photo by chaD Love the bass liked it more than they did the willow grass because it ’ s like having milfoil in the lake . they gravitate toward it because it ’ s not on the shore . they can roam around in it , they can move in it , and it has a little more depth in it , which probably creates a little more oxygen in the water . then all the coontail disappeared , so the willow grass went back to winning . if it ’ s the best vegetation in the lake they ’ ll get in it .” canterbury also keys on willow grass when forage fish spawns occur among the stalks – shad in the spring , and bream in the spring and summer . the bream bed pattern is one of his favorites for targeting big bites in the warmer months .
Getting Dialed In
Beds of willow grass can line miles of shoreline in some reservoirs . successful anglers like canterbury learn to dial in on key spots and read the grass . he says the sweet spots and the “ patterns within the pattern ” change from day to day or week to week , and there are six things he looks for .
1 . Location within a lake – canterbury finds more summertime fish in main-lake willow grass near deeper water and current than he does in the creeks . catching these fish sometimes comes down to timing ; they move in and out , feeding in short windows . however , some of his biggest bass are resident fish that live far off the main lake , where they forage on bream . the creek fish are winning fish in one-day tournaments , but they don ’ t replenish quickly .
2 . Density – some days and in some conditions bass set up in sparse patches of willow grass , where you can get to them easily with moving baits . other days , they lay up under the densest sections , and flipping a heavy weight is the only way to reach them . canterbury tests both options in practice by fishing moving baits through sparse patches , but stopping to flip the thicker areas .
3 . Obvious targets – never pass up points , indentations , clumps and other obvious targets within the grass .
4 . Mixed cover – laydowns , trash mats and anything else within the willows will often hold a bass or two .
5 . Bottom makeup – at the 2014 forrest Wood cup on Murray , canterbury encountered some willow grass beds in
Flip with a Punch Skirt canterbury loves to flip a big jig in the winter , but in the summer a texas rig is more efficient for flipping healthy grass . he creates a similar profile as a jig by combining a punch skirt with a compact soft plastic such as a Netbait baby paca craw or Netbait b bug . “ I trim back the skirt to make it short and thin it down a lot ,” he says . “ It just gives a little more bulk , but I don ’ t like to go as bulky as a jig in the summertime .”
areas with pondweed growing on the bottom . for whatever reason , the bass avoided these areas , and he wound up keying on clean-bottom areas in front of the grass . it ’ s a trend he ’ s seen on other fisheries , too .
6 . Shade – the other component of his pattern at the 2014 cup was fishing shaded willow grass .
“ that has a ton to do with it ,” he adds . “ Knowing which bank to fish in a certain creek at a certain part of the day based on shade is important . some banks are shaded in the morning or the evening , or there could be two or three trees that create shade . that was the whole deal at Murray when i finished second . ninety percent of the bites were shade-related .”
A Power-Fishing Pattern
You can fish willow grass with a spinning rod if that ’ s your thing , but you don ’ t need to . in the summer , according to canterbury , the best approach is to power-fish with a frog , buzz toad , buzzbait , texas rig and a 1 / 4- to 3 / 8-ounce swim jig . if the fish are roaming a little deeper out in front of the grass , he winds a 1 / 2-ounce swim jig or chatterBait .
Where within the grass you find the fish determines the best bait , but generally you should work the outer fringes .
“ You want to fish through some of it [ the bed ],” canterbury says , “ but unless you have really high water , the fish are going to be in the outer couple feet of grass . You don ’ t have to fish up against the bank unless there ’ s super high water .”
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