millfoiled

Hi All,

For the better part of the last several years I’ve had the good fortune to fish some small lakes in Columbia county with an old pal who knows that neck of the woods. We found two or three very small lakes (or big ponds) that have HUGE bass (I’ve caught several 24″ largemouth) but that has been done primarily on topwater on calm, evening water, usually just prior to a huge front coming in. I’ve tried several “weedless” rigs to try and work stuff down into some nice structure, but these lakes are very heavy with asian milfoil (sp?) and it makes jigging and carolina rigging nightmarish. I’m convinced if I can get a rig into some of this structure consistently, it’s gonna pay off, big time. I’d love to get some feedback from you anglers as to what works in similar conditions for you, what kinds of jigs, rigs etc. As always, I’m mighty grateful. I like to hit these smaller lakes opening day and those first few weeks to follow, and I’m already dreaming of big bucketmouths while the cold winds still blow. Thanks
Bronzeback

Hey Bonzeback,

I LOVE milfoil!!!! I can’t tell you how much I love it. One reason is because it is difficult to fish, until you figure it out. I used to always just fish outside weed edges. This does produce a few fish, but what I’ve found is that you only find fish out there when they are activly feeding. What I do instead is to go a full cast distance into the weeds. This will usually put me in 12′ of water and the top of the milfoil will be just under my bowmount prop. Any shallower and and your prop always fouls and is more of a pain than its worth. My #1 lure to use is weedless Outkast jig. The company started up last year and will be available to all this year. I’ll fish this jig with a 7’3″ or 7’10” St Croix rod with 14lb Fireline. You don’t cast this rig. You just flip it out near the boat so you can work it vertically. Once the jig hits the bottom I’ll give it a couple shakes, then back up it comes and do it all over again. The longer rods help work the jig out a little further from the boat while still staying vertical. The length also helps when setting the hook and getting the fish up as soon as possible. You don’t want them wrapping you up in the weeds. The Fireline will help by being able to cut through some as well as giving you better sensativity with no stretch.

Outkast also has a Brush Pig series that works great as well on a Texas rig. I’ll fish this the same way as the jig. Milfoil fishing takes patience. You may fish hours without a bite. Once you find a spot don’t be suprised if you can catch 10 fish or more from a spot the size of a dinner table. When you find a spot, usually there will be something different about the bottom; rock, sand, coontail, etc. This spot will usually put out fish day after day, year after year. Once you have plenty of spots all you need to do is make the milk run, 10 minutes per spot and if nothing move on. Basically what you are doing is going to the basses bedroom and creating a feeding frenzy.

Hope this makes sense. Good luck.

I had the wonderful opportunity to prototype a new weedless jig late last summer for some river smallies that I hunt every year in the August/September timeframe. This is a jig that EFN will sell in the store sometime this spring is my guess. I will try not to let the cat out of the bag too much here, but I have been rigging this weedless jig with a super doo or ringworm and been able to pull smallmouth bass out of some pretty nasty terrain so far. The majority of the stuff that I have been targeting has been flooded timber with some heavy weed growth mixed in. I think this jig has some real opportunity to target some fish that I have not been able to reach consistantly in the rivers that I fish.

Here is a picture that shows somewhat of the lighter cover that I contend with on the upper Mississippi River.
Maybe Dave Hoggard can shed some light on when this jig will be availible and what sizes will be sold. I do think the lighter jigs were the target first and the bigger, heavier jigs to rise to the scene a bit later? I do think these heavier models have some real potential in the thickest of milfoil . That stuff is nasty!

Thanks Dee Zee,

I’m looking forward to seeing that jig…I was reminded by a friend who I fish with that we tried “drop shotting” those areas in the early summer last year and found that we had a hard time making certain we had contact with the bottom with not only the heavy sinker but the actual rig we were using, and we were still pulling up weeds quite a bit. My guess is that we didn’t have the drop shot rigged correctly, because we found the heavy sinker on the tag line wrapping around the milfoil, so we ended up abandoning that technique. I know it’s been a technique that’s been very successful for similar types of cover, nasty, gnarly weeds and such. Maybe our tag lines were too long???? I don’t know. I talked with him after I had read about it on this forum, only to be reminded by him that we hadn’t gotten that technique to work for us. Anyway, I think part, if not most of the problem, has been staying vertical with the presentation, rather than trying to crank it through the cover and subsequently doing alot of weed harvesting. I’m anxious to try something this spring and be more patient and willing to work smaller areas more vertically.

Sure can… the jig is called the B-Fish-N Tackle Weedless Super Doo Jig… it is sold now in the EFN Outlet Store in ten packs… 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 oz.

http://efishingnetwork.com/store/details.asp?prodid=superdoo_heads&cat=115&path=101,114,115

It is a nasty sharp custom Mustad long shank forged hook… on a button head with an adjustable double cable weed-guard.

This head will be available at 11 Gander Mountain Stores in two weeks time… all three sizes and in ten paks… look for B-Fish-N Tackle on the header

Hoggie

Dave Hoggard

Here is a photo of the F-Fish-N-Tackle Weedless Super Doo’s head rigged…

It is rigged with the weed-guards “trigger set” which makes them very sensitave to a light bite… bent at an angle so they are very subtle this way, and still will keep you out of the trees.

The short amount of time that I have had to work with this jig has gotten me real excited to think of all the applications that this neat design can accomplish for walleyes as well. How about spring walleyes in the rivers when the water starts to dirty up and waters are on the rise? Bulking up with bigger plastic profile and a light weedless jig pitched in a rocky shoreline or backwater cuts with timber and current breaks? Yes, it has me excited as well.

Just to give you an idea what kind of cover I had applied this jig to late last summer smallies, many fallen trees with branches and limbs well below the surface in 15ft+ water as well as shallower 3-5ft river weed pockets. Each area deserved a lighter or heavier application.
Just by varying your plastic profile, you can dramatically change the drop speed on your presentation. And as we all know, a subtle change in drop speed can mean MORE fish. Sometimes faster and sometimes slower is all that is needed. All three sizes have a time and a place.
I tried them briefly late last fall for some wingdam walleyes and they performed as expected. I was able to slither this jig through some very nasty terrain that we all know exists on river wingdams. I was impressed with the versatility of this jig.
The large forged Mustad hook is big enough to overcome some of todays big plastics that I like to fish with and able to still obtain a very solid hook set.

AH, a WEEDLESS jig not only for fishing the green stuff in lakes but also the timber too! Now no fish is impossible to get at when I have this jig in my tackle box. Look at the way it fits with the super doo in the post above. Thats how great it will look with a ringworm or a Kalin plastic tails too. Perfect combo!!! And with that style head you will be able to slide it through the thick stuff right to the fishes hiding place. The placement of the weed guard is perfect for protecting the hook and making it pull through the grass. A sure bet for catching the big ones! I know what I need in my tackle box! Better yet what I need tied to my line on my fishing pole! Look out fish!!!

So Bill… I take it you have not had the pleasure to use this jig yet… huh?
Well, let me tell you how my first experience went…
I was casting it into the trees for some 30 minutes… from a distance of 25 feet or so… and never lost a jig! Did not catch a fish at the time, as I remember… but did not loose a jig either.
I then tried a conventional round heads in the same trees… and I lost three jigs in three casts.
When you try it… you’ll like it, is my bet. Works great fro “probing” in trees. Should shine in the Sandgrass and stick ups for Bass too.
Hoggie

Not yet for long that is. I just put my order in last night for some 1/16oz, 1/8oz, and 1/4oz weedless jigs and am getting some plastics to go with them too. The fish won’t stand a chance with that combo in my hands. Bring on the weeds, bring on the wood, I’m gonna be ready and armed to kick bass, walleyes, crappies and any other fish thats hungry. Got Yours Yet?

Got mine… Maybe I better tell “Snagger”