When he's not filming one of his shows or working as a commentator for the Major League Fishing tournament livestreams, JT Kenney is likely on the water fishing somewhere. He does it often during the offseason and winter months near his Florida home, which can be some of the year's best fishing.
With the warmer climate he lives in, there are many ways to catch them, but fishing a vibrating jig around the edges of grass or going right in the thick of it with a punching rig are two of the best ways to catch big ones. His insights on these two techniques will surely apply to Florida, but are relevant anywhere for catching bass around vegetation.
Punching for Giants
Punching vegetation always works in Florida, but it can be the best way during winter, especially if a dreaded cold front comes through. What he looks for depends on the specific fishery, but Kenney will punch a bait through anything he sees in front of him.
"Primarily, I'm looking for hyacinths and water lettuce, anything that's that bright green color," he said. "But on some lakes, it's mostly hydrilla, and I'll punch that as well. Typically, that's more of a warm-weather deal, but some lakes that's all they have to get underneath, so it's really just whatever overhead cover you can find."
One of his top baits for punching is a NetBait BaitFuel HexTek The Rascal Craw, a beaver-style bait. "It's got a HexTech design so it's more surface area to hold your BaitFuel scent, and it rigs great on a 5/O TroKar TK133 flipping hook," he said. "I adjust my weight a lot based on the thickness, but I use a 1.75-ounce a lot; I can slow down that big weight with my thumb on the reel if necessary. Some days they want that really fast fall to trigger then, and sometimes you have to have a slow fall or even hold it in place, you have to experiment every day with it."
Aside from the beaver-style baits, Kenney will mix in a more compact bait, the NetBait BaitFuel HexTek Eko Craw. "It's a thinner bait that's better when the conditions are tough and you need a more finesse profile with less flapping action than the Rascal," he shared. "I like both baits in green pumpkin and black and blue, obviously, but party gill and Toledo Special are two other excellent colors."
His rod of choice is a 7-foot, 9-inch extra-heavy Halo BB Frogging rod, which was designed for fishing frogs in thick mats, but also excels when punching. "That's the cool thing about many Halo rods, they will do two or three techniques very well," he said. "For punching, it's got the right length and action and handles a big weight very well. It's also got enough power to pull a giant bass covered in grass into the boat."
Vibrating Jigs
When he's targeting the edges of vegetation, Kenney says it's hard to beat a vibrating jig. They work everywhere there’s grass and why they are such popular lures.
"I mean, that's always a staple just about anywhere and all year long," he said. "I like to add a NetBait BaitFuel HexTek Whip Tail Shad on the back. I think it's the best trailer going right now because of the fish-looking profile that gives you a few different actions when it's coming through the water. It's got these four little fingers that pulse and swim just like a fish, and will be affected by any movement of your rod. It's also poured with BaitFuel inside it, so you don't need to add any scent immediately, but it has the design that holds it very well if you want to add some later on."
Kenney fishes his vibrating jigs on a 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy Halo cranking rod and prefers them because of the graphite blank. "Even though it's all graphite and not a composite, it's still very parabolic," he said. "Because of the graphite, it's also very sensitive, and you can feel every little piece of grass, whether using a vibrating jig or crankbait. Another thing I like to do is to fish it with a 30-pound or 40-pound braided line with a 10-foot leader of 20-pound fluorocarbon. That's a little trick Bryan Thrift taught me years ago, and it helps with casting and hooking fish better."
Fishing in Florida during the winter months can be incredible, and it's why so many journey to the state in the colder months. Fishing around grass is the name of the game there, and punching and throwing a vibrating jig can be two of the best ways to catch them. Even if you aren't in the "Sunshine State," these approaches will work if you fish for bass around grass.
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