4 replies to this topic

[VABasser]

I got a question for all of you who fish heavy and shallow vegetation frequently. I fish the tidal Potomac, and if you don't know, the Potomac is loaded with all sorts of aquatic grasses. Fishing large grassbeds, often matted as the grass grows throughout summer, is standard procedure. The vast majority of the grass you are fishing is in water <5 feet. In water that shallow I know a lot of fish get spooked when they hear the trolling motor, especially when you've got to run the TM at a fairly high speed to chop through the grass. I know this is true because in water <2.5 I can often see wakes from fish shooting out when they hear the motor. If I'm throwing a frog or some other long distance bait this doesn't worry me too much, it just makes long casts all the more important. But it affects my confidence if I'm flipping and pitching. I don't have a power pole on my boat to anchor up in a particular spot, so if I'm trying to hold in a particular area running the TM is inevitable. Just want to hear some ideas about this, maybe some tips you all use to be as silent as possible. If there is a favorable wind, sometimes you can use this to drift you through a grass bed, but this isn't always practical, and you're at the mercy of where the wind blows.

[Nitrofreak]

Couple of things come to mind, if I know where I want to be, I will put my anchor in the water before I arrive to my spot, I drift in close and slowly let the anchor touch bottom.

Even with doing all you can, to be as quiet as you can, you are still going to spook the fish, but giving it enough time the fish will most of the time come back with in the hour.

During that time making sure your casts are as quiet as possible, keeping your rod low and casting your bait just off of the surface for the absolute softest landing possible will increase your chances even more.

[bayouXpress]

the stealthiest way is to drift. You are at the mercy of the wind, but sometimes it actually puts you on a spot you would have not normally fished and actually catch from it.

If its real windy and the grass is sparse I like to drag an anchor.

If its real thick and the wind is not enough to drift, use a push pole

[Bassn Blvd]

Sometimes I will use a push pole to navigate through heavy grass and lilly pads. I made the pole out of PVC for about $10.

Another tip: when using the TM, travel AGAINST/INTO the wind.

[Bluebasser86]

the stealthiest way is to drift. You are at the mercy of the wind, but sometimes it actually puts you on a spot you would have not normally fished and actually catch from it.

If its real windy and the grass is sparse I like to drag an anchor.

If its real thick and the wind is not enough to drift, use a push pole

Like he said, pull up the motors and drift if you can. I won a tourny last year fishing shallow weeds. My trolling motor was dead from the start so I just drifted and fished the weeds. I only caught a few fish but it was enough to win in a tough tourny.