Down here in south Texas, many of the ponds I fish have TONS of submerged grass. Today, I was throwing a Strike King Caffeine shad. Twitch, twitch, pause...boom! I reeled down and set the hook on a monster! As I reeled her in, she broke surface and I could see she was a tank! She dove deep and wrapped herself up in the grass. My pole was a medium/heavy fast action with 15lb braid to 12 lb flouro leader. She wouldn't budge, so I let some slack in the line and waited. Less than a minute later, she bolted and my drag went out. It was set pretty tight, too. I let her run a little and then reeled her in pulling my rod upwards trying to get her on top of the grass. It was no use and she dove again. I walked about 20 feet to the right and 20 feet to the left trying to free her. I did the same before. She was in there good and my rod tip was bent way forward. I didn't know what to do. I waited a few minutes with a lightly taunt line. She never moved again and I was afraid she would work the hook loose. I decided best plan was to muscle her out. I got as close as I could to her and slowly pulled the rod upwards. She freed herself and got away. My line was unbroken. The whole event took 7 minutes. Yes, I timed it from the moment she buried in the grass. My question: what is the best course of action in this situation? Should I have waited? Is it better to risk your line being broken and just pull them in? What would you do? This is the 3rd time I've fished this place. Water is slightly stained and have no idea how deep it is. I'm guessing <8ft. Going in was not an option...possible Darwin Award. The bank looks fairly steep. There's a very good chance this will happen again in the future. Any advice is much appreciated.

Sorry for your loss. A bummer for sure. That’s why it’s called fishing and not catching and unfortunately, you win some you lose some and we know it hurts. We’ve all had those moments. However, with that said, there are some basic principles that can improve our odds. 1) Always maintain tension on the line and the bigger the fish the more crucial and critical this is. 2) Apply maximum pressure on the line by maintaining at about a 45 degree angle with the rod (in front of you is zero degrees and above your head is 90 degrees in the vertical plane) regardless of the plane your are holding the rod. This allows your rod to apply the most direct pressure on the fish and gives you the best chances to keep that tension. It is this tension that reduces their chances of getting away, spitting your bait, or allowing them to jump. It is also this max pressure that gives you the best chance to coax them away from the cover when those opportunities present themselves to you. Incidentially, if you mean “raising your rod” as going straight vertical such that you made your rod almost bend 90 degrees, then that is a 100% no-no. A - This is known as high-sticking the rod and the potential for the rod to break is great. B - Your rod cannot provide the required power in that position. I am willing to bet you felt like you had no control to play or horse the fish in ways you could gain an upper hand. I bet it felt like your rod felt inadequately powered or dare I say underpowered. It was most certainly not; but you did confirm for yourself that in that position, your rod was not in an optimum position. The last thing is patience if you were unable to prevent them from hunkering down into cover at the start. In the grand scheme of things is 7 minutes really a long time? Okay, it is, lol but I think you get the point. Be patient, stay calm and cool. With that said, I feel for you. Sometimes I suffer through a few weeks of shoulda, coulda, and woulda and might even wallow in some self pity and repeat that lost battle in my brain 1 a million times a day. one last thing. One of the sneakiest things the fish can do that can throw a monkey wrench in keeping tension on the line is them swimming toward you. You have to be mindful of that and reel up that slack asap. This is a double edged sword for the fish. On the bright side, them swimming toward you is also an excellent opportunity for you to gain ground on them. ??

How to get bass stuck in grass...lost my PB today

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June 18, 20232 yr

Super User

@padlin echoed what Tim said and they're both right: The key is to not let them reach the weeds. @Bankbeater's suggestion is great. Start back-pedaling when you hook the bass as well as reeling like a dervish.

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June 18, 20232 yr

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I had a good hook set and started hauling her in. She came up to the surface and broke water. There were submerged weeds between me and her. She dove down about 15-20 feet from shore and buried in them. I try to haul bass in as fast as possible, but this one got the better of me. I'm going to buy some heavier braid for the next time this happens. I also have tendonitis in my elbow and arm, and this does effect the power I have. Would having a more moderate action tip help out in these situations?

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2 weeks later...

June 27, 20232 yr

Super User

On 6/18/2023 at 5:41 PM, Flushdraw said:

I had a good hook set and started hauling her in. She came up to the surface and broke water. There were submerged weeds between me and her. She dove down about 15-20 feet from shore and buried in them. I try to haul bass in as fast as possible, but this one got the better of me. I'm going to buy some heavier braid for the next time this happens. I also have tendonitis in my elbow and arm, and this does effect the power I have. Would having a more moderate action tip help out in these situations?

You're gonna want a long heavy power rod with a more moderate action tip and some really heavy braid and like others have said you're gonna want to reel fast and walk backwards.

I'd go 7'6 or bigger for what you're doing.

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June 27, 20232 yr

Some Really good advice in here, I have a few questions that'll hopefully result in further advice:

What are all of your current combos (brands & specs [instead of Mh or Heavy etc share lure ratings] for rods and reels)?

How dense is the vegetation?

What hook were you using (size, type, xx or superline)?

We'll tighten up the recommendations considering all the previous info you shard and these answers.

We've all been there, I'm still heartbroken like 6 years later after watching a fish I would've married spit the hook at me, flip me the middle fin, and swim off. I'll never knowingly let a fish jump again.

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How to get bass stuck in grass...lost my PB today

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