How To Find The Right Grass

Editor's note: This blog installment comes from Fishhound pro staffer Capt. Mike Gerry.

This time of year, with acres of grass showing throughout a lake, there are several ways to find big fish. One of the best ways is by flipping or pitching jigs, like those made by Tightline, into the heavy grass along the grassbeds. The key is finding productive grass, but with the lake absolutely covered in milfoil and/or hydrilla, how do you accomplish this?

A section of grass must first show me some key elements before I choose to fish it. Remember that bass head into the heavy grass during the heat of summer for a reason: The water's generally cooler under the grassmats, sometimes by 5 or more degrees, and the bait's generally buried in the grass. So the key elements I look for are quite simple – the grass must be thick enough to block some of the heat from the sun, and the bait must be visible at some point around the grass edges.

Take those two basic elements, combine them with a few more natural elements and you have a formula for a good flipping area. The additional natural elements I look for are pretty simple too.

First, the grassbed must have a deep edge along some side of it, which provides a safe area that bass can move to if they get spooked. A depth of around 10 feet or more is all the depth you need.

Second, the grassbed must have enough breaks or holes within it that the fish can use to ambush bait, and to flip a jig into. If I don't see enough holes to flip into, I've generally found the bass don't feed in that grassbed.

Lastly, I look for activity – any kind of activity, from feeding fish to grassflies or those little blackflies that everyone hates buzzing around the grass. When I see that kind of activity, I can promise you that the bass are present and will react to a big jig dropped on their heads.

Capt. Mike Gerry has lived in north Alabama since the 1970s and has been fishing Lake Guntersville for over 35 years. He owns and operates Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service and books individual, group and corporate trips. He also offers pre-tournament trips for competitive anglers. Visit FishLakeGuntersvilleGuideService.com, send him an email at bassguide@comcast.net or call (256) 759-2270. He'd love to hear from you!

FISHHOUND NEEDS ANGLERS TO TEST AND REVIEW SOFT-PLASTIC BASS BAITS FOR FREE! DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE.