the morning I will focus on the outside edge of the grass.  Cast out and retrieve parallel to the outside of the grass edge.  I try to keep the lure just off the bottom, below the top of the grass.  Later in the day I will fish this lure over the top of the grass.  I'll cast out as far as I can, count it down about five feet and burn it back in just over the top, occasionally letting the lure drop and tick the top.  If I feel it get snagged, a couple quick pops on slack line will rip it free, sometimes causing a reaction strike.  If I can see a gap or hole in the grass I'll burn it over the top and stop right above the gap in vegetation.  Drop the rod tip down and let the Red Eye Shad shimmy down to the bottom on slack line.  Often times a bass will bust out of the grass and hit it on the fall.

2.  Mojo Rig

Rod: 6 1/2' Medium - Fast Spinning Rod

Reel: 5:1 Spinning Reel

Line: 20 lb Hi-Vis Braid, 8 lb Fluro leader

Worm: 4 inch Cactus Wren Talking Stick - Shad Color

    The Mojo Rig is similar to the old school Split Shot Rig with two major differences.  The weight is a thin cylinder shape, this allows it to be pulled through the grass smoothly without getting hung up like a round split shot weight.  Also, the weight is threaded onto the line and pegged to the line rather than crimped on.  Crimping on a weight will damage the line and you risk breaking off a fish, especially when using light weight fluorocarbon.  To peg the weight I use a couple strands of jig hair, pulled through using the discarded tag end of line from tying the hook on.  This also allows you to easily adjust where you want the weight while still being snug enough to stay in place. 

    I fish it similar to the lipless crank above, but with a slower and more erratic retrieve.  Again, earlier in the morning I'll stick to the outside edge, later in the day I'll retrieve it right over the top.  If the fish are especially tight lipped, try taking the weight off and working the worm weightless incredibly slowly letting it rest right right on top of the grass.

3.  Punching Mats

Rod: 7 1/2' Heavy - Fast Casting Rod

Reel: High-Speed 7:1 Baitcaster

Line: 40-65 lb braid

Lure: Slim Crawfish or Rodent style bait

Weight: 1oz Tungsten Bullet Weight

    Punching is a technique for the shallow emergent grass that causes mats on the surface.  Ideally you should be pitching into these grass mats in about 2 1/2 feet of water.  Heavy braided line and a slim presentation is important as your goal is to "punch" the bait right through the heavy cover.

    Punching is all about triggering a reaction strike, there's no need for stealth or finesse. This is power fishing at its most powerful, work it fast and cover a lot of water with it.  While punching, there are three components that will trigger the bite:

The bait violently crashing through the surface vegetation.

The heavy weight pounding the bottom.

The bait smacking against the bottom of the mats as you bring it back in.

    I would argue that the heavy abusive weight is more important than the plastic.  That craw or rodent is just a means to keep the hook from snagging on the grass.  It's important not to "texpose" the hook, burry it in there good so that the whole rig can slide through the cover.  Keep the weight pegged to the hook with a toothpick or bobber stopper.  If you find yourself missing fish on the hook set try using a snell knot on a straight shanked flippin' hook.  However I prefer an offset round-bend hook because it keeps the whole rig slimmer.

4.  Weedless Wacky Weightless (Try saying that five times fast)

Rod: 6 1/2' Medium Heavy - Fast Casting Rod

Reel: High-Speed 7:1 Baitcaster

Line: At least 15 lb Flurocarbon

Worm:  5 or 6 inch Cactus Wren Talking Stick or Stick Bait

    You won't be able to get this bait through the thick mats, so look for openings in the mats, or toss it beside the matted weed line into more open water.  When you find a hole to drop it into, toss it in and let it sink as far as it will go.  Wait for a few seconds and then shake it lightly on slack line.  Sometimes it'll drop further, sometimes a fish will eat it, but most of the time nothing will happen.  Reel it in and find another hole.

    This is a technique for both emergent and submerged grass.  You have to be more patient when fishing it in submerged grass as you will be fishing it deeper and the bait drops very slowly.  As you let it sink on slack line, be sure to watch the line the whole way down, you usually won't feel the initial hit and if you wait too long you have a good chance of gut hooking the fish.

    If you're only fishing submerged grass, you might consider using lighter tackle.  A medium powered spinning rod and 8 to 10 lb test line would be sufficient.

    I hope that gives you a new technique or two to try out the next time you hit the water.  If I've helped you catch a fish let me know in the comments!  Any other techniques you use while fishing grass?  Tell us about those in the comments as well!

    Tight lines, and I hope to see you out on the water!

7 Ways To Wren: Rigging Cactus Wren Finesse Baits for Bass

    When the bite slows down one of the best things a bass fisherman can do to keep tempting them to bite is minimize the presentation.  Small lures on light line and tackle is the basis to finesse fishing.  Most of the finesse fishing I do is done with either a medium power spinning rod with 8 lb flurocarbon, or a medium-light casting rod with 10 or 12 lb flurocarbon.
    Just like any other type of fishing, you must experiment with presentations until you find what the bass want at that time.  Wether I'm fishing or trying to woo the ladies I always consider these three questions:  Are they shallow or deep?  Do they want it fast or slow?  And, do they want something with a lot of action, or very little action?  Whatever the answers to these questions are Cactus Wren Outdoors has a bait and presentation that will give you a chance at hooking up with a fatty (if that's what you're into of course...).  Here are 7 different ways to rig Cactus Wren baits:

1.  The Drop Shot

Rod: 7ft Medium-Fast Spinning Rod

Reel: 5:1 Spinning Reel

Line: 12 lb high-vis braid

Leader:  14 feet of 8 lb flurocarbon

Hook: 1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook

Weight: 1/4 oz Cactus Wren Drop Shot Weight

    The drop shot is without a doubt the best producer of these presentations, that's why it's listed here first.  It is the only rig that I have a dedicated rod for, and it's the only rod that comes with me on every trip (that's really saying something when you have the limited storage capacity of a 10 foot kayak).

    To rig a drop shot, tie on your hook with a Palomar knot, be sure to leave plenty of tag end on your line.  Take the end of the tag end and run it back down through the eye of the hook.  Give it a little tug and it should pull the knot through the eye.  If done correctly the hook will be pointing up and the knot will be below the eye of the hook.  In the spring and fall I will generally put the weight about 8 to 12 inches below the hook.  In summer and winter, when the bass are holding very tight to the bottom, I'll shorten it up to 3 to 6 inches.

    I use both the CW Quail Tails and Talking Sticks with the drop shot rig.  Typically if the bass are actively feeding I'll use a Quail Tail, if they are lazy and the fishing is slow I'll use the Talking Stick.  Basically I try to match the action of my lure with the action of the bass.  A deep, lethargic, post-spawn female is not going to be in the mood to chase down something that might flee away quickly.  Using something with little action and just slowly dragging it across the bottom will be much more appetizing for that big lazy bass.

    I'll fish a drop shot in just about any situation.  Bounce it across a rocky point, pull it over a ledge, drag it through submerged grass with the worm floating just above the grass, or pitch it right into flooded cover or under a boat dock.  If there's a fish around, they'll hit it!

2. The Shaky Head

Rod: 7ft Medium-Fast Casting Rod

Reel: 7:1 Baitcasting Reel

Line: 12 lb flurocarbon

Jig Head: Cactus Wren 1/4 oz Tully Shaker

    This rig has completely replaced the Texas-Rigged worm for me.  I use it primarily for casting toward particular targets like flooded timber, over hanging trees, and man-made structures like bridge columns and boat docks.

    The shaky head excels in situations where the bass are holding very tight to cover and the strike zone is incredibly small.  One cast may take three or more minutes, but I won't move the bait more than a foot or so.  Just cast it out there within inches to the cover and lightly shake your rod tip on slack line.

    The only worm I'll use on the shaky head is a 5 inch talking stick.  Despite the name, a shaky head is a very slow and subtle presentation so a straight tail worm is a must.  Imagine you are a pretty girl at the club.  To your right is a wildly dancing long-haired hippie on PCP, to your left is a nicely dressed business man quietly sipping a gin and tonic.  Who are you going to go home with?  (The shaky head is the guy on the left)

3. The Chowa Barb Jig

Rod: 7ft Medium Heavy-Fast Casting Rod

Reel: 6:1 Baitcasting Reel

Line: 15 lb flurocarbon

Jig Head: Cactus Wren Chowa Barb Jig

    The Chowa Barb Jig is the long-haired hippie wildly dancing on PCP (some girls like that sort of thing). I fish this on a bit heavier equipment because of the thicker hook on the CW jig.  You can fish this just like a traditional Texas Rig targeting heavy cover or bed fishing in the spring time, but I prefer to fish it much faster, almost like a deep diving crankbait, or slow rolling a spinner bait or swim bait.

    I'll cast it out across a rocky point and let it sink to the bottom.  Then, with my rod tip low I'll reel in steadily, as slow as I need to in order to keep that weight right on the bottom bouncing off each and every rock down there.

    For this presentation I'll use a 6 inch Quail Tail or a Canyon Craw.  This can be a great pre-spawn technique when the bass are up roaming looking for a spot to make their beds and the females are still staging and looking for a few big meals preparing for spawn.

4. The Ned Rig

Rod: 7ft Medium Spinning Rod

Reel: 5:1 Spinning Reel

Line: 8 lb flurocarbon

Jig Head: Cactus Wren 1/4 oz Tully Shaker

    When a shaky head is still too much for the lethargic bass, I'll try the Ned Rig as a last resort.  It's a smaller, more compact version of the shaky head.

    To rig it, I use the first 3 inches of a 6 inch Talking Stick or Quail Tail (you can use the back half of the Quail Tail as a trailer on a spinnerbait).  Rather than a subtle shake of the rod tip I'll toss it out and dead-stick it.  After about 20 seconds give it a couple hops and dead stick it again.

    You want to leave as much of the hook exposed as you can.  The worm is pretty thick, so you want to be able to leave enough room between the barb of the hook and the side of the worm to get a solid hook set.  Leave it buried and you'll easily pull this compact bait right out of their mouth.

5. Weightless

Rod: 7ft Medium-Fast Spinningg Rod

Reel: 5:1 Spinning Reel

Line: 8 lb flurocarbon

Hook: 1/0 or 2/0 Offset Roundbend

    The first four rigs have focused on deeper water presentations, or when the bass are holding tight to shallow cover.  The last three focus on fishing the upper end of the water column, and when bass are actively chasing small baitfish.

    There are a few ways to fish these baits weightless to catch fish when traditional topwater baits and shallow running cranks don't work.  The first is like a Fluke, or some other soft-plastic jerkbait.  This presentation can be deadly in the spring and fall when bass are chasing shad.  When bass are boiling on a school of shad at the surface, most anglers will throw something like a Spook past the boil and walk it through the boil.  Doing so can often spook (maybe that's where they got the name) the bass.  Generally these schooling bass are relatively small and won't hit a large top water hard bait.  However, the 4-inch talking stick is light enough you can toss right into the boil, twitch a few times and probably end up hooking into one.  This technique probably won't catch many double digit bass, but it can certainly put a good number into the boat when used at the right time.

    When the action slows down, you can slow the bait down as well.  Letting the 4-inch Talking Stick sink on slack line will allow the bait to fall horizontally.  The larger 5 and 6 inch Talking Sticks will fall with a gliding nose-first action.  When rigged weightless these worms fall slower than any stick bait I've ever seen.  When the bass want a slow fall, this presentation can out perform the ever so popular Senko mightily.

    When the bass are suspending in 5 to 15 feet you can add a small split shot weight about two feet up the line to help get the bait to the fish quicker.  Adding a 1/16 oz split shot or mojo weight will let the bait fall at about a foot per second.  So toss it out, count it down, and slowly begin retrieving it back with a twitch-twitch-pause retrieve.  This can be killer in submerged grass, using the mojo weight instead of the split shot will let the rig slide through the grass without getting hung up as much.

6. The Donkey Wren

Rod: 7ft Medium-Fast Casting Rod

Reel: 7:1 Baitcasting Reel

Line: 12 lb flurocarbon

Leaders: 8 lb flurocarbon

Tackle: 2 1/0 Offset Roundbend Hooks

            2 swivels

            2 glass beads

    Fish this rig just like you would the weightless Texas rigged Talking Stick.  It always makes it more fun knowing you have a chance at catching two bass at once.  Once you hook up on a fish, don't reel him in right away, let him swim with it and play with it for a while.  How many times have you reeled in a bass to see another one follow him in all the way to the boat?  With this rig, that follower will be caught too.  Bass just can't stand seeing their friend have all the fun, they'll want to join in too if the opportunity is there for them.

    How to rig the Donkey Wren:  Start by tying two swivels on to your two 8 lb flurocarbon leaders.  You want one leader to be about twice as long as the other (10 and 20 inches are a good place to start).  On your mainline put on a glass bead, then the longer of the two leaders, then another glass bead.  After the second bead, tie your shorter leader to the main line..  Tie on your hooks to the end of each leader and you're all set.  Remember these two important things:  (1) The first swivel should just be threaded onto the main line so it can move freely up and down the line along with the beads.  (2) That leader should be the longer one, otherwise the leaders will just become a twisted mess.

    I like to throw this rig on casting gear because I have more control over the fish with it incase I hook up on two at once.  If you're not able to throw such a light presentation with a baitcaster, a spinning set up will work just fine too.

    The beads are optional, but I like them for three reasons:  They make a clicking sound to attract fish, they protect the knots, and it gives the impression of a third little baitfish that the two bigger baitfish are chasing, like a mini little food chain all in one rig.

7. The Weightless Wacky

Rod: 7ft Medium-Fast Casting Rod

Reel: 7:1 Baitcasting Reel

Line: 10 lb flurocarbon

Hook: 2/0 Gamakatsu Weedless Wacky

    You don't need the O-ring tool, or even the O-rings, but it will make your life easier and you won't be going through worms as quickly.  If you use the O-rings, be sure to use two.  Cross them over each other creating an "X" and put the hook between the two, underneith where they cross so that the hook is held perpendicular to the worm.

    I use this presentation with the 5 and 6 inch Quail Tails and Talking Sticks.  Sometimes I'll rig the hook through the middle, other times towards the nose.  The sink rate differs quite a bit so you'll just have to experiment until you get bit.  This worm will not fall horizontally, instead it will glide nose first off to one side or the other.  This mimics a dying baitfish much better than a stick bait that wobbles end to end as it sinks straight down (I mean really, have you ever seen a baitfish do that?). Despite the different action, fish it the same way you would that wacky Senko.  It won't work every time, but on the days that the traditional approach isn't paying off, this might be the ticket.

    So there you have it, seven finesse presentations that you can try with these great little worms from Cactus Wren Outdoors.  Visit them online at www.cactuswrenoutdoors.com and pick up a few packs of Quail Tails and Talking Sticks.  I hope I see you out on the water soon!