Last Saturday I had a really rough tournament, only caught 2 small ones on a weightless senko, and my partner caught 2 small ones on a topwater, had no other bites all day.

I've only been into bass fishing for almost 3 years and just started tournament fishing a year ago. Although I don't have that much experience I have had my fair share of success(including winning several quality reels and gift cards) in fishing large tournaments on a variety of waters. So I was rather disappointed this past weekend. I would have picked up a ned rig, but there was too much grass everywhere.

 

conditions-post long series of cold fronts water temp had dropped 20 degrees in 3 weeks.

There was lots of grass(not matted, most just died in the past week), rock, and timber.

Water clarity varied depending on location(1-3.5 feet)

Me and my partner threw moving and finesse baits. I threw a shaky head and weightless senko probably 70% of the time.

 

 

I don't mean to overcomplicate this, but I just want to know what finesse baits do you like to throw in the grass when conditions are tough and what would you have done in my situation?

A grass jig or a Texas rigged ribbon tail or trick worm with a really light weight, fish super slow. A small sized swimbait rigged weedless might have fit the bill also. Those conditions are tough. To be honest, I would have lost my patience and junk fished solid structure in shallow water. But even still, I never count out a jig and a jerkbait in the cold months. 

 

Was there an option to explore some deeper water? ...With perhaps some different structure, like humps and grass edges? Fall and winter are really tough for me. I just don’t have the patience for it. But sometimes if I can’t get a bite in shallow water, I’ll go and graph the deeper areas and try some different things there. Like dragging a football jig, jerkbaits, drop-shotting, yo-yo a lipless crank. A lipless crank is also a very good option in the grass btw. Even when the fish aren’t active, a lipless crank can produce bites. Hang in there man. Winter fishing for me is about being outside. If I catch a few fish, it’s a bonus. 

I would have gotten away from that grass if at all possible. The big red flag in your story was that all that grass had recently died, meaning a big reduction in oxygen and big increase in carbon dioxide in the water. Fish are going to try to avoid that if possible. If they can't get away completely, the edges are going to be your best bet and let something soak like a lightly weighted plastic, and move it along slowly.

 

The other option is to go the opposite direction and try to drop a heavy jig or punching plastic on them and try to get a reaction strike and cover water quickly in search of those few active fish.

Wacky Rigged Trick Worms & yes they are more weedless than ya think.

 

Ya didn't mention what topwater but a Pop-R, bone/orange belly. Fish it extremely slow & subtle.

 

While I agree with @Bluebasser86 about avoiding dying grass but always remember once grass is dead it holds heat!

Thanks for all of the advice so far. I mostly fished shallow, I only fished a few drop offs and points that just happened to be close to some shallower spots I had caught fish at the past few weeks. I didn't feel adventurous to fish out the 2-3 rock piles I had graphed before. I'll make sure to keep a more open mind next time and hopefully I can also improve my grass fishing game.

What was the water temps where you were fishing? Was there a thermocline?

As memtioned above aviod brown aquatic growth becuase of very low DO levels.

Small bass are the last to leave cover areas because it provided them a sanctuary to hide from larger predators and a food source all summer. The adult size bass leave first and follow the food source and seasonal changes occuring.

Fiknesse usually means light line presentations and you mentioned a Ned rig that usues light line. Light line and aquatic plants or grass don't mix well, no problem getting strikes, big issue putting the bass in the boat.

Wind is your freind in fall to winter transition where grass is dieing off, fish the wind blown areas or located green pastures in deeper water. Determine if the lake has turned over, look for a thermocline if it's not there and the water doesn't smell or have clumps of debris it the cold water period or basses winter.

Tom

On 11/15/2019 at 5:21 PM, JK Jake said:

conditions-post long series of cold fronts water temp had dropped 20 degrees in 3 weeks.

There was lots of grass(not matted, most just died in the past week), rock, and timber.

Water clarity varied depending on location(1-3.5 feet)

Me and my partner threw moving and finesse baits. I threw a shaky head and weightless senko probably 70% of the time.

 

 

I don't mean to overcomplicate this, but I just want to know what finesse baits do you like to throw in the grass when conditions are tough and what would you have done in my situation?

I fish local to you. Here's what has been working for me in our nutty fall temp drops:

 

Owner flashy swimmer, comes in willow and colorado.  With a Keitech fat impact 2.8 3.8 4.8, depending on what they want. I bought the 2.8 by accident, but they come in handy on tiny underspins and spinnerbaits. 

 

It's small, it's weedless, it's seasonally appropriate, and you can fish it lots of different ways.