info on fishing delta grass

[MikeD]

cards on the table time - I need a clue on how to approach fishing the grass, I'm feeling very lost approaching large areas of grass cover in places like Venice, Franks, Mildreds, etc. I keep ending up against the bank throwing up tight and I know that I should be out in the grass but have no idea how to approach it. Weedlines I'm ok with, I just don't punch into it but I'll work either the inside or outside line - its the large areas of grass in the open areas that befuddle me, and I know that fish are in there but it seems impossible that they would bite that worm/jig/crank that comes up loaded with grass on the hooks.

seems like there are different grasses in different stages of life in various spots in the delta, hydrilla, milfoil - do fish prefer one over another? when the grass is dying off is there less oxygen produced which would drive fish out of the area? which grasses die at what part of the year? so many questions...

searched here for some info/an overview but came up empty

can anybody point me to a write up somewhere?

[jacob]

*NM*

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

I was and still am hoping to see a ton of responses to this post..But to just give you some insight on what I have done in the past, I try and fish the weedlines, both the inside and the outside depending on the tide/water level..In areas where there seems to be more grass than open water I will flip or pitch to visible holes in the grass..Chatterbaits were developed with fishing in and around grass in mind, they should work extremely well on the Delta..So far I haven't caught anything on a chatterbait except one striper..But I plan on using it a lot more ..

mac

[185vsfrog]

This is only my two cents. I usually fish along weedlines on lower tides. Speedtraps lipless cranks and spinnerbaits are good for this. On higher tides, I fish on top of weedbeds (fluke, chatterbait, spinnerbait, weightless worm) and at key points on weed edges. Also toss inside weed pocket openings weightless like senkos etc. Also, certain times of year, fish directly in weeds with heavier plastics pegged. Areas with dying vegetation usually have less oxygen but look to see if there is multiple types of vegetation because the other vegetation could be oxygenating the water enough to hold fish in the area. Usually multiple types of vegetation in an area is great for holding fish. Hope this helps. Don't be afraid of the weeds and grass, they are key cover areas in the delta.

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I think it offsets the lack of oxygen normally associated with dead or dying vegitation. It seems to me that freshly oxygenated water is constantly flowing thru any area that gets tidal current

[straitline]

Fish dont like the grass stay up on the bank!!!

[Tornado Dave]

Mike,

As you know, there are hundreds of ways to fish grass flats. You know the easy ones, fish the edges or over the top. Here are a few more that you can put in your bag of tricks:

Weedless drop shot - This can be fished two ways; long leader with the bait suspended over or at the level of the weeds. Use a mojo style drop shot weight and a standard off set worm hook. Rig the plastic weedless on the hook like a texas rig. medium cast and drag it and shake it. 10-12 lb flouro. Second is power fish it, same hook set up, but only 6-8" drop and a heavy weight. flipping distance only. The weight breaks the canopy and the bait is suspended in their face. Just like flipping a jig, either they are there or they're not, and after a reasonable amount of time, move on. 15Lb test minimum.

Shake it baby - When you catch yourself at low tide and you have clumps of grass, like in fishermans cut or by holland and a thousand other places in the delta. Take a wacky rigged senko and toss it in to the open pocket between the clumps and let it sink to the bottom. Then work it slowly until you get to a clump of grass. Now, in most cases our purpose is to get past the grass and continue the retrieve, not here. When you reach the grass, start to shake the senko in place and that will shake the whole clump of grass creating this cloud of silt from the clump and either you will work the senko through the grass and repeat the process on the next clump or you will get the most wicked strike of your life as the bass attacks the struggling prey in the grass. Trust me on this, you won't have to set, you will have no choice but try to hold on to your rod.

Swim a worm - This is great in clear water like Franks track, sandmound or Taylor, use a bright 1/4 brass weight and a visible ribbon tail worm like the berkeley t-sunrise. This is actually a lot of fun because you get to steer the worm around the weeds and into the valleys. But best of all, you will see the fish dart out of no where and snatch your worm. It is very cool if you are successful.

Of course, you can flip heavy jigs and stitch 7" senkos too.

We do it for fun...

TD

[MikeD]

thanks for the replies so far, I've been thinking more about this and I think that the real issue for me is that punching thru the grass leaves you with a fairly vertical presentation in a single vertical column.

once the weight punches thru the canopy it becomes difficult to move it to a new bottom location so you are left with an quick up and down movement, let it sit, up and down, bring it out and move it over and repeat - but its tough to cover a lot of ground with this style.

did get one small girl in the weeds on the back side of Coney on Friday on a stinko, but I'm still working on learning the grass techniques.

the other thing I learned is that there is mucho feedback on the line from dragging against the weeds, you really have to focus to feel the tick/bites on braided line

[Cooch]

The Delta bass relate to the various grass cover more than any thing else present on the river! Hence, there are always bass in the grass. The key is figuring out why, when and where. Right now, the bass are using the grass fer two purposes, one is to hunker and stage, the other is a comfort zone associated with cover next to a spawning location, ie; the bed!

No written words can help ya better at this time of year than getting out on the river on the low tides. Put yer rods away and just drive around the shallows on yer T-motor. Don't fish dood! It'll screw the thought process up! Just watch and observe. When ya find the fish, then begin to disect the area! Why are they here? Where did they come from? Where's the deeper water? What path did they use to git here? How will the tide affect their location, Hmmmm, low tide, I found em, guess they is gonna be in this same location as high tide! Guess I better stop fishin up in tha mud on the high tide! Wow, never thought of that!

Ya can't read this in a book dude. Ya gotta go experience it first hand! Git outa yer box, stop fishing and just observed. It sounds simple, yet the hardest thing for us ta tell the wive's, I'm going fishing, then just go and never take a rod out and observe! I spent half my day today on the river, just observing. Amazingly, I did really well later in the day when the tide came up. I knew exactly where the fish were, even though I could no longer see them!

[snapitoff2002]

Anyone try Lee Sisson's weedless crank's down there? I was wondering where someone would use them, but not sure if it would fit in the grass down there.

http://www.leesissonlures.com/

[ash]

Those cranks look kinda gimmickie to me. I can see that initail wire on the bill fouling up with moss and not allowing the bill to diflect correctly when hitting rock or tree.

I am still learning the aspects of fishing cranks in the grass on the delta. I have done OK soaking senkos in between grass clumps during low tide.

[scott h]

BIG OPEN WATER GRASS FLATS ARE NO GOOD STICK TO THE ROCKS! LOL. Coochs post pretty much nailed it you will learn the most by seeing the layout and how the fish relate on a low semi clear tide. then when you bank that knowledge you can go back when there is some water and know what you are fishing without having to see it. I see so many boats pull up on a grass flat and start chucking a trap hoping to catch a fish but in reality there is ALWAYS something in the grass that will concentrate more fish than the rest of the surrounding area, you just have to find that something. As DEE calls it chunkin and prayin! Dont be that guy! take some time and learn an area then once you figure what the fish are relating to you can expand your area. Good luck.

[DeltaDan]

I fiddle farted doing somethhing near that from Rock Slough to Orwood a week and a 1/2 ago on a really low tide at the begining of the income. pitching a jig up on the top canopy -- and then letting it fall off the ledge to the bottom and dead stick it with a couple of twitches while we still floated alongside with the tide taking us slowly back towards Orwood.

I kept looking for minnows and knats/skeeters durring the same time -never seing a thing for 1/3 of the float.


Ended up heading out and trying the Old River tules in the cleaner water with split shot robo's with 5/16th on light tackle at the foreward tidal island breaks/tide splits. Got ony three small ones - but they were the most important as they were all Jacks.



I stopped on the backside of Suicide durring the incomming also and tried that along time- where it has a preaty big flat- then a slopping ledge that suddenly drops off to 30+ feet. I focused on the pocket comming around the tules to the drop-off with a jig, dropshot, DT6 and a red RTrap to no avail. -- Water was really muddy in that area as well though.

Then hit DBay and could not even get a single Crappie at the marina.

I suck....

[Robert Ratzlaff]

wow Cooch you said mouth full there. When you come right down to it thats what one must do anywhere any body of water... I had a guy say to me here reacently, I prefished the Delta and can do no wroung the fish were stacked on deep water points and went there on tounery day and they were gone,,, Where did they go,,,
I asked him were there any near by flats or grass flats ? Hello ! I dont know the Delta all that well but I love it and have fished alot of hours there... Every time I go I go to school - to kearn more about the part of water that I fish I dont run all over the Delta to look for fish. I fish franks and Mildred and the lower middle river and the weather wind dictate all of this. Easter day was ok fishing blades over grass flats that were facing the wind. Best Fish was 7lb for 5 maybe 26lbs

[bassenvy]

some good info here guys.....has anyone heard of raking 1-2oz jigs on braid? I read about this in a book I'm reading and thought it might be deadly on the delta.

[MikeD]

... raking 1-2oz jigs on braid?

I'm not familiar with this technique, can you describe it?

[lucas boden]

or you can just take a remitz approach and go out on the high tide and rip a ratltrap through it and force 'em to eat it.

but if you wanna catch fish consistently you gotta go out and look for those weed lines. once the tide comes up thats where i start. fishing the cuts and weedlines and if i'm not getting them there i go out in the grass and start fan casting looking for them. that is when pockets in the weeds, depressions where the weeds are deeper, or logs and stuff attract the fish.

the good thing about fishing these kind of areas is that the water is so clear most of the time its easy to see these spots, remembering them is the key to goin back and catchin more fish

[bassenvy]

... raking 1-2oz jigs on braid?

I'm not familiar with this technique, can you describe it?

me neither....the way its explained you use an extra heavy rod with braid and rip through thick weeds near deeper water in the heat of the summer....allowing the heavy weight to land in the pockets ...supposedly you drag through the heavy veggies with the trolling motor running real slow