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Fishing the Grass - Spring & Summer
By Charlie Hammack

March/April 2001

The second of a two-part grass fishing series, these spring and summer techniques are aimed specifically at two legendary East Texas fisheries, Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend. The first in this series, covering Fall and Winter patterns, appeared in the Nov/Dec 2000 issue. As the author said in part one, "There are many other forms of vegetation found in East Texas besides hydrilla - pepper grass, eel grass, coontail moss and milfoil – but when the subject of fishing the grass comes up, 'Us East Texicans know we is a talkin' about Hydriller!'"

Hydrilla found it’s way into lakes throughout the South after it was imported for aquarium use. As I mentioned in the first installment, we’re concentrating on Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend – two reasons East Texas is touted by some as the "Bass Fishing Capital of the World."

Hydrilla played a big part in that reputation but when it first arrived, bass fishermen didn’t like it at all - it was a nuisance. It took years for the pros to develop proper techniques for fishing the grass. Here is the basic script for grass fishing in the Spring and Summer on these two famous lakes.

Ah, what fisherman doesn’t love springtime bassin’? In East Texas I’ve seen grown men dance around like school boys, as they impatiently await the spring, and the corresponding spawn. Abandon the grass and hold onto your . . . uh, I mean, umm . . . your fishing rods, ‘cause the fish are gonna be on the bank!

Or are they? There will always be fish that stay on or near the bank in the spring, day and night, but the majority will ease up into the shallows only after the sun has warmed the water from the previous night’s chill. Until then, they will seek the security and stability of conditions in the grass.

With that in mind, start your springtime bass search on the "inside line," or edge of the grass beds. Do the same thing you have been doing during the preceding month - that is, if your elbows and wrists haven’t been completely dislocated by now!

The smaller males will be the first to move to the beds, while the larger females will hold back and stay closer to the security provided by the grass cover. For jigs, T-rigged Hulas and lizards I like combinations of pumpkinseed-chartreuse, watermelon, watermelon-red, watermelon-chartreuse and black-blue. At times, they may all work at this time of year, as the bass are basically eating anything that doesn’t eat them first!

As the spring wears on somewhat, and the spawn has moved into full swing, fish will be moving from the inside edges of the grass to the spawning areas and back again. This cycle plays out for weeks at a time. Just prior to the spawn, you will find pre-spawn bass, then a mix of pre-spawn and post-spawn bass, and finally, more and more bass in the post-spawn phase.

After the females have done their "spawning thing," they will move off the beds, but not as far and not as fast as some folks may think. Basically, the first available cover outside the spawning area suits them just fine, at least for a day or two. This may be flooded brush, or again, the inside edge of the grass beds.

Within just a few days these big girls will start eating again, making up some serious ground lost during the spawning cycle. Chances are, the post-spawn females won’t be as aggressive as you found them to be during the pre-spawn, but they will eat with the proper presentation. Basically, slow and easy will get the job done under most circumstances.

The bait colors I prefer during this period are those that closely imitate the local baitfish - i.e. shad and sunfish colors. While shad are basically on the menu year round (as sunfish are to a lesser extent) the sunfish become a larger part of the female bass’s diet as the season moves into early summer. As the sunfish set up their beds, the big female bass won’t stray too far from those big, easy meals.

As the summer gets wound up and swings into high gear, we start seeing temperatures in the mid-90’s, to low 100’s. The days are longer, rains have slowed and the water is getting clearer by the day . . . and the grass is going nuts, growing as much as an inch a day!

The grass that survived the winter and began to thrive in the spring is now beginning to "top out." It’s creating heavy mats, while the outside edge of the grass is extending as deeply as the sunlight’s penetration will allow. This past summer I saw outside the edges of hydrilla extending to 22 feet, with reports from local guides of some areas where the outside edge was as deep as 30 feet.

This occurred on the south end of Toledo Bend, as this portion of the Lake gets really clear (for our part of the world) in mid summer, and stays clear into the fall. Sheer walls of hydrilla (grass growing from the bottom and establishing a heavy mat) were found in 18 feet of water.

These walls and mats provide the bass with large areas of shade and cover in which to hide, rest, and feed . . . without ever needing to leave the grass. The inside edge is still there, and along with peppergrass is creating a shallow-water, safe haven for the newbie (young of the year) fish.

Early in the morning, some topwater action will be found in the early summer over the inside edges, but this will be more and more limited as the temperatures rise and the summer progresses. This appears to be more prevalent on Toledo Bend than on Sam Rayburn.

Why? Beats me! These two lakes are less than an hour apart and located on the same latitude. While the temptation is there and very strong, you will be well advised not to stay with the topwater action for very long on Toledo Bend. Many times the topwater bite will be better later in the day, when and if the fish start schooling over the creek channels.

Sam Rayburn, on the other hand, has a better topwater bite in the early mornings throughout the summer. But once the sun has come up and is starting to beat down pretty good, it is time to get deep and get nasty. Texas-rigged worms; Ikas, craws, and grubs will all work once you find the fish. Carolina-rigged plastics dragged along the outside edge of the grass will also produce.

Heavy jig ‘n craw combinations get the nod for bigger fish. Jig weights of 3/4-ounce to 1 1/4-ounce are popular weights for probing the outside grass lines, and the 1 to 1 1/4-ounce are absolutely the minimum necessary if you intend to penetrate the heavy hydrilla mats.

There are days when a jig just can’t be beat, and other times when the bass just won’t eat it, preferring instead a simple Texas-rigged craw or grub. During the summer months, colors like black/blue, grape/greens, plum/blue, plum/greens, and pumpkin/greens will all work well at times.

One technique that differs greatly from the norm for this time of year is fishing a Senko either "Tex-posed" or wacky style. Simply pitching the Senko along the outside edge of the grass and having the patience to let it slowly fall to the bottom can generate some serious weight when the bite gets really tough.

I have caught fish upwards of nine pounds utilizing this exact technique. I suggest that you don’t use this technique to "find" fish, due to the considerable amount of time it takes to cover the water. However, if you know the fish are there or you’re at least reasonably sure, but you’ve been unable to get them to bite, give this Senko technique a try. And, don’t be surprised if something down there starts pulling the front end of the boat around after you have set the hook!

Like most everything else in life, fishing the grass effectively and efficiently takes some "learning," but it’s well worth the effort. With just a few basic techniques in hand and a bit of seasonal understanding, fishing the grass can be very rewarding; and, like many top fishermen, you’ll be heading for the grass at every opportunity.

I hope you can make plans to fish Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend soon - some of the best bass fishing in the world is waiting for you here, tucked away for safe keeping . . . hidden in the grass. Have fun!

There is one particular electronic "trick" that grass fishermen should learn and practice, especially when fishing the deeper grass in the summer months. Typically, we set our bow mounted LCR or Flasher to sensitivity settings high enough to provide a "secondary" reading -- by doing so we assure that we’re missing nothing through the lack of electronic "sensitivity". (Note -- This is an "old hand’s" flasher trick. If the bottom is 16 feet, you turn up the sensitivity until a second, faint return shows up at 32 feet. At that point the sensitivity is about right for most conditions -- but not for grass bassin’!)

However, this all totally changes when fishing the grass. Setting your sensitivity levels that high will provide you nothing but a "solid wall" reading on your graph -- it will essentially tell you nothing. Reduce the sensitivity level to the point where you can actually see "through" the grass and pick up the bottom. This little detail can be extremely beneficial. Sometimes it’s the only way to locate key schools of fish.

When the grass grows thick and heavy, some small ditches and guts can be filled in or covered over, at least as viewed from the surface. However, what you see on the surface is not necessarily what’s true below the surface and under the grass.

With your sensitivity settings reduced to a correct level (lower than normal), those guts and ditches will actually be readily apparent, providing you with the information you need to probe these areas with appropriate baits.

If you fail to detect these key changes in the bottom contour, you’ll likely miss out on many obliging fish. Most fishermen simply pass by these fish, never seeing them and without so much as presenting their bait anywhere close to them.

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