I've been trying to follow the advice of more seasoned (and more successful) anglers and using crankbaits in my local lake where there is a lot of grass. Problem is that most of the time all I seem to do is create a "grass monster" when I try and rip it through the grass. Even a novice like me can see that a bass isn't going to attack a giant wad of milfoil moving through the water. So what am I missing here? From what I've been told Im supposed to "rip" it through the grass but that doesn't seem to work. Am I fishing a crankbait that is diving too deep? If so, do I need tons of different crankbaits to handle different depths? The area I fish has submerged grass with anywhere from a few inches to a few feet of open water above it. Is the bait supposed to stay in that area and not get down into the grass?

Thanks for the help!

Some grass you just can't fish a crankbait through.  You want to run it on top of the outside of grass patches and on top of the submerged grass.  If you use a shallower crankbait you can make it run deeper by putting your rod tip in the water but can still keep it above the grass.

Anthony

Keep it at the top where it just ticks the grass and when you start to bury up rip it through. Lipless cranks work the best.

Try a lipless crankbait.  You get more control over your depth and you can rip it up and out of grass much easier and better than a regular crankbait.  You could also try spinnerbaits, which is what I prefer for grassy situations.

I do a lot of this -can't avoid the weeds where I fish!

-Go up in rod power and line weight. Instead of the (now standard) moderate action rods go to a fast rod.

-Choose a fat type plug with a wide lip. Lots of em out there.

-Certain weeds are easier to fish through than others. I routinely fish through cabbage (Potamogeton), milfoil, and coontail. Coontail is softest and densest and therefore most likely to load up your lure. There are a few tricks to fishing it:

-Cast short. Don't cast long because you don't want to crash into the backside of a big clump and have to pull through it. It'll stall and load up with weeds. That's probably what's happening with you.

-Target the edges, and seams, deeper areas in between clumps. If you can see the individual clumps so much the better. I'll even buoy some of them.

-Crank down. When you bump a clump you have three options:

Give slack and the plug may float free. If it's calm, lay the line on the surface and watch it, bass will often take as the plug rises watch for the tick' in the line.

Another option is to walk' the plug through by pulling smoothly and firmly. Often a fat plug will roll right on through and you'll feel it pop free. Let it float up a bit, then start your retrieve again.

The last option, and the best (but can't be done until you're plug is in position on the clump) is, when you know you are on the front edge of a clump or wall, to lower your rod and rip the lure free -like a hookset. If your plug was on the backside of the clump it'll likely stall and bury. But if it's at the front side, or up in the tops, the plug will accelerate and rip free cleanly. That acceleration is a major trigger. You'll probably get most of your strikes on the rips.

These three options are not at all exclusive. You'll likely do all three on a given cast. Try to set up the rip though; It'll often get you the most strikes.

-You can use lipless cranks but you have to target sparse weeds, or know where the clumps are and avoid the thickest parts of them. Lipless are GREAT ripping baits but much less weed-less than fat plugs.

-If bass are active they will likely be near the tops of the clumps. So you may not need to fish very deep at all. Even if the weeds are rooted in 15 feet of water with the weed clumps topping out from 3 to 6 feet, you may do well with a shallow running plug. In fact, I'd start there, and work deeper only if you have to. Heck, you can even twitch that plug before you crank it down, for some topwater hits.

To summarize:

-Use a powerful rod, (14# test minimum).

-Use fat, wide-lipped plugs.

-Set up the rip by casting short and accurately, targeting the top of unbroken weed beds, the edge of weedwalls, or the front side of weed clumps.

Thank you all for your responses. I'm ready to go give the old grass another go. I had success using some Rapala X-Raps but not my fat crankbaits. I hate it when I don't know how to do something correctly that might help me catch fish, I get compelled to "figure it out" even if other approaches are working. I think I'm OCD when it comes to fishing!

Don't confuse OCD with determination. The latter will get you where you want to go.

A Mann's 1- is a great bait as well as a Bandit Footloose.  Give them a shot over the shallow grass.

After having spent the last few years using this technique I can definitely say try out different crankbaits. Some just pull through alot better than others. Also when trying to pop it out try different ways. Try it like your normal hookset or lately I'be been finding grasp the rod just above the reel and pop it.

Just keep trying different variations til you find what works the best for you.