Landing Bass through THICK! Milfoil/Vegetation - Advice Needed

The small pond I fish the majority of time has a history of being heavily
vegetated. I had an opportunity to fish for a couple of hours yesterday
afternoon and noticed that, with the exception of a few pockets of open
water here and there, the lake is nearly completely covered with milfoil.

Overall I had an excellent afternoon of bassin'. Landed a couple of 1.5 lb
LMs and a 2 lb momma that was full of eggs and probably ready to bed. (I
know that probably doesn't sound like much to you guys but considering that
I haven't gotten out as much as I'd like due to the strange Spring we've had
in WI and the fact that the pond doesn't hold a lot of big fish I was
feeling pretty good about it!)

My typical presentation to combat the thick vegetation is a t-rigged 5"
senko on a 3/0 offset worm hook with a piece of splitshot utilized at times
for weed penetration purposes. I feel like it is a pretty decent
presentation although it does seem the splitshot is a double-edged sword.
Sure you get a little more penetration BUT you also have something else the
weeds can grab on to.

Anyways, after thoroughly fishing the shores I had access to and whatever
openings in the weed beds I could locate, I started tossing out to the
middle of the pond where vegetation was heaviest. From the maps I've seen
of the lake it appears that there is a slightly deeper flat running down the
middle of the pond and I believe that the bass stage there pre-spawn before
moving to the shallower flats near the bank to bed down. In the course of
about 20 minutes I had received two MONSTROUS hits each time setting the
hook with a nice smooth dip n' rip of the rod tip only to promptly lose each
fish as they balled themselves up in the thick vegetation. I'm curious what
I can do differently technique or presentation wise to minimize these sort
of occurrences. My first thought was changing my line from mono to
supermono thinking that besides the increased durability the supermono might
cut through the weeds a little more effectively. Aside from that thought, I
have no ideas of how to attack this problem.

Any thoughts, advice, comments or critiques are greatly appreciated!!!

J.P.

"J.P." long_jp(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
The small pond I fish the majority of time has a history of being heavily
vegetated. I had an opportunity to fish for a couple of hours yesterday
afternoon and noticed that, with the exception of a few pockets of open
water here and there, the lake is nearly completely covered with milfoil.

***Milfoil can be a double edged sword. While it does offer excellent
cover, it can take over a lake, like you've discovered.


Overall I had an excellent afternoon of bassin'. Landed a couple of 1.5
lb
LMs and a 2 lb momma that was full of eggs and probably ready to bed. (I
know that probably doesn't sound like much to you guys but considering
that
I haven't gotten out as much as I'd like due to the strange Spring we've
had
in WI and the fact that the pond doesn't hold a lot of big fish I was
feeling pretty good about it!)

***It really has been a strange spring hasn't it? One day it's in the 80's,
the next day it's down in the 40's. The poor fish in my neck of the woods
don't know what in the heck to do.


My typical presentation to combat the thick vegetation is a t-rigged 5"
senko on a 3/0 offset worm hook with a piece of splitshot utilized at
times
for weed penetration purposes. I feel like it is a pretty decent
presentation although it does seem the splitshot is a double-edged sword.
Sure you get a little more penetration BUT you also have something else
the
weeds can grab on to.

***Try a bullet weight pegged from the back side. It will reduce the amount
of weeds catching on the weight.


Anyways, after thoroughly fishing the shores I had access to and whatever
openings in the weed beds I could locate, I started tossing out to the
middle of the pond where vegetation was heaviest. From the maps I've seen
of the lake it appears that there is a slightly deeper flat running down
the
middle of the pond and I believe that the bass stage there pre-spawn
before
moving to the shallower flats near the bank to bed down. In the course of
about 20 minutes I had received two MONSTROUS hits each time setting the
hook with a nice smooth dip n' rip of the rod tip only to promptly lose
each
fish as they balled themselves up in the thick vegetation. I'm curious
what
I can do differently technique or presentation wise to minimize these sort
of occurrences. My first thought was changing my line from mono to
supermono thinking that besides the increased durability the supermono
might
cut through the weeds a little more effectively. Aside from that thought,
I
have no ideas of how to attack this problem.

***You don't say what type of tackle you're using. When fishing slop like
you describe, you need to go heavy on your tackle. A heavy baitcasting rod,
or flippin stick is what I would be using under these circumstances, coupled
with 30 to 50 pound PowerPro line. I know it's not very sporting to use a
7'6" flippin stick on 1 to 3 pound bass, but that's the only way you're
going to get them out of the milfoil.

You have to hammer them on the hookset, get their head turned in your
direction and be able to keep them up on the surface if you intend to land
these fish.

So JP, you coming to the Northwoods Classic in Rhinelander this fall?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

what state was this lake in?

I would be using 20-30 pound braid, and the bullet weights, a medium/heavy
rod would also work well for those conditions, having fished a lot of slop
it important to get a good hookset and some good line to cut through the
slop and get that fish out, I just love me some slop fishing, right up there
with getting fish out of the sticks, adds and extra challenge to it all.

Randy-



"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"J.P." long_jp(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
The small pond I fish the majority of time has a history of being
heavily
vegetated. I had an opportunity to fish for a couple of hours yesterday
afternoon and noticed that, with the exception of a few pockets of open
water here and there, the lake is nearly completely covered with
milfoil.

***Milfoil can be a double edged sword. While it does offer excellent
cover, it can take over a lake, like you've discovered.


Overall I had an excellent afternoon of bassin'. Landed a couple of 1.5
lb
LMs and a 2 lb momma that was full of eggs and probably ready to bed.
(I
know that probably doesn't sound like much to you guys but considering
that
I haven't gotten out as much as I'd like due to the strange Spring we've
had
in WI and the fact that the pond doesn't hold a lot of big fish I was
feeling pretty good about it!)

***It really has been a strange spring hasn't it? One day it's in the
80's,
the next day it's down in the 40's. The poor fish in my neck of the woods
don't know what in the heck to do.


My typical presentation to combat the thick vegetation is a t-rigged 5"
senko on a 3/0 offset worm hook with a piece of splitshot utilized at
times
for weed penetration purposes. I feel like it is a pretty decent
presentation although it does seem the splitshot is a double-edged
sword.
Sure you get a little more penetration BUT you also have something else
the
weeds can grab on to.

***Try a bullet weight pegged from the back side. It will reduce the
amount
of weeds catching on the weight.


Anyways, after thoroughly fishing the shores I had access to and
whatever
openings in the weed beds I could locate, I started tossing out to the
middle of the pond where vegetation was heaviest. From the maps I've
seen
of the lake it appears that there is a slightly deeper flat running down
the
middle of the pond and I believe that the bass stage there pre-spawn
before
moving to the shallower flats near the bank to bed down. In the course
of
about 20 minutes I had received two MONSTROUS hits each time setting the
hook with a nice smooth dip n' rip of the rod tip only to promptly lose
each
fish as they balled themselves up in the thick vegetation. I'm curious
what
I can do differently technique or presentation wise to minimize these
sort
of occurrences. My first thought was changing my line from mono to
supermono thinking that besides the increased durability the supermono
might
cut through the weeds a little more effectively. Aside from that
thought,
I
have no ideas of how to attack this problem.

***You don't say what type of tackle you're using. When fishing slop like
you describe, you need to go heavy on your tackle. A heavy baitcasting
rod,
or flippin stick is what I would be using under these circumstances,
coupled
with 30 to 50 pound PowerPro line. I know it's not very sporting to use a
7'6" flippin stick on 1 to 3 pound bass, but that's the only way you're
going to get them out of the milfoil.

You have to hammer them on the hookset, get their head turned in your
direction and be able to keep them up on the surface if you intend to land
these fish.

So JP, you coming to the Northwoods Classic in Rhinelander this fall?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

First of all, thanks for the valuable input!!

***You don't say what type of tackle you're using. When fishing slop like
you describe, you need to go heavy on your tackle.

Ahhh...that makes sense. I was using much lighter gear than you've
recommended. My setup consisted of a 6' 6" medium-heavy Shimano Clarus
spinning rod w/ a Shimano Sedona 2500 spinning reel....not real conducive to
horsing fish outta the thick stuff.

I guess I'll have to give my wife the unfortunate news...my hand is now
forced and I'll *have* to branch out to a bait casting setup. :-)

You have to hammer them on the hookset, get their head turned in your
direction and be able to keep them up on the surface

Got it! Small room for error in this situation it seems

So JP, you coming to the Northwoods Classic in Rhinelander this fall?

Unfortunately, I'll be visiting relatives in NY city that week. Sure sounds
like a blast though..I'll keep it in mind for next year.

J.P.

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"J.P." long_jp(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
The small pond I fish the majority of time has a history of being
heavily
vegetated. I had an opportunity to fish for a couple of hours yesterday
afternoon and noticed that, with the exception of a few pockets of open
water here and there, the lake is nearly completely covered with
milfoil.

***Milfoil can be a double edged sword. While it does offer excellent
cover, it can take over a lake, like you've discovered.


Overall I had an excellent afternoon of bassin'. Landed a couple of 1.5
lb
LMs and a 2 lb momma that was full of eggs and probably ready to bed.
(I
know that probably doesn't sound like much to you guys but considering
that
I haven't gotten out as much as I'd like due to the strange Spring we've
had
in WI and the fact that the pond doesn't hold a lot of big fish I was
feeling pretty good about it!)

***It really has been a strange spring hasn't it? One day it's in the
80's,
the next day it's down in the 40's. The poor fish in my neck of the woods
don't know what in the heck to do.


My typical presentation to combat the thick vegetation is a t-rigged 5"
senko on a 3/0 offset worm hook with a piece of splitshot utilized at
times
for weed penetration purposes. I feel like it is a pretty decent
presentation although it does seem the splitshot is a double-edged
sword.
Sure you get a little more penetration BUT you also have something else
the
weeds can grab on to.

***Try a bullet weight pegged from the back side. It will reduce the
amount
of weeds catching on the weight.


Anyways, after thoroughly fishing the shores I had access to and
whatever
openings in the weed beds I could locate, I started tossing out to the
middle of the pond where vegetation was heaviest. From the maps I've
seen
of the lake it appears that there is a slightly deeper flat running down
the
middle of the pond and I believe that the bass stage there pre-spawn
before
moving to the shallower flats near the bank to bed down. In the course
of
about 20 minutes I had received two MONSTROUS hits each time setting the
hook with a nice smooth dip n' rip of the rod tip only to promptly lose
each
fish as they balled themselves up in the thick vegetation. I'm curious
what
I can do differently technique or presentation wise to minimize these
sort
of occurrences. My first thought was changing my line from mono to
supermono thinking that besides the increased durability the supermono
might
cut through the weeds a little more effectively. Aside from that
thought,
I
have no ideas of how to attack this problem.

***You don't say what type of tackle you're using. When fishing slop like
you describe, you need to go heavy on your tackle. A heavy baitcasting
rod,
or flippin stick is what I would be using under these circumstances,
coupled
with 30 to 50 pound PowerPro line. I know it's not very sporting to use a
7'6" flippin stick on 1 to 3 pound bass, but that's the only way you're
going to get them out of the milfoil.

You have to hammer them on the hookset, get their head turned in your
direction and be able to keep them up on the surface if you intend to land
these fish.

So JP, you coming to the Northwoods Classic in Rhinelander this fall?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

J Buck:

The pond I was fishing is located near Madison Wisconsin.

J.P.

"J Buck" wrote in message
...
what state was this lake in?

On Thu, 20 May 2004 11:45:35 -0500, "Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
wrote:


"J.P." long_jp(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
The small pond I fish the majority of time has a history of being heavily
vegetated. I had an opportunity to fish for a couple of hours yesterday

I'm with Steve on this one. Stout tackle, superline and I would add
one more thing: a reel with a good line recovery rate. Hook 'em, get
'em turned up and skate 'em as best as ya can.

Harry J aka Thundercat
Brooklyn Bill's Tackle Shop Fishing Team
http://www.geocities.com/brooklynbill2003/products.html
Share the knowledge, compete on execution.

Thundercat wrote:
Hook 'em, get
'em turned up and skate 'em as best as ya can.

Where'd you learn that technique, Harry?

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Where'd you learn that technique, Harry?

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

I taught him on some true Okeechobee hogs Rich.
--
The most precious thing we have is life, yet it has absolutely no
trade-in value.
Good Fishing - Moe
Moe's Guide Service (Lake Okeechobee) - http://moebassguide.com
Outdoor Frontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com/index

On 21 May 2004 00:21:40 GMT, (Moe Conway) wrote:

Where'd you learn that technique, Harry?

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

I taught him on some true Okeechobee hogs Rich.

I actually got a whole lot of practice for Okee over at Mudge, yankin'
hawgs from pads and weeds a good Scorpion cast away. On big fat bodied
Salad Spoons so learning to to set a proper hook was a must too.

Harry J aka Thundercat
Brooklyn Bill's Tackle Shop Fishing Team
http://www.geocities.com/brooklynbill2003/products.html
Share the knowledge, compete on execution.