Weeds

[sonicsink]

Weeds are driving me nuts. I hate reeling in and dragging back a bunch of weeds on my hook. I have bought a few lures that say you can cast them out through weeds, but they keep getting stuck or I end up dragging a bush back to shore. I'm thinking either I'm doing something wrong or the manufacturers are full of shit

How do you guys do with jigs, spoons, spinners, etc? I'm thinking jigging a big juicy worm with a bunch of millfoil attached to it isn't going to look that appealing to a bass. He's probably looking at it going WTF

[zippyFX]

A couple of things I try:

- I have a weedless spoon (1 OZ) that I use which tends to cut through the weeds pretty well. I think its a daredevil.
- I go top water which reduces but does not eliminate weeds
- If the weeds are below the surface I try to use lures that would stay above the weeds (for example lures that go to 1-3 ft, if the weeds start @ 4ft)
- casting between weed beds if you can.
- Texas style rigged weedless with a weight heavy enough to punch through the weeds.
- Live bait on a bobber (worms or minnows)
- Tube rigs on on a bobber.

[OldTimer]

Like ZippyFX said............

No lure is totally "weed-less"............ you have correctly established the stuffing material within the manufacturers who claim such.............smile

OT

[MichaelAngelo]

For bass in the weeds it's tough to beat a weedless jighead (they have stiff hairs that jut out infront of the hook) with a crawfish, twister tail, or swimbait. It's my go-to.

Texas rigging plastics on a notched worm hook works well too, I haven't used that method very much though. I like feeling the weight of the jighead. I have a feeling the fish prefer weightless though ;-) lol


Edit: my go-to right now is a weedless jighead and crawfish. I throw it into a small hole in the pads/weeds and let it sink. Then I twitch it slightly. If a fish is there, it should get picked up. If not, I work it along until I get stuck on a weed and then reel it back in, clean it up, and repeat at another small opening. So I'm not really moving my lure much for it to accumulate weeds. I'm just poking around.

[tweedwolfscream]

As weedless lures go I find the Jaw-Breaker works pretty good for not getting snagged. I'll end up dragging weeds on the snap swivel it's hanging from, but not the hook/lure itself. zippyFX, maybe that's the spoon you were referring to? It seems to be mostly sold in red and white like a Daredevle though it comes in other colours.

[MRQturbo]

Texas rigged senkos...my fav weedless so for bass..

[zippyFX]

(10-07-2013 05:09 PM)tweedwolfscream Wrote:  As weedless lures go I find the Jaw-Breaker works pretty good for not getting snagged. I'll end up dragging weeds on the snap swivel it's hanging from, but not the hook/lure itself. zippyFX, maybe that's the spoon you were referring to? It seems to be mostly sold in red and white like a Daredevle though it comes in other colours.

You actually had me thinking.... I had a jawbreaker last year and lost it some heavy weeds. The one I currently have is a 1oz weedless daredevil with feather.

[OldTimer]

In pondering this......... I'd say that (in my outings) - I've never really caught a lot of fish on the so called "weedless" lures or rigs.

Have any of you? - If so why buy the "weed-ful" lures at all...........and go "weedless" all the time...............hmmmmm?

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

(10-08-2013 03:37 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  In pondering this......... I'd say that (in my outings) - I've never really caught a lot of fish on the so called "weedless" lures or rigs.

Have any of you? - If so why buy the "weed-ful" lures at all...........and go "weedless" all the time...............hmmmmm?

Cheers,

OldTimer

Same here.

Weedless properties (weedguards, buried hook point) ofter interfere with hooking property.

Just the past 2 days, I've been chatting with a friend who's in Florida now fishing for Cobra Snakehead. He's using Stanley Ribbit Frog and had a heck of a time hooking the snakehead...even when the fish are visibly swallowing the frog at his feet. He's 0/12 so far...

Although fish are related to weeds, sometimes really thick weeds are haven for juveniles, but it could be too thick for bigger fish. Really thick canopy obscure your lures from being seen. Personally, I prefer to work the weed edge.

From shore, you always have the issue of thick weed mats closet to shore...and attempting to reach the weed edge could almost be impossible. Sometimes I just cut my loss and find less weedy areas to fish. If you're snagging weeds every cast, it's just as good as not fishing there since you won't catch any of the available fish in that area anyways.

You could argue that a Texas-rigged worm, or a weedless jig would allow you to fish in deep mats. It is true in certain situations...but most applicable when you have a short length of line from the rod tip to the lure, that implies being right close to the areas you are pitching the lure. If you cast it 30-40 feet away, with the line sitting above the weed canopy, you can kiss any sensitivity goodbye...it is not the way to fish those lures at all.

Other lures, such as buzzbaits, spinnerbaits...etc...are pretty weedless, but best fished in areas with gaps between strands of weeds or worked on the edge. And even then, you have to plan your cast such that your lure's path travels between weed clumps instead of through them. Those spinning blades are really bad at gathering weeds.

[MichaelAngelo]

I swear by my weedless jigs. Of course, one of them failed at hooking a small muskie 3 times in a row. But perhaps I wouldn't have gotten those follows had I not had the confidence to dunk the jig right in the weeds.

Time and place... remember my spring Niagra report? Weedless jighead stayed presentable and clean for longer. It could be worked slower, through the weeds instead of just over them. It made a big difference in my success.

I have hooked a lot of bass on weedless jigheads and only missed a few... a few where I didn't "bass master rip your arm off" the hookset. You really gotta give'er to push the weedguard down. The hook has to be kept perfectly, "stick-to-your-fingernail" razor sharp, because the odds of getting a great hookset do stack against you when you have all those stiff hairs or plastic in the way. Even still, I have not had issues when I let the bass grab the jig for a while before driving it home.

edit: this is how I feel after going from catching nothing at my friend's cottage last July to catching a lot of fish this July. I really feel the weedless jigheads accounted for this difference.