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Location: On the O | Ha, now that I have your attention I have a somewhat serious question.
In the river I fish there seems like only a couple weeks a year where you're not dealing with floating weeds. Right now we're going through some die off and the weeds are letting go so inevitably you end up with a weed or two on your bait as it makes it's way back to the boat.
Specifically when casting, what's your experience with Muskies hitting a lure covered in weeds? Never happens? Never in the 8? Happens from time to time?
Not that I'm looking for an excuse to not figure 8 everytime, but never having seen a fish chase down a lure that's been weeded up I'm wondering what others have experienced.
Thanks
Edited by BigC 10/6/2014 12:28 PM
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Location: Green Bay, WI | I've had them follow to the boat a lure that's dragging a fair amount of weeds. I can't say that I've actually caught a muskie and the lure also has weeds on it when I unhooked the fish. I've heard guys say that they've had fish hit lures with weeds covering it though--so obviously the lure was close enough to the boat for them to see the smack-down.
TB |
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Posts: 633
Location: Madison, WI | Twice this year I've pulled my bait from the water to pull weeds only to have a musky come head out of the water to take a bite! Think I'd have learned after one but I guess I'm stubborn. Do the figure 8 weeds or not, I've had several follows besides on weed covered baits |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | A buddy and I developed a "weed pattern" bait with plastic aquarium grass glued to it. We had an upper 40s fish that tried to eat a weed covered DDD several times. It came out of the water after the bait covered in weeds the first time. The next cast it went around the 8 a few times. We saw it so many times we actually anchored on the spot.
Never did catch it, but it lead to many laughs. |
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Posts: 619
| They will hit with weeds.one time I had dog balls and a pile of weeds and the whole pile got t boned at the boat. Don't give up on the cast if you have weeds.
Edited by Slow Rollin 10/6/2014 12:41 PM
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Posts: 345
Location: Poynette WI. | I can think of a couple fish that i've caught while trying to rip the weeds off a bucktail while bringing it in. |
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Posts: 2015
| Lots of follows with weeds, caught a handful as well. Here's one from this summer, had weeds on my Big Game was trying to give hard rips the whole retrieve to get them to "pop off" - (have caught several if you can free your bait of weeds half-way through the cast as well) ....but these stringy grass weeds just would NOT come off, for some reason I still go into an L with weeds on the bait and out of nowhere this nice fish smokes the bait. Good times!
Edited by IAJustin 10/6/2014 1:04 PM
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Posts: 1220
| OK, I'll be different...weeds don't stick to fish, they stick to hooks on stuff supposed to look like fish...and with the weeds, even look less like fish. A big freaking rip to free the bait is just a purely great method to trigger a strike. But, if it doesn't clear the weeds or get you the strike....reel the darn mess ASAP clean it off, resume casting. Carefully reeling in your weed-ball and then giving it an honest eight or two is like trying to find an honest politician. Sure, it could happen, probably not today! |
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Posts: 1529
| we use weedeater built for that on our 5 ft leaders |
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Location: On the O | George you use it on 5 ft leaders for casting? |
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Posts: 1416
Location: oconomowoc, wi | BigC - 10/6/2014 1:36 PM
George you use it on 5 ft leaders for casting?
too much weed!  |
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Location: Ontario | Wow, 5ft leader for casting? I would hate to stand around when you're casting  |
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Posts: 1529
| oops trolling brain fart lol.
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Posts: 1168
| Pointerpride102 - 10/6/2014 1:36 PM
A buddy and I developed a "weed pattern" bait with plastic aquarium grass glued to it. We had an upper 40s fish that tried to eat a weed covered DDD several times. It came out of the water after the bait covered in weeds the first time. The next cast it went around the 8 a few times. We saw it so many times we actually anchored on the spot.
Never did catch it, but it lead to many laughs.
Whenever I go to that spot I think of that stupid fish. Pointer doesn't quite do that experience justice in his post. That DDD did not just have a piece of grass or milfoil hanging off the end, that DDD was a green glob of weeds. After that we made up a couple of "weed pattern" baits. Mainly crankbaits with aquarium grass attached to them.
That incident reinforced the idea of never giving up on a cast....even if it has weeds on it I'll always look instead of hastily retrieving the thing and getting it back to the boat. Another similar incident happened when a buddy had a manta foul on him...rear hook flipped around the leader...and was burning it back in across the surface when a mid 40's class fish creamed the thing. You don't intentionally foul a bait or get weeds on it and fish with them but just because they are fouled doesn't mean a fish won't be interested. |
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Posts: 1279
| Oh wait, I thought this was about...... never mind.
Anyway, last year, I was fishing really shallow, about knee deep water. It was really choked with weeds, but the water was just clear enough to see a couple of alleys in the weeds. I was trying to run a small spinner bait down one of these alleys. About half way back to the boat, I ran into a clump of weeds. I reel in the clump, about the size of a basketball. Bait is buried deep in the middle of about ten pounds of weeds. I start lifting the clump out by hand. As I was setting the rod down, I noticed a little guy, about 32 inches, just sitting there, staring at the clump of weeds. I lifted the weeds out of the water, and start pulling the weeds apart, and he just sat there next to the boat. It was going to take a while to get the weeds off my bait, so I told my buddy to try to net it. He came up about an inch or two short, and it flipped out of the net instead of in. It seemed as if the fish just couldn't figure out "what happened to that bait I was just chasing. Maybe I'll just sit here and see if it comes back." |
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Posts: 455
| When your no longer fishing effectively it`s too much weed. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | Ask Adrian Peterson. I think it's safe to say he can now answer the question accurately... |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | I have caught fish with weeds on the lures. I have had fish follow baits with 6ft of weeds on them.
here is a trick if your casting. Your bait gets into the weeds and is fouled. Give it two or three really hard snaps to get as much of it off the bait, then burn it back to the boat as fast as you can. Does not matter what kind of bait, I have caught them on gliders with weeds coming at me like a stick. The trick is burning it back. It works. I have caught fish this way and ALMOST caught a 50 doing this which could have validated what advise I am giving here. She never clamped down on the bait.
my personal best pike was caught when trolling a depth raider, hit weeds, had weeds on it and was eaten anyway.
Edited by ToddM 10/10/2014 8:43 AM
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Posts: 33
Location: Ontario, Canada | Interesting topic. I've had follows with weeds hanging off baits, but never had one eat. Reading through this thread the classic Doug Johnson quote "if it moves, it's food" comes to mind. Seems to sum up too much weeds quite well.
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Posts: 167
Location: Ontario | When you polish off a full bag of Oreos, its too much weed |
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| When the Cartel asks you to "dial it back a bit". |
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Posts: 136
| Had one hit a topraider a couple weeks ago. Dragging couple feet of weeks, tail wasn't even turning, half way back to boat a muskie clobbered it. 1st one in the net that way but i guess you just never know when they may strike. |
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