It's that time of year when the grass gets thick and forms thick canopies. It can be hard to fish, but worth the effort because it's often where the big girls live! Here's how to effectively fish the grass:

 

 

Glen, great job on this video!   You've covered a lot of ground here.  The Johnson's spoon is one of the world's best forgotten lures.  

Thank you sir!  Glad you liked it!

 

I won't get out till about 1:00 today and it's going to be hot and sunny, I will have to try out a couple of these techniques that I don't normally try.

Good stuff here. I use a lot of these tactics. Do you rig the Johnson spoon with a trailer or just use it bare? I have one of these that I've only used for saltwater.

I rig my Johnson spoons with a Zoom split tail trailer.  Cut off about a 1/2 inch and tread it on the hook so it looks like a flog's legs.  It gives you the capabilities of a frog with the flash of a spoon. The hook on a Johnson spoon needs to be sharpened before you use it. 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

I rig my Johnson spoons with a Zoom split tail trailer.  Cut off about a 1/2 inch and tread it on the hook so it looks like a flog's legs.  It gives you the capabilities of a frog with the flash of a spoon. 

Since you're in shiner country, do you use the gold ones?

Just now, the reel ess said:

Since you're in shiner country, do you use the gold ones?

Yes.  I like the 1/2 oz. size.  The bigger spoons tend to hang in the grass. 

Just yesterday I left the launch towards thick grass with a Johnson spoon tied on one of my eight rods.   Struggled mightily....and didn't remember until now that I had that spoon on....never even remembered to throw it....feeling a little foolish right about now

Lots of great lures are forgotten in time.  Anyone remember the Snagless Sally?

I learned to use a baiting casting reel and bass fish using a Arbogast Hawiian Wiggler #3 weedless spoon that looks exactly like Catts skirted Johnson Silver Minnow spoon.

Big Bear lake develops a thick weed/grass mat line and weedless spoons work great.

Tom

6 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

Lots of great lures are forgotten in time.  Anyone remember the Snagless Sally?

Or the Herb's Dilly?

12 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

Lots of great lures are forgotten in time.  Anyone remember the Snagless Sally?

Is it still available?

9 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Is it still available?

Yes 

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

Lots of great lures are forgotten in time.  Anyone remember the Snagless Sally?

I had a BPS inline buzzbait like that. It had the worst hookup ratio of any lure I've ever fished. I finally gave it away.

If you look back in time you will see the first Heddon lures were frog imitations.  Beul spinners were being made in the 1800s.  Al Foss was making buzz baits before we were born.  The plastic worm was the first truly new bass lure and even they were similar to the pork rind eels our great grandfather's used.  A hundred years ago flipping was called doodle socking and was done with a jigger pole.  Every lure or bass fishing method we have today owes it's inspiration to anglers of the past.  

50 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I had a BPS inline buzzbait like that. It had the worst hookup ratio of any lure I've ever fished. I finally gave it away.

Shew buddy! I know some fellers that put a buzzbait blade on a snag less sally and they will accept no amount of money for them, believe me I’ve tried after they out fished me badly for a decade or so. Don’t give up on the inline buzzer! Hint: yours had the wrong kind of blade 

8 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Shew buddy! I know some fellers that put a buzzbait blade on a snag less bait and they will accept no amount of money for them, believe me I’ve tried after they out fished me badly for a decade or so. Hint: yours had the wrong kind of blade 

It must have sold poorly because I can't find one searching. I think it was an Uncle Buck's el cheapo. I think they did away with that line of bass baits and replaced them with more expensive baits. I still have some of their Uncle Buck's spinnerbaits that flat out work.

3 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

It must have sold poorly because I can't find one searching. I think it was an Uncle Buck's el cheapo. I think they did away with that line of bass baits and replaced them with more expensive baits. I still have some of their Uncle Buck's spinnerbaits that flat out work.

I had a buck tail in-line buzzer commercially made and it sucked. The baits I’m referring to that catch the crap out of bass are homemade Frankenstein type things built from two commercial lures 

The Hildebrandt Snagless Sally is still made today.  I don't use it, but I do use their spinnerbaits. For those who don't know, Hildebrandt has been making lures forever.   Their spinner blades flash much more than the cheaper blades you find in Walmart.  You can hold them in your hand and see the difference.  The wire Hildebrandt uses is also thinner.  This makes the lure vibrate more than one with thicker wire.  I don't work for Hildebrandt and they aren't paying me to say these things.  They are worth the money.

 

With respect to Johnson spoons, it really doesn't matter whether you choose 

a gold, silver or black spoon, whether you add a single-tail grub, double-tail grub

or fish it undressed, you won't be able to destroy the fish-catchability of a J-spoon.

In one word, the magic of the Johnson spoon is “weedlessness”,

it's the lure that goes, where other lures fear to tread.

 

Roger

When i was a teen i was given a bunch of Johnsons spoons and thought they were to be fished like a daredevil but in weeds...they didn't work and I put them in the box never to be used.  Now they are old and rusty.  I may need to get new ones now that I have a better grasp on how to fish them...

15 hours ago, Catt said:

I know what i'm using this weekend...