Big Bass Flippin'
by P.J. Pahygiannis
You’re a Die-hard bass addict and its 100 degrees outside. You desperately need a kicker fish to just possibly win the biggest tournament of your life, so what do you do? You go into head-to-head combat with the bass; you go flipping for a chance for a monster kicker bass who will give you the absolute win of your life and even more.
In the scorching summer months after the bass finish spawning in states such as Maryland, the months of June, July and August are when it’s really hot and sticky outside and the air is heavy. Many fish are head directly to thick vegetation along with other types of cover such as wood or other man-made structures, to beat the intense summer heat.
As the water temperature steadily increases from the intense sunlight and heat, aquatic plants such as duckweed and milfoil become denser and greener as the water gets warmer. As they grow thickly up off the bottom and lush up on the surface; this attracts pretty most any species of bass, along with both large and small bluegill. The water is much cooler beneath the grass because it blocks out that hot sun that humans hate. Many bass or even schools of 2-3 fish will gather and bunch up under this dense surface-matted vegetation along the bank and you can present your lure to them in a variety of ways. You can locate the better grass beds and eliminate not so productive ones in a variety of ways; one of these is by flipping or punching lures using heavy tungsten or lead weights to punch through the cover with lures such as the Teacha-Worm's Gecko and the Teacha-Worm's K-Craw. You can also flip or pitch this set up into any visible holes in the cover or the actual submerged grass line below the water’s surface that is sometime see-able in clear water where you can see the grass starting to grow and matt up and off the bottom from the roots up. Usually, it’s been my experience that you will find a larger bass and a few smaller ones in each duckweed plant bed.
A good grass bed will generally have multiple bait fish, such as bluegill around, both inside the grass line, in which you can sometimes see them through the holes in the elodea, and outside the defined grass line, and if there is a wood cover such as brush piles or stumps nearby it often improves the chances for it to hold bass. An example of this is when you have an overhanging bush or tree that’s roots extend into the water and are then covered with grass that mats up on top of the roots.
Flippin baits like the 6.25 inch Teacha Beast into Grass helps you have a even better chance at catching bigger bass! |
To test a grass bed for bass, I like to punch the vegetation with a Strike King Hack Attack jig, choosing the weight or size depending on how thick the cover is and how matted it is on the surface. When using the Hack Attack, I will add a trailer such as the Teacha-Worms Brush Bug, or the Teacha-Worms 6.25-inch K-Craw. After punching through the cover; I’ll jig it up and down vertically, or shake and hop it to draw the strike. My setup for fishing cover is hefty braid, fluorocarbon, or Monofilament with a medium heavy, fast tip, fast action 7’6" Bass Pro Shops graphite flipping stick with a 7:1:1 gear-ratio bait caster with a fluorocarbon line up to 25-pound test, and green Spiderwire braid up to 65 pounds.
When punching through dense vegetation with lures such as the 3.75" Crazy Craw, I would recommend using tungsten weights all the way up to 1.5 ounces. When you feel a bite, make sure you are prepared for the fish to run, be able to set the hook, and bring him up out of the vegetation immediately, this is one of many reasons for a tightened, rock solid drag as it could be quite critical. Sometimes bass prefer one type of vegetation, for example, a bass will prefer duckweed patches that are mixed in with surface algae. To get a bite you must present your jig or soft plastic lure only in the duckweed patches. I have found that if I am flipping a bait like a 3" tube in the grass on the edges of the pond or lake, and they aren't striking it well enough or are just not paying attention to it; I will place a small glass rattle far up in the tube, and then shake it in the grass bed.
Here is another technique I have come to love, and I still use to this day. If the fish are looking for a certain fall rate and the fishing weight I am using isn't getting through the grass, or is getting hung in the grass, I will make a cast that goes straight up into the air with a lot of force so it will get through the grass more quickly. I usually only have to use this technique when fishing pond algae that has crusted on the surface area along the bank.
When you're fishing worms in a grass cover of any kind, you should use the appropriate pound test line so you can effectively "horse" the bass out of the heavy cover quickly. While working the bait, I like to keep my rod pointing down towards my lure and the cover and shake it steadily in the cover for a few seconds. When you feel a bite, wait less than a second and then set the hook hard with your rod in a vertical position over the cover.
If you would like to add more bulk to your jig when flipping heavy cover, try adding a lizard or a craw like bait such as the Teacha-Worms Big Hoss by threading it onto the hook of your jig. If you want a more finesse approach to flipping you can try smaller, more compact, small profile soft plastics or jigs. With the Right conditions, these techniques can pay off with some big bags come tournament time or your next outing.
When available, I like to flip soft plastics and Jigs under overhanging bushes and trees and let them jiggle. Usually a fish will take the bait as it falls or once it lands on the bottom, and will run with it out of the vegetation, tree, or bush. A good time to target bushes and sunken trees with weighted soft plastics or jigs is during the post spawn. In the event of a cold front coming through, I will down-size both the weight and the size of the lure I’m fishing with. For example, if I was fishing a 5-inch bait before the cold-front, then I would down-size the bait to a 3-inch bait in the same color.
Another thing I try when all else fails is flipping my lure directly up to the bank with the duckweed or algae. When I arrive at a lake or pond, I start out at the shady corners, especially those created by overhanging trees that have grass growing under or beside them.
Learning to fish cover and thick vegetation can be a very rewarding skill/technique and can produce big fish, but when you hit that “magical” grass bed it can be loads of fun. Occasionally, it may take a few times to find that perfect patch of vegetation, or sometimes, you'll get strikes on your first flip into the grass patch. Either way, it will pay huge dividends and most importantly, BIG BASS.
About the author: PJ Pahygiannis
PJ is an avid bass fisherman, boy scout and currently still in high school. He fishes almost every day and enjoys learning and using such techniques as, pitching and flipping, frogs and finesse tactics. His favorite body of water is the Potomac River in Maryland, where he fished his first tournament. PJ is a member of the NAFC, FLW and BASS, as well as the Fish On Bass Anglers.
