The first two Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments of the 2025 season at the St. Johns River and Lake Okeechobee will be pure grass fishing events. Grass will also be a huge factor at North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound, the third stop on the schedule.
I’ve always enjoyed fishing grass, and I keep it simple. My approach is to first identify what kind of aquatic vegetation grows in whatever lake or river I’m fishing. In Florida, Kissimmee grass, hydrilla, lily pads and many other species have bass potential.
When I’m searching for productive areas, I always start out with moving baits that trigger reaction bites. Evergreen’s Jack Hammer bladed jig and Grass Ripper are great tools for this. I dress the Jack Hammer with Yamamoto’s Zako swimbait and the swim jig with the Kickin Zako swimbait.
A key for me is to put the trolling motor on high and cover as much grass as I can until I find a wad of bass. All grass looks pretty, but only certain areas have the fish.
After I find a patch or line of grass that holds bass, I catch the aggressive ones first. Then I slow down and pick the grass apart with soft plastic baits.
On the other hand, when a strong wind pushes the grass around, the bass are less inclined to attack a bladed jig or a swim jig. In that situation, I have to resort to soft plastics to find them.
I employ Senkos in a variety of sizes for casting and pitching applications. I fish them wacky rigged and Texas rigged with and without weights. I also swim Yamamoto’s Speed Senko through the grass. It looks like a needlefish and kind of shimmies like a Senko on the fall.
I don’t get carried away with colors in Florida. I go with black and blue in tannic water and green pumpkin in clear water.
A new setup that has been big in Japan the last few years is the free rig. It’s deadly in grass, and I plan to take full advantage of it in Florida. You simply slip the line through a bell sinker before tying off to whatever hook you intend to Texas rig the bait to. I use mainly 1/4- and 3/8-ounce sinkers.
After you pitch the rig into the grass, allow a bit of slack. This lets the sinker plummet quickly to the bottom while the bait sinks slowly behind it. This lets you impart action to the free-falling bait by pulling and shaking the line.
When the bait gets down to the weight, pop the rig off the bottom and you can repeat this trick.
Of course, I’ll have plenty of 1- to 1 1/2-ounce tungsten weights to punch soft plastic baits through grass mats. Punching works best under a high sky and after a cold front. I did this a ton when I lived in California on the Delta and Clear Lake.
Typically, the biggest bass hang out under mats, but you have to be stealthy to catch them. They can hear that trolling motor, especially when it’s chopping through the grass. And they can absolutely hear the sonar pings emanating from four graphs.
I always turn off my graphs and fish with the wind whenever possible. Sometimes the breeze is strong enough to silently nudge you along, which is ideal. If the wind is insufficient, I push-pole to move about.
A lot of guys make short 5- to 10-foot pitches when they punch mats. I stay 25 feet back and make long pitches. I’ve had a lot of success doing that at the Potomac and Mississippi rivers and at grass lakes all over the country.
Even if the water is 5 feet deep, the bass often lie just under the mat near the surface. I like to let my bait slip through the mat and fall to the bottom. Then I’ll pop it up and down a few times.
If that fails to get a bite, I reel the bait up and shake it on the underside of the mat. I’ve caught a lot of big bass doing that.
