Fishing the the thick stuff
By Preston Hensen
A lot of us go out on the water and fish defensively. We sometimes say its not worth the effort to cast to potentially "snaggy" areas because we might get snagged or its too thick to get a fish out. Well, for those of you who do this you are missing a whole new realm of bass fishing. We have it drilled into our heads that when fishing gets tough we need to back off and throw smaller baits. Instead lets think of it this way if your kids or your dog gets scared what do they like to do. They go hide, well most of them. I have turned many days around on the water just by going deeper into the cover. Yes, I still do back off and fish deeper but, I have learned that the better fish will back into the thicker deeper cover when pressured. You may not go out and catch 20 fish but the bites you do get will be better quality. In this article I will break down how I go about breaking down heavy cover and the techniques I use to do so.
Preston Henson is a Left Coast based angler fishing the BASS Opens back east.
The first thing you need to do is to get yourself at least a seven and a half foot flipping stick in a heavy action. I use a eight foot Powell because of my height. I like a high speed reel for this type of fishing. Some people say you want a slower gear ratio for added torque but, to me being able to reel the slack line in quicker gets you more fish. The slower gear also helps when that fish runs toward you (which is often because the other direction is usually bank) you'll be able to catch up to her. For line I use 65lb braid from Izorline. I use nothing but braid when punching. I will also run a black marker up and down the line to help camouflage the line. I use three sizes of weights, a 1/2oz, 3/4oz, and 1oz. This is plenty of weight to fish the heavy cover. A big key is to use the lightest weight possible to get through the cover. Bait selection is simple a Reaction Innovations sweet beaver and a new craw type bait from Black Dog (prototype, available soon) These baits are very versatile. If the fish in the cover are feeding on baitfish, bluegills etc., I will not split the rear tail on the sweet beaver, this gives the bait more of a gliding action which in turn looks more like a fish swimming. When there feeding on crawdads I split the tail so it looks like claws or fish the Black Dog prototype. Color selection I keep simple, I stick to natural colors, green pumpkin, watermelon, a mix of purples and chartreuse hues as well.
Now for the fun stuff, breaking down heavy cover. I will start with one of the most common heavy covers we deal with, grass, grass & more grass. We have all been out there when you pull into an area and go were do I begin because there is so much grass and mat. There are a few things I begin to do before I decide where to fish that grass. Step one is, is there any bait working in the grass, this might mean shad, pond smelt and even crawdads. Well, you might say Preston how can you see the bait if the grass is to thick.. There are a few things I begin to look for to give me some clues to if the bait is in the area. When you pull in shut the motor off and just begin to listen, what I am listening for is a popping sound or maybe a fish breaking through the grass. The popping sound is very important to me when fishing matted grass, what it tells me is that there are bluegill in that mat. That in turn is another clue to help with bait selection and also if I do get some fish out of the area I know what they are targeting and it helps me develop a pattern for other areas.
Just like they do when we are out fishing those bait balls and looking for the birds to help us, the same goes for fishing grass. It does not mean don't fish there if there are no birds! I only need one clue to be positive, popping sounds, fish movement or birds, to get me to start fishing an area. Also, the last clue is crawdads, this one is pretty basic I will reach down and pull up a big chunk of grass start tearing it apart and looking for the ‘dads. If there are some there then I will take a close look at their colors to help with bait selection. The crawdads are not all giant red Lousiana table ready crawdads, they can be little guys too. We are simply looking for a clue that they are there. Well, after all that fun we can now start to fish.
But wait where do I put that bait there is still so many options on where to flip? This may sound like a head ache but trust me once you get your eyes trained to what to look for it's a breeze. I look at a mat of grass like one would look at a bank of shoreline with rocks. I am looking for subtle differences, like a little change in the direction the grass is laying or maybe a stock sticking out a little further than the others, or a thicker part of a mat which transitions to a less thick mat. I am also looking for little holes that cause light penetration. Anything different in the mat or grass can prove to be a good spot. Maybe a ditch or a creek channel is under the grass, but, what it comes down to is good old gut instincts. Once I have exploited all the differences I pay close attention to where the bites come from. After a few bites you will be surprised of how consistent these fish relate to these differences and your eyes will start seeing them when you start to look down that massive grass bed.
Let's move to wood, I love flipping wood cover. The reason I love fishing this so much is that there are a lot of untouched, non-pressured fish. You may say, “But a lot of people are always fishing wood?” They do but 85% of them fish the outside or the logs that don't have a lot of branches. We train ourselves to not put baits in areas we may get snagged or potentially can't get a fish out of even if we did get a bite. Remember this slogan “You have to get bit first, worry about getting the fish out later.” When I fish wood I will put my bait in the thickest nastiest stuff I can find around that lay down. I have gone behind other boats and just whacked them doing this. I use the same setup I use when fishing grass. In wood, I will also implement a jig more. Sometimes you need that 1oz to break through the branches. This also triggers some devastating strikes as your bait crashes through the wood. As for how I select what areas to fish, it is similar to the grass tactics. There has to be some part of the food chain present, baitfish, crawdads etc. I do not worry about depth as much as I worry about the food chain presence.
Presentation in this thick cover is also very important. I am not just throwing it in there letting it sink and just moving on. I will try several different approaches. Remember use the lightest weight that you can get away with. The first way is just flip it in let it fall to the bottom and hop it pick up and repeat the process. When I hop the bait I am trying to key on a cadence of the bait that triggers the strike. There are even times when they want a slow fall and you will have to thumb the spool to slow the fall. Another over looked presentation is pitching in to a mat and bringing the bait back up just under the mat and keep hitting your bait on the underside of the mat. A lot of your crawdads crawl around on the underside of the canopy of the mat. The object is to make it look like a crawdad just hanging from the underside of the mat, don't let your bait fall to the bottom.
Remember this, let your partner say, “Your nuts for flipping in there.” You will be the one laughing at the end of the day. I hope this advice does you well and remember fish your strengths and go with that gut instinct and never second guess yourself . Good Luck to all.
