What Makes Productive Grass Fishing

This time of year, with acres of grass showing throughout the lake there are several ways to find big fish; one of them is flipping or pitching Tight-line Jigs in the heavy grass along the grass beds. The key is finding productive grass, and with the lake covered in milfoil or hydrilla how do you accomplish this?

There are some key elements that I believe the grass must show for me to fish it. Remember that bass head to the heavy grass in the heat for a reason, the water is generally cooler under the grass mats by 5 or more degrees and the bait is generally buried in the grass. So the elements are simple, the grass must be thick enough to block some of the heat from the sun, so the water cools underneath it and next the bait must be visible at some point around the grass edges.

Take those two basic elements combine it with a few more natural surroundings and you will have a formula for a good flipping area. The other natural elements I look for is pretty simple, the grass must have a deep edge on some side of it, an area that the bass can quickly move deep if spooked, I believe some depth of around 10 ft. or more is all the depth you need.

Next the grass must offer enough breaks or holes in it for the fish to ambush bait, and for you to flip a jig in it. If I don抰 see enough holes to flip in I generally find the bass don抰 feed in it and move on. Lastly I look for activity, any kind of activity from feeding fish to grass -flies or little black flies that everyone hats, buzzing around the grass. When I see that kind of activity I can promise you that the bass are present and will react to a big Jig dropped on its head.