Northwest Fishing Reports

I tried to fish lake Terrel the other day and found it to be full of weeds. They were so thick I couldnt use my trolling motor. Even in the middle of the lake. There are lots of lillypads around the edges. first I tried a weightless senko. the weeds were to thick. Then I went to a top water frog. It was a little to windy and I had no luck. Anyone fish this lake and have luck? Or what would you try, It looks like a great bass lake?

if the weeds are grass-like, as in tall and thin, a spinnerbait actually pulls through them quite well without fouling up, and a lot of the times you'll entice a strike when you rip it free of the weeds. Also so long as the weeds aren't laying on the surface, a buzzbait is a great weedy bait to use when there's a little chop on the water, and it's maybe too windy to be accurate with a plastic frog. i absolutely love tossing buzzbaits and even topwater plugs above weed beds that end just below the surface. the other bait to use is one you and Dez mentioned, a weightless plastic. rigged properly you should be able to rip it free from most weeds without fouling. the exception in my experience would be milfoil, the devil of all weeds. incredibly thick and heavy, and branchy, so practically nothing pulls through it. if it's thick milfoil you're fighting i would say topwater plastics or find somewhere else to fish.

how deep do you run the trolling motor?

i am not sure what kind of topwater frog the viking did use...my favorite frog is yum's buzz frog. it shines for me big-time when i work on a heavy vegetation. i feel that when my retrieve is even faster, more strikes i will get. i usually follow-up to the spot with a jig or any plastics when a bass missed my fast-moving frog.

i also get some decent bass by pitching or flipping a 3/8 oz. jig with a trailer. I sometimes will try to cover lot of areas and looking for some reaction strikes.

i usually use my trolling motor anywhere i could go...until my trolling motor is all choked up with any form of heavy-duty weeds. Sometimes it is when the propeller hits a bottom of terrian and i could not employ it any more. the solution is push poles....8 feet to 20 feet long, depending how shallow water is. i sometimes bring my push pole so i could push myself around in a weed-choke area. it is definitely stealth apporoach without spooking the ultra shallow water bass.

lastly, you should know that a trolling motor causes lot of disturbances when working around the shallow area.
so please use your good judgment so you could show-off your lunker pictures with us!

tight lines.

I put a weed guard on my trolling motor years ago and it really helps.

Okay .. Listen up because im about to let go a good rig thats been very effective for me on these weedy and lilly padded lake .. I use a 1/4 once bullet weight with a #2 gama hook and a 3.5 " plastic crawfish rigged texas stlye ..hears the deal , that's a standard rig right ? But the trick with the bullet head weight is that it's a "screw in stem" , this allows the weight too stay in tact with the plastic at all times and it pulls through just about anything without risk of hanging up .. give it a go and i promise success .. I dont have a sponser or fishing any local tourneys so i dont mind giving up the goods too great group of guys .. BBD :king:

It is milfoil. I run my trolling motor just far enough under the surface so it wont make that chopping noice on the surface. I like the idea of pegging the weight to the plastic! If i fish this lake again, I will try other top waters, or fish it ealier in the year. It is one big weedy mudd puddle. Thanks for all your help. I went to a different lake today and pulled in 41 largemouth, nothing over 2 1/2#s but it was fun.

I hate Milfoil! I would try another lake there are many that do not have such bad weed problems. Thanks Dez for the info! It is like gold! Can I try tipping with some sort of Breakfast meat?LOL

Oh yeah I forgot if you can't find the screw in weights you can use a regular bullet weight and break off the tip of a tooth pick in the hole and it will keep the weight in place as well. Good Luck!

EdmondsBassMan wrote:I hate Milfoil! I would try another lake there are many that do not have such bad weed problems. Thanks Dez for the info! It is like gold! Can I try tipping with some sort of Breakfast meat?LOL

Oh yeah I forgot if you can't find the screw in weights you can use a regular bullet weight and break off the tip of a tooth pick in the hole and it will keep the weight in place as well. Good Luck!

Yup, yup. The poor mans pegged weight. I do it all the time when I need to punch through foliage. You can find toothpicks rolling around in my tackle right now.


fishnislife

Bigbass Dez wrote:Okay .. Listen up because im about to let go a good rig thats been very effective for me on these weedy and lilly padded lake .. I use a 1/4 once bullet weight with a #2 gama hook and a 3.5 " plastic crawfish rigged texas stlye ..hears the deal , that's a standard rig right ? But the trick with the bullet head weight is that it's a "screw in stem" , this allows the weight too stay in tact with the plastic at all times and it pulls through just about anything without risk of hanging up .. give it a go and i promise success .. I dont have a sponser or fishing any local tourneys so i dont mind giving up the goods too great group of guys .. BBD :king:

I like using the screw-in ones too, especially in the thick stuff, I beleive it's called a florida rig. Look for ones with rattles too, I think Davy Hite won the classic several years ago with the same set up. I'll use from a quarter to an ounce depends on how thick the weeds are.

the toothpick trick is great - i never have em tho, but you can always whittle a lil stick down to for a similar application.

EdmondsBassMan wrote:I hate Milfoil! I would try another lake there are many that do not have such bad weed problems. Thanks Dez for the info! It is like gold! Can I try tipping with some sort of Breakfast meat?LOL

Oh yeah I forgot if you can't find the screw in weights you can use a regular bullet weight and break off the tip of a tooth pick in the hole and it will keep the weight in place as well. Good Luck!

Stop giving away my secrets to these guys!! .. BACON RULES!! i willing to bet that you cant produce any info too prove me wrong .. i willing to pay THE SUM OF 1 MILLION DOLLARS ...lmoa ..BBD
:money:

I use rubber peg-its to peg my bullet weights. Just bought a 100 pack the other day. It doesn't damage the line like toothpicks.

Bass Pro Shops has a innovative bullet weight that has a small metal loop on the bottom. This loop slips just past the right angle in your worm hook, and does the double duty of not only holding your weight close to the hook, but also holding your bait on the hook as well. seriously the guy that invented these things deserves a Nobel Prize.