Hi everyone,

 

Yesterday I decided to try targeting some largemouth on a predominantly smallmouth populated lake. I found that the fish were holding under floating mats of vegetation that had been blown into existing structure, whether it be timber, lily pads, weed beds, or docks.  The water depths varied from 1' to about 6' and as usual some of the areas had lead in cover while others did not.

 

My first choice in lures was a frog and it really helped me locate fish in the mats that I found myself fishing. The bass would usually blow up on the lure but weren't able inhale the whole bait. I think a lot of this had to do with the thickness of the mats I was fishing. I would follow up with a punching rig and proceed to bring in whatever fish were located under the mat which made the day quite enjoyable.

 

My query is this; when fishing mats situated in deeper water, like 4' or deeper, has anyone ever tried a reaction bait like a jerkbait or spinnerbait along the edge, and if so, were you successful?  Or do you just go straight to the punching rig?

 

Normally I'm not adverse to try different things but I didn't have a big window to fish so stuck with what was working until the evening jerkbait bite picked up.

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback people can provide.

I run a bladed jig around those mats with a lot of success. A weightless T rigged plastic can do good too. 

also try a Baby 1- around the edges. works for me.

It all depends on their feelings on the day in my opinion. They will chase a swim jig or a spinner bait if they are feeling active. I have also had days that a drop shot is spectacular right next to the edge, but their are days that they will not move far enough to leave the mat to bite at all.

 

I always start the outside edge first, because it is a faster approach to maximize the odds of catching fish in my limited time. I don't often work a frog on dense floating mats, but instead go straight to punching if the edges don't work. I havent had good hook ups on frogs in those situations.

I as well like the edge better. seems like I get a lot of misses when blowing thru a heavy cover. how ever I do like pulling an unweighted worm or lizard off of the mat.

Thank you to all who replied, your suggestions will be put to use next week when I'm out on the water!

Like some of the above posters, I too like to start outside and work my way in to the mat.

 

The outside edge may sometimes be under water!

i do the same as Bluebasser run a bladed jig or a spinnerbait along the edge of the mat to find the active fish that are on the edge then go to froging and punching