Fishing around turtle grass

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Duweezy
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Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Duweezy »

So I was fishing around turtle grass and was trying to sightcast some reds with no luck due to heavy turtle grass. I put on a weedless jighead with no luck either. Can someone educate me on how to efficiently fish this type of vegetation?
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by TroutSupport.com »

When reds are finicky sometimes you have to downsize to a fly and flyrod. There are times when reds will turn their noses at everything. Right now you should be downsizing to a smaller bait.. doesn't have to be tiny most of the time but anything smaller and minnow like will help. I think going weedless is a good option to but the fish still have to hit it or want to.
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IrishSharker
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by IrishSharker »

Gulp shrimp on a 3/0-4/0 offset bass hook. If you see them and can try to guess where they are headed lead em and deadstick that gulp in there path when they are real finicky


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Ron Mc
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Ron Mc »

fly rod also has the advantage of floating line and floating (nylon) leader. Add fluorocarbon tippet, and only your fly sinks.

Jig-head sounds like the biggest problem here - you need a lure that won't sink like a rock.
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Crusader
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Crusader »

TroutSupport.com wrote:When reds are finicky sometimes you have to downsize to a fly and flyrod. There are times when reds will turn their noses at everything.
Yep, in the heat of summer I've seen them slowly cruising around shallow water in catatonic state (sleeping?) -- ignoring lures, spooking if lure touches them or you get too close.
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Duweezy
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Duweezy »

Thanks guys. I forgot to specify the main issue was not being able to maneuver my lure due to it always getting stuck in the grass weedless or not. Looks like I might have to dust off the ol 8wt next time!
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Only1Lee »

My go to is paddle tails on a owner screw lock hook

texas rig it and it’s ALMOST completely weedless.

Jigheads(regardless of style) will offer better hook ups. But a buried hook in the bait will offer less grass getting caught on your lure
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karstopo
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by karstopo »

One thing nice about fly fishing is that one can weight or use materials and fly lines that cause the fly to float or sink or suspend pretty much how you want. And flies can be made weedless as so can leaders with some clear UV cure to smooth over the knots. Unweighted soft plastics, some of them, should be light enough to toss with an 8 weight if you want to go that route. I don’t think I’d want to toss the big skitterwalk with the fly rod, but a little weight isn’t too bad to cast. If the distance is right, one can get off a couple of shots at a fish with a fly rod before the person fishing a spinning or baitcasting rig has reeled in from the first shot. No need to strip in very much if any line between shots in typical redfish sight casting scenarios.

I’m not sure any system is 100 percent weedless. And sometimes redfish won’t take anything, fly or lure.
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Yaklash »

I have spent some time fishing grass beds in LLM, where you can have submerged and floating grass at the same time. I have tried a lot of different things to keep from hauling in a pound of grass on every retrieve. Short of a topwater or burning a spinner bait (Redfish Magic type) just under the surface, you'll need truly weedless baits.

I don't fly-fish in saltwater (I know I should and may give it a whirl here in a month), but my favorite weedless baits are the Troutsupport lure, a Buggs Curl-Tail Redfish Jig or Beastie Bugg and a weedless spoon, in that order. If, as Troutsupport himself states, you need to downsize, the Beastie Bugg would be on my line. They have a soft landing, are fairly weedless and can be worked very slowly while still getting movement enough to attract fish. But for slow sink and about as close to 100% weedless as you can get, the TSL is the way to go if you don't have a fly rig.
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by TroutSupport.com »

I'm a horrible marketer... LOL... But besides the TSL.. Capt Chuck Uzzle in sabine marsh uses a Stanley Ribbit in heavy grass. rig it with EWG weedless just like the TSL.. Try both. He also talks about how to fish these areas in the Shallow Redfish DVD we made with him and Capt Steve Soule.
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Re: Fishing around turtle grass

Post by Tombo »

Try a Stoker lure, sold at Slowrides Guide service or the TSL lure by Trout Support.
I can also help you with my semi weedless rig. Problem is all the grass on your line from the hooked Redfish.
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