It’s officially HOT! But I don’t need to tell you that. Nor do I need to tell the bass, they know it and they’re taking full advantage of all the shade this lake has to offer them. Bass love to lie in dark places, waiting in ambush and when a feeding opportunity comes into their strike-zone, they crush it!
By now the grass has become topped out in many places on the lake and even though the water underneath might only be a foot or two deep, the bass are in there hiding from the sun and positioning themselves for the next easy meal.
Bass will hide under matted vegetation all summer long so if you don’t know how to punch mats, now’s a great time to learn. This technique can provide many bites right through the middle of the day when other techniques will not.
For punching grass mats, specifically the Lemon Bacopa that grows in Deerpoint, I suggest you have two rigs: one with a heavy weight of 1½ oz. and another with a ½ oz. weight. The heavy rig is for punching down into the thickest parts of the mats and the other for dropping into pockets and sparser vegetation around the edges of the mats. Bass will be in both areas of mats as they move about underneath looking for prime ambush spots.
If you find thick mats close to deep creek edges, you’ll want to pick those apart very well because those are high percentage mats. Bass like to position themselves close to deep water for escape when they feel threatened.
If interested in learning more about this technique, call and book a trip. There are so many choices to make in line & weight sizes, hook & rigging configurations and bait selections that I cannot begin to cover them here. A day of bass class is a great way to learn a lot of the intricacies and nuances of this and many other techniques.
Good fishing and God bless.
CAPT. RANDY “C-NOTE” CNOTA
C-note Charters
Panama City, FL
cnotecharters.com
(229) 834-7880