Clear water & lots of hydrilla?

[Spectrum]

So as y'all know I moved here to Austin from up north last fall. I fished Erie for the last few years and that's it. I've been fishing Lake Austin a good bit since I live a few minutes away, but mostly from the bank at night and always the lower end of the lake.

 

Yesterday afternoon I hitched a ride for about a 4 hour trip, and we ran up the lake a bit. There is so much grass up that way, it's like nothing I've ever seen. Not unfamiliar to a lot of y'all I'm sure, but coming from Erie, it's a world of difference. During the day, different stretch of the lake than I'm used to, and from a different perspective (boat), it gave me a lot to think about. I knew there was a lot of grass up the lake, but what I had in my mind was not what I saw.

 

We're fishing maybe 20-25yds off the bank, sitting in 15-20ft of water, and the grass tops out about 3-5ft below the surface. It's like this from bank to bank, some stretches the grass is inches from the surface. The ends of docks and lifts are in 10 to say 18ft of water. Water is super clear, water temp about 58, air temp is about 70, overcast, 3pm-7:30pm.

 

I just brought 3 rods with me, 6" FS trout, Bass Wake Jr, and ROF 12 Hudd. A few more baits in the bag as well. I had planned on fishing the hudd around the outside edges of the grass. Weren't any, and really no lanes you could fish either. Actually swimming a hudd up in the water column just isn't something I have any confidence in. Drag or bounce it on the bottom, or swim it just off bottom, 25-40ft deep on Erie.

 

I'm trying to figure out options for fishing these areas. The only thing I have any confidence in is dragging and hopping a mission fish in the grass, or a punker, wake jr. etc. on top.

 

I watched an 8lb'er come from out of nowhere deep in the grass, and just t-bone a 14" dink the guy I was fishing with had hooked on a drop shot. Fish locked on, head hanging out one side of its mouth and tail out the other. Held on all the way to the boat and let go just as I got the net out. It was incredible to see in person, and really had me pumped for a swimbait bite, but nothing really going last night.

 

I figured some of you guys that see a lot of grass like the delta, florida, whatever, can reassure me that swimming a hudd over the top of grass like this is productive, or throw out some of your favorite baits for water like this.

 

My bad on the long ass post.

[MattyG]

I fish hydrilla in the delta with a mission fish. Works great!!! Sounds like you need a baby bass color lol...

[SPEEDBEAD]

Try throwing the ROF 5 or get a ROF 0 and weight it to be really slow sinking.

 

I'd be throwing some type of slow sinking bluegill bait there as well, for what it's worth from another PA guy.

[Jtelarkin08]

Sounds like a fs bass over the top of the grass would be awesome.

[SWIMBO]

Sounds like a fs bass over the top of the grass would be awesome.

Just what i was thinking.seeing that fish tbone a dink was your clue

[Spectrum]

Yea, I was completely unprepared with the selection of baits I brought. I think a ROF 5 will fish fine over the grass.

 

The only thing I had with me that was remotely sub surface was a bottom hook baby bass rising son, and I ended up fishing that most of the rest of the night once I came to the conclusion there was nowhere to throw the rof 12 hudd.

 

I have a couple of matts sinking soft gills I'll take with me on Sunday. I'm plenty familiar with the mission fish and just wished I had brought some with me last night. I know I can catch fish there with that bait. I was looking for other options.

 

Seeing that 8 chase down that dink, swimming its ass off, just has me thinking about moving baits versus pitching that mission fish around.

 

And the weedless hudd is obviously an option. I just have a serious love/hate relationship with it. I've caught a couple of fish, but it's such a pain to fish with the bladder always popping, filling up with water, having to dry it out and glue it back up all the time just to keep the bait from rolling all over the place on the retrieve.

[Spectrum]

Sounds like a fs bass over the top of the grass would be awesome.

 

Yes it would. Got to find one.

[Darth Baiter]

So easy......Weedless Hudds, Rising Sons, especially top hook, probably in Bass, Bluegill, white, or Black, Mighty Minnows in the same colors with a 6/0 BEAST hook ,Mission Fish in the same colors too. Also try some Little Boogers... If you have any, I'd look for shady areas or lanes in the weeds, you should be fine.

[Luke V.]

So easy......Weedless Hudds, Rising Sons, especially top hook, probably in Bass, Bluegill, white, or Black, Mighty Minnows in the same colors with a 6/0 BEAST hook ,Mission Fish in the same colors too. Also try some Little Boogers...

 

Try adding a mojo weight to the boogers and fish them 6" below the surface along the weedlines...great bait.

[Ceaser]

You know what Ive found with hard baits in the grass is you gotta hang it in there and then rip it out. Like rippin a rattletrap or a crankbait. Draw that reaction strike. My biggest swimbait fish on the Delta have came on a lipless swimmer that I reeled into a grssline or clump and then ripped it out. I usually do a double pull..one to get it out and then if not bite another one to clear the weeds from the trebles. The one in the Got em section under "there growing" also bit on a cast like this. hit an weed clump, ripped it free and she swiped it. Its a pain i guess to sometimes have to clear weeds from trebles or foul a bait. You'll get the hang of it just dont get frustrated. I do well with the weedless hudd. I get a decent amount of fish out each one but after 4 or 5 sometimes they're slammed. I just figure thats like $3 a fish.. i can live with that. I have tried swimming the weed edges and breaks but I do better when I crash into the cover and make em bite. Punchin with a mission fish works but I prefer a mighty minnow with a punch skirt up front and a tungsten. A ROF5swam right over the weeds works well. I like to burn em.. I think sometimes in heavy cover its hard for the fish to "track" or follow a swimbait so you have to give them a short window to react. These are just things I have had success with. Most of my swimbaiting is done in the upper water colum and it was a while before I got used to throwing the baits like I should. Oh yeah, water temps almost 60... id keep that Wake Jr. on deck and hold on. Hope this helps a little.

[Jtelarkin08]

The few times I have tried ripping hard baits out I have gotten frustrated. But I am keeping at it. I have some good areas I can't wait to do it at

[Arai]

I fish Lake Austin regularly and I've done well with the mighty minnow out there. Just FYI

[jonathando23]

All weedless Hudds. Mission fish. And I really don't wanna say this but punch some mission fish. Ud be surprised on the ways u can fish it. And is the hydrilla matty, like cheese matts?

[Bonesaw]

I fish a lake that is clear with alot of weeds in NC. Mission fish worked well in the winter. Recently I have been fishing a wake bait with a few blow ups. Water is right around 60 degrees. Today I had a 7 lber follow my bait to about 10 feet. Then it stopped and I tried twitching my bait a few times. It lost interest and then it did an about face, chased down a smaller bass that was also following I guess, and wolfed it down. I was dumbfounded. The small bass was about 14 inches as well I would say. Guess I need a bigger bait.

 

-Dave

[swimbaitrookie]

Something I used to do with "normal" lures and hydrilla was to put the boat on top of a hump or point, throw out to the clear water beyond the edge then bring the bait uphill into the edge of the grass and just shake it there. I've not had the chance to try it yet as the drought has killed all the grass in the lakes I fish, but I'd imagine that you could do similar with any sinking swimbait. Nose it into the grass and just hold it there?