# Clear water, deep weeds



## Bassthumb (Aug 22, 2008)

What would you guys say is the best bass setup for gin clear water and deep thick weeds?


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## Silent Mike (Aug 9, 2009)

lures? or actual rod and reel set up?


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## Bassthumb (Aug 22, 2008)

Both


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## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

Sounds like a quarry. If i was at one like that id start by burning some tandem blade spinners just over top of the weeds white/chartruese. If they didn't like that id go to a lipless crank, chrome/blue and work same way but let it get caught on occasion on top of weeds so u have to rip it out. That's when the hits come. I usually prefer plastics and jigs but in gin clear water i can't let them get that good of a look at an artificial bait. So im going to start with fast moving baits that they can't examine as well as a slow moving plastic.

If spinners and cranks don't work id try some flukes on weighted hooks twitched at different depths. Wacky Senkos. 10" worms with 1/8 bullet weight with fish bead between hook and weight to add a click as its snaked thru the weeds.

Clear water is tough fishing. Id look for cat tails, shade under overhanging branches and any other wood or rock structure. If its got steep walls id focus on fishing in the shadow they create within 1-2' of the walls.

Forgot equipment. Id go with 6'6 med spinning rod with 20lb braid but a long 24" leader of 12lb flourocarbon. Using a non shiny tiny barrel swivel to connect the lines.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

Pigsticker has good suggestions. You definitely want to move hard baits faster in real clear water. I'm not sure I'd use braid, even with a fluorocarbon leader. And I definitely wouldn't use a barrel swivel to tie it on. You don't want to reel even a tiny barrel swivel through the eyes of your rod, and having 24 inches of line hanging down from your rod tip is going to affect casting accuracy. If you're going with braid and a fluoro leader I'd go with back to back Uni knots to connect the two. I'd go with his rod suggestion, and substitute 6 or 8 lb test fluorocarbon as my line. As far as lure colors, most generally the more natural the better, but not always. (Sometimes bubblegum or bright chartruse can be killer in clear water) Generally though, more translucent colors like watermelon, smoke, or even clear with black and silver flake would be colors I'd give a try.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Never leave out topwater in a clear body of water. Something like a spook or lucky craft Sammy in a clear/translucent color walked quickly can be killer.... they'll come up a long ways after something like that....

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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

If the weeds let you. Drop shot with a gulp minnow. Match the hatch when picking which gulp minnow to use.....

Oh an not really your traditional way of useing a tube. But I use to have permission to fish a VERY clear quarry quite a few yrs back. I had a TOUGH time catching quality fish. One day board out of my mind and stumped, I took a 4 Inch tube jig rigged it weedless on a worm hook, and weightless. Id throw the tube out and walk the dog with it. This was the ticket for me on the quarry. You gotta really stick the fish good with no hook point exposed but once I got that part down it was on... I still try this from time to time and it usally never lets me down.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Saugeyefisher said:


> If the weeds let you. Drop shot with a gulp minnow. Match the hatch when picking which gulp minnow to use.....
> 
> Oh an not really your traditional way of useing a tube. But I use to have permission to fish a VERY clear quarry quite a few yrs back. I had a TOUGH time catching quality fish. One day board out of my mind and stumped, I took a 4 Inch tube jig rigged it weedless on a worm hook, and weightless. Id throw the tube out and walk the dog with it. This was the ticket for me on the quarry. You gotta really stick the fish good with no hook point exposed but once I got that part down it was on... I still try this from time to time and it usally never lets me down.


That tube trick is a very solid post spawn technique. Green pumpkin with the tails dipped in chart. Dye looks an awful lot like a small bluegill.... (in my mind anyway)

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## ajangsta04 (Aug 7, 2007)

definitely finesse fishing. light line (6-8lb test) 
drop shotting or even jigging jigs should pay off.

i've also had decent luck throwing hatch matching chatterbaits, fished slow.


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## NGBASSIN (Jun 26, 2012)

From my experience, which is somewhat limited, finding the weed edges is a must. If you are fishing the deep weeds, find the edge and try the shaky head with some sort of finesse work on it. Texas rigged 4-7 worms work great too. With decent weight you can drop them through the weeds and rip them up the same as the lipless cranks were talked about before. Also if you have real deep water next to the weed line and can drop shot a mind fluke or finesse worm, you can nail em. Good luck!

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## Fishing Flyer (May 31, 2006)

I'd definitely try drop shot. Green pumpkin or shad-like colors. Don't be afraid to go with 6 inch worms for largemouth. I've done better in the 4 inch range for smallies. I like 10 lb fluoro, but haven't seen any issues with 12 lb in clear water. Look for depth changes.


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## JohnPD (Jun 12, 2012)

Saugeyefisher said:


> If the weeds let you. Drop shot with a gulp minnow. Match the hatch when picking which gulp minnow to use.....


+1 on what he said. I even read that a while back in In-Fisherman magazine, and it does work.


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## Fish G3 (Jul 16, 2008)

Topwater, Flukes, burning spinnerbaits. These are all good options as well as others mentioned.


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