Shed that grass skirt

Make lures weedless, end fouling problems

I can’t remember how many times I’ve have someone say, “I’d like to fish there, but there is just too much grass” or “I stay snagged all the time.” That’s a legitimate concern. I won’t say I’ve never caught a fish on a lure or bait that had some grass on it, it’s usually a deal killer. While fish may not be particularly smart, they certainly know baitfish don’t swim around wearing grass skirts and rarely bite lures or baits engulfed in grass.

I live across the Cape Fear River from the bays between Fort Fisher and Bald Head Island and fish there frequently. Because these bays are shallow and stay a little warmer during the winter, they are a great place to find specks, pups and flounder. However, this warmer temperature also makes them a prime spot for early grass growth, and the grass seems to seek out baits and lures and engulf them.

I talk with many fishermen who simply avoid these areas when the grasses are proliferating. They like to fish live baits slowly retrieved across the bottom or soft lures rigged on jigheads. Unfortunately, these techniques tend to turn baits and lures into grass magnets and render them ineffective except for the start of the retrieve.

One of the simplest ways to avoid tangling in the grass is to suspend the bait or lure under a float. This can be a clip-on float, a rattling float, a popping float or pretty much anything that keeps the bait above the depth of the grass. My concern is that especially for fish like puppy drum that root along the bottom in these areas that are rarely clear, they miss the presentation of a suspended bait.

Fishing the bottom puts a bait in front of fish that are actively feeding. I like to fish the bottom using a hook, rig or lure that is weedless. One of my favorite ways to do this is with weedless spoons. I catch a lot of pups, a surprising number of flounder and a few larger trout using spoons.

Several weedless spoons come to mind. The first is the Johnson Silver Minnow, but usually in the gold color. This lure began as a freshwater spoon that fishermen took from freshwater to saltwater.

Capt. Mike Hakala’s Aqua Dream Spoons are some of the lightest spoons around and their scale pattern cut gives them plenty of flash. Hakala fishes Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon, and in areas with minimal currents like that, these spoons flutter very seductively. However, the Aqua Dream Spoons are light and tend to rise off the bottom when fished in much current. I like these spoons and began adding Clark Casters, which are a weighted in-line spinner from Clarkspoon, to help hold them down in currents and have found this to be an excellent combination.

The Flats Intruder Spoons from Precision Tackle are made especially for Salt water and are available in weights up to a half-ounce. Their finish holds up very well in salt water and fish like them.

The Norton Brass Rattler Spoons catch my attention too. They use the brass casing from a .32- or .38-caliber bullet as their rattle chamber. These spoons rely heavily on the sound and will almost fish themselves when fished in a current.

All of these spoons have some sort of weed guard to help them work through grass without loading up and across snags without grabbing. They aren’t foolproof but work well and produce fish.

You can also give these baits an alluring odor. The combination of being weedless, having a little flash, and adding some attractive noise is good, and when you also add scent, many fish can’t turn it down. The simplest way to add some scent is just to do that. Buy one of the gels or sprays and put it on the spoon. I have had my best luck with gel scents, particularly Pro Cure, and I run a bead down the shank of the hook. The other way to add scent to a spoon is almost as simple. I add a piece of a curltaily bio bait, such as Berkley Gulp, to the spoon. I cut the curltaily body off, to leave just the tail and about a quarter inch of the body. I place the tail on the hook, inserting the hook through the small piece of the body.

This works with the tail attached and turned in any direction, but it works better turned to the side. This is especially true in cold or hot water where the spoon is retrieved slower. The water flowing off the side of the spoon makes the tail flutter at a slower retrieve speed.

Several weedless jigheads are also available. Sea Striker makes the Gitzit head in eighth- to quarter-ounce sizes and the Getzit jig by Vision Hook and Tackle is available in up to half-ounce sizes. These are jigheads that use a piece of heavy mono or fluoro as a hook guard to shed grass. My final suggestion is one borrowed from bass fishermen. It involves using a wide-gap worm hook and pinning just the tip of the hook point in the top of whatever soft bait is threaded onto the hook. Bass fishermen call this technique “Texas-rigging.” Every hook manufacturer makes worm hooks, and a variety are available.

The selection of wide-gap worm hooks include various wire diameters and those with a plain shank or with various weights molded to the hook shank. Pinch weights, similar to split shot but with channels large enough they can be placed on the shank of the hook, are also available and are an excellent way to add weight as current or depth increases. They can also be removed if not needed.

I believe wide-gap worm hooks are the most versatile way to rig a soft bait so it will shed grass. For worm hooks with the weight molded on the shank, I prefer the ones with the wire baitkeeper spring for the nose of the bait or I will add the baitkeeper spring. This allows attaching the front of the bait without having to stretch it over the weight and is especially important with some of the bio baits that don’t stretch well.

One premise I have always followed is to fish with the minimum amount of weight required to get the bait to the bottom. This allows the bait to flutter as naturally as possible. Because of this, I often begin with bare hooks and add weight as it is needed with pinch weights. A plus for pinch weights is they can be positioned neutrally, forward or to the rear.

Positioning the weight neutrally under a bait it to flutter and drop with no bias to either end. This is especially good when using baits that mimic shrimp. When trying to mimic an injured bait, I move the weight forward so it drops headfirst. This is similar to the movement of the bait when using a jighead, but allows rigging it weedless.

Sometimes, particularly in deep or thick grass or working across oyster shells, I position the weight as far to the rear as the bend of the hook will allow. This turns the front of the bait up and allows it to move through the grass or other bottom cover without picking up loose strands. The rearward weight position keeps the front of the bait up so it crawls over and doesn’t snag in the shells.

Make a choice, I am sure you will catch more fish once you shed that grass skirt.