I have some tournaments coming up on Toledo just trying to find a winning pattern seems the grass is the way to go just wanna stay around the right depths.

Grass patterns that I have followed on all lakes to win tournaments have been the most productive. I do not fish Toledo but it is the same on all the big bodies of water with the deep grass. It takes a lot of work, running and gunning before the tournament for weeks to find these best spots.

- You have to find that run of grass holding good top water fish. It depends on the tourn. start time in this kind of heat. Many times the bite is over with by the time you get started. If you can put in the time searching and find that best bite possible for the first hour it will pay off. Somewhere on every lake with that kind of grass it can be won on a top water. Once you find the fish they will usually stay there for a couple of weeks until tournament time. I search by fishing for no more than 30 mins. in each spot then run to the next spot trying to check 3 spots each morning. If you get a good cloudy morning in the mix, this will give you an extra hour to search. If you get some rainy weather then it will give you the whole day; so stay with it, because the deep grass bite is usually a little slow on heavily cloudy days.
I use a spook to get the job done.

- I then move to the deep grass with a heavy 1 oz. drop shot (4 inch tag between the heavy line hook and the weight) rigged with a Hoo Daddy Jr. in Watermelon Neon and start punching. Pictures available. Again finding the sweet spots before your tournament will put you in the money. Those deep grass fish are your most reliable fish. They will stay longer in place than any of the other fish on the lake. I have had spots on Lake Amistad that produced for a year or longer; if you can keep it too yourself. My most productive spots have been the steep banks on the wind blown shore line. This shore is the least fished but will be a hit or miss on a windy tourn. day. Consider the wind direction and find several spots for that high wind day. You are looking for the tallest grass you can find close to deep water and fishing the deep edge. This is where 99% of my big fish have been found.
- Best spots out in the wind.
- A off shore spot extending out into the lake as far as possible on a wind protected shore line.
- In the back of a canyon so it is protected completely. Looking for a header that runs out and into the creek producing a ring of grass on the end as it drops off in the ditch. Checking both sides of the ditch where the grass starts in the back of the deep canyon. Then check the middle of the ditch when the grass starts and runs to the back and then comes to a heavy mat on the surface. I go to a 1.5 oz. shot for the heavy mat.

I do fish Toledo Bend and it is NOT like all the other lakes. Current unseasonal water levels in East Texas is making things really tough and scattered. Depending on WHEN and WHERE your tournaments will be will determine the depth and part of the lake to fish. Any current local reports might not even be in effect at that time.

Thanks for the info

Do you use braid with the heavy drop shot? Hook size?

Braid Yes. Heavy drop shot not often. The traditional heavy punching jig/trailer and heavy TRig Pegged Hogcraw or Ol'Monster worm work best. (If I am PUNCHING the Grass.) Little Advice about "PUNCHING the GRASS"- it takes lots of practice and understanding to master it. It's not something you just go out and do. Sure you can go out and catch a few, but often times you will not be so successful. It is not a magical "silver bullet". There can be many other patterns just as successful for you. You can still fish the grass other ways also. BUT on Toledo Bend there are some wickedly effective crankbait patterns up NORTH that will be more consistent than punching grass. When is your tournament and where is it out of?

This will help you get that huge fish you have been looking for. Nothing will beat it. It works everywhere, shallow mat but best on the deepest grass you can find. You got to keep going until you find that sweet spot, pitch out the marker and circle it looking for others because they will be grouped up under the hollow.
You must concentrate on what other people do not do. Knowing how to fish deep grass is one of them. Especially getting in the matted areas. If the wind is blowing you can get in there on the upwind side; put the trolling motor up and big motor up and walk the boat across the mat by rocking the boat from side to side.
I have fished the deep grass at Lake Amistad for 30 years. Here is what you do. In the heat of the day they are burred up in the grass.
Here is how you get them out:
Rig a heavy drop shot rig:
5.0 heavy super line hook. Tied on 50# braid. Use a Palomar knot. Leave the tag end at 5 inches long. Tie a 1 oz. weight to the tag end. I just tie a knot in the end of the tag, then use a overhand slip knot to attach the weight. It doesn't take much to keep it on. When I am fishing grass and hardwoods and it gets hung on the wood I can pull it off and come out with the hook and fish. You understand that the hook is about 4 to 5 inches above the weight, so the tails of the bait will hang down and cover the weight.
Use a Gene Lawrue Hoo Daddy Jr. in Watermelon Neon.
It will drop in the grass and come out of the grass with no hang-ups.
Fish vertical to 20% in front of the boat. Directly over the bait is best on the deepest grass. Drop it in slowly and soft so it is traveling slowly when it touches the bottom. The Bass hate anything sneaking in on them. Hold it there with a tight line for about 5 seconds without any movement. They don't want it bouncing up and down. This gives them time to swim through the hollow under the grass and nail the bait.
Vertical presentation and moving along the outer edge of the grass line, making pitches out in front of the boat so by the time it gets to the bottom you are directly over the bait for the hook set.
HAVE FUN!!

Donald, could you put the sinker a foot or more below the bait instead of 4 or 5 inches ?

How deep is grass at Toledo Bend?

+ 1 on this it has been tough lately.

There is grass in 20ft

I played with that many, many times with no results. You want that big bass to be able to get the whole thing in its mouth if it needs to. I very seldom miss a strike on a big fish.

The dropping bite hasn't been that great on Toledo this year, very inconsistent and much smaller average fish than in years past (but that could change moving towards the fall). If you do drop grass, just go with a traditional pegged plastic or Oldham's jig. Much simpler and if you're having trouble getting through the grass, just go with a heavier weight... sometimes up to 1 3/4 oz. 65 lb braid, 104.5, and a stout reel and you're good to go. Using a rattle and some oil based spray like Bang will help it get through the grass as well, and maybe get an extra bite or two.

All a heavy drop shot rig does is require you to get two things through the grass versus one, you also run the risk of the fish grabbing the weight instead of the bait since they are separated. In my mind, that's much less efficient, but who knows, I've been wrong before.

99% of your bites are going to come on the initial fall and it is a reaction bite, the heavy weight doesn't allow the fish much time to make up its mind whether or not they want to eat it or not. Most of the time they will if they are around.

Grass lines are deeper down south out to 20' and shallower as you move north. It even varies depending on if your in a creek or on main lake. Dropping the grass is a great way to win a tournament, but locating the fish takes a good bit of time usually. Just as other have said use a 1oz. Jig or a tx rig with a pegged 1oz sinker and cover water. It can be a tough deal finding them, but if you do it can be great. Now like a few other guys said, we have higher water levels than normal so the grass hasn't matted out everywhere yet.
You can also put in your time out away from the bank and locate some deep fish. It really just depends on what they are doing around the time of your tournament. Good luck to you.

I have to disagree. I have thrown jigs in grass for 30 years. You will shake yourself to death trying to get it through some of the spots I fished. I don't believe you fully catch the concept of sneaking the bait through the hollow on a big fish. That little bit of slack 4" tag pops that creature bait through the grass every time. It comes out just as easy with never any trash on the bait or weight. I never have to pick a hole to drop this bait. The skinny 1 oz. weight makes it's own hole then sucks that Hoo Daddy through behind it. I have never seen the creature bait cause it not to go through the grass.

I have seen the jig with all its parts refuse to break through. It has bulk with a skirt and trailer. I have fished with many a fisherman and watched them struggle with this while I was catching fish. I have watch them fish the thick mat and have to use the rod tip to punch the hole for the jig to go through. I have seen them cast straight down with force to get it to punch through.

I would never slam your use of the jig and hope you catch every fish under the hollow with it. This is what has worked best for me and it has been very good to me in tournaments. It won the SIT on Amistad in 2003 along with many other tourns. during the years when the grass was 30 ft. tall and it will do it again when the grass gets right.