7. Flip Matted Grass
When a lake is choked out with the green stuff, the deci-
sion of what to fish is pretty obvious. That’s also when
Dudley breaks out a flipping stick.
“That time of year the pattern is going to be a heavy
weight plunkin’ matted grass – punching big weights through
heavy cover,” he says.
“You have to read the grass very specifically. I’m looking
for a cavern underneath the matted grass. I want it to be
hollow. I don’t want it to be thick grass all the way through.”
Depending on the type of grass, you can usually look for
scummy mats or mats that appear to be more “mature”
because the longer a mat grows on the surface, the more
likely it is that some of the plants underneath the mat will
have died off and left a void. Edges of grass beds will also
create a wall and a cavern within.
“That time of year they could get back in the creeks pretty
good, but I would say focus on areas from halfway back in
the creeks to the main lake, where there’s some deeper
water within short reach,” Dudley adds.
A Texas-rigged creature bait with a heavy weight is
Dudley’s go-to. Frogs are fun, but he believes more tourna-
ments are won in grass lakes by flipping than frogging in
August and September. Later in the year, once the mats
really start to die back or the water drops and creates vast
matted areas, a frog is a bigger factor.
Regardless, it’s a power-fishing situation.
“You don’t have to really finesse them in grass. The
water’s hot, but they’re typically pretty aggressive. I’ll pump
the bait twice underneath that canopy, and if he doesn’t
have it after two pumps I’ll go to a new section.”
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2018 I FLWFISHING.COM
8. Fish Deep Structure
For Northern Smallmouths
Northern lakes are highly variable based on forage, cover
type and other factors. However, in Dudley’s experience, the
best late-summer, early-fall pattern on most of the glacial
lakes that are big enough to draw major bass tournaments –
Oneida, Champlain, Erie, St. Clair – is fishing deep-water
structure where the fish start to group up.
This scenario is probably the outlier when it comes to
fishing this time of year because the fishing can be really
good. Still, as fish pile into deeper waters, techniques for tar-
geting them require more finesse and accuracy.
“That’s when you’re throwing the Ned head and drop-
shot,” Dudley says. “I just utilize my electronics and go around
graphing for them. In September they really start ganging up,
like 20 or 30 fish. Check long points or humps that are out in
the middle of the lake. Deeper is typically better.”
It’s important to identify every option
for late-summer cover and forage, and
to test them all before settling on a
tournament game plan.
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