Bass in Hydrilla or not?

[CanoeKing]

On the farm ponds I usually fish, I can always catch plenty of bass by dragging a lizard over and off of floating grass mats. I'll always see bass lurking in the grass and along the edges. At Nickajack, though, we saw no bass in the grass (hydrilla, I think). All of our strikes came when we were not fishing over the grass--whether in/over the deeper water or in only 2-3 feet.

We thought the hydrilla would be a haven for the bass, but we saw far more fish where it wasn't growing. Is that typical?

Do bass use grass (particularly hydrilla) differently at different parts of the day?

 

[Fat Albert]

<font face="comic sans ms,sand" color="#ff0066" size="3">the grass down on the Nick is Milfoil not hydrilla......and yes, the bass and all fish love the grass....use a rat or a frog but don't set hook on the first explosion....wait till you feel her on the line then set hook......FA</font>

 

[CanoeKing]

sdfd29 - 7/22/2008 7:04 PM
...

Here is a good site for grass identification http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/index.htm

Butch

That is an AWESOME site! After reviewing it, though, I am 99% sure that what we were fishing over was hydrilla, not Eurasian watermilfoil. It was very, very rigid, almost woody or twig like and had those very even whorls of leaves extending up the stalks.

Also, for the first time, I was able to ID the grass I've usually fished over in the farm ponds as Widgeon Grass.

sdfd29 - 7/22/2008 7:04 PM

... That is why FA suggested the frogs for the lures. The bass can sense/feel the frogs moving across the top of the mat. When you get to a opening, pause the lure. You must wait until you feel the fish on the line, do not set the hook when the fish blows up on the lure.
...
Butch

I've been doing this for years on ponds, over/on/across the widgeon grass. I use weightless rigged lizards this way, too. I always wait until I feel the weight of the fish.