I've just got into punching and i'm wondering about this. when i get to a large mat say one that comes 50 or more yards away from the bank, how do you pick it apart or better yet where do you start? i have had some luck just going down the edges..but do you try and punch all the way to the bank? i guess my question is do the bass relate more to the edge?

edges, inside and outside points, grass closest to a depth change (drop off creek channel, ditch). Where you are that could be as little as 6 inches. Do you remember seeing the area when there was no grass? Any irregularities? That is the ticket, ditches and drains up further back in the mat. Sunny days they may go deeper, cloudy days on the edge.

Need to experiment, Are their any laydowns under the mats? What about any hard surface like gravel, where less grass will grow, but it is next to dirt where it grows well and just lays over above the hard bottom.

Hope this helps.

This is the rig I like to use and how I fish it. On heavy mat you will want to step the weight up to a 1.5 oz.

It works great on the 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.

This is how to get up on the mat. 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 accross the mat by rocking the boat from side to side. You have to have wind..

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 burried up in the grass. My biggest fish have come off the deep side edges of the grass that has some under water feature that is holding the big Bass like; rock pile, stand trees/bushes, steep slope, point and etc..

Rig a heavy drop shot rig:
5.0 heavy super line hook. Tied on 50# braid. Use a Palamar 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 not his NEW watermelon red.
It will drop in the grass and come out of the grass with no hang-ups.
Fish vertical to a short pitch 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 sneeking 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 hookset.
HAVE FUN!!

or you can just use the time proven method of a 1oz tungsten with bobber stopper in front of it, followed by a straight shank flipping hook and some sort of beaver.

and they set up different every day it seems. sometimes 1' inside, and sometimes against the bank. just gotta spend some time to figure where they are. look for the structure in the cover.

+1 on this method. This is how I do it, and have great success every year. One of my favorite ways to fish.

That is good information Donald. Thanks. Haven't fished but one lake with such vegetation but, good to know!!!

Yeah...where can I find such a place ?...all the grass is long gone here within 2hrs of Dallas...lol

U need something like this.....let it punch thru all the junk and hold on!

rubber core sinkers, much cheaper than tungsten...

use the Missle baits D-Bomb on a 5/0 flipping hook, 1-1.5 oz tungsten weight, bobber stop. The most important is to fish grass that looks like burnt cheese or pizza crust on top. this happens to grass that is dying due to lack of sun light penetrating through and that equals the canopy effect. don't be afraid to pitch your bait up in the air and allow for the punch in the mat. yo-yo your bait up and down a few times, lift and repeat. Some old timers I talked to refer to this technique as "welding" because when you get bit its normally a GOOD fish and feels like your bait is welded to the bottom. This is great in the grass of Guntersville. I hope it works in the Texas fisheries.

I use a Jika Rig, or as I call it a Jap rig. If you go to bass pro shop they are with the Owner Hooks called a Owner rig.

I make my own, much cheaper to make you own and just as good and you can make what you want.

Not sure its the best, but it works for me on Rayburn. I use it quite a bit on Rayburn in early summer when the grass is at its peak before lake levels drop etc.

I found this pic, I make mine just like this for the most part.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6-bLlxT19bk/UJPRGkfIiUI/AAAAAAAAMtM/I9gFy7nVJPY/s400/IMG_3923.JPG



Thanks Billy

These are the reasons that I perfer the heavy drop shot over all the otheres.

- Ability to punch. It has no resistance going in or coming out. There is no mass or bulk to lay on the mat. No looking for a weak spot or hole in the grass. It does not require pitching it up high so it hits with force.
- Coming out. It comes out just as well as it goes in. No grass being caught by the weight because it is trailing the bait.
- Presentation. I like the weight on the bottom. It puffs up a little mud cloud or disturbs the rocks while the lure is 5 inches above that disturbance for the Bass to easly take the plastic. With the weight tied using a slip knot it can easly be pulled off the tag line to free the rig from a bush or hardwood; coming out with the fish.
- Neon Plastic. I have two Neons. One is the discontinued Ultimate Brown Neon for cloudy days; lots of red flake/black/pumpkinseed. The other is the same Hoo Daddy Jr. in Watermelon Neon. There is no question about the Neons out catching all other plastics in the darkness of the hollow at 20 to 30 ft. deep grass.

It's all about what's under the water. Like eyeryone said depth change,ditches and areas that have less grass and or mixed grass fish relate to irregular stuff