Entry 204-3

Bass Fishing in June with Mark Rose

Part 3: Where I Go Next

Question: Mark, where will your next tournament be?

Rose: As soon as I finish this tournament, I head for the Potomac River.

Question: How will your fishing change when you go to the Potomac River?

Rose: Actually my fishing won’t change that drastically. I’ll fish pretty much the same way as I’ve been fishing on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. The Potomac is a river, and river fishing is river fishing wherever you are. However, it is a tidal area. But basically I won’t have to change my tackle or make drastic adjustments for this next tournament.

The first thing I’ll look for when I get to the Potomac is some grass. The Tenn-Tom Waterway doesn’t have much hydrilla, but the Potomac will have plenty of hydrilla. I know from past experience and from studying other tournaments that have been held on the Potomac that fishing grass can win a tournament there. But more than likely, I’ll plan to fish grass much the same way that I’ve fished on the Tenn-Tom Waterway. I’ll probably tie on a 1-1/2- ounce weight to try to punch through the grass to get my bait under the grass where I think the fish will be holding.

Here on the Tenn-Tom, the grass isn’t matted enough to have to use that big weight to get through the grass. When you’re fishing a grass lake like I’ll be fishing at the Potomac, you know that the bass will be lying up under the grass and holding tight to the cover. When the water temperature is hot like it is now, the bass really thrive under that thick grass - especially when the fish aren’t holding on ledges like they do on Kentucky Lake and other lakes.

But, on the Potomac, the water generally is so stained that the bass won’t live on those types of places. They’ll be holding in the grass, and I’ll be looking for the thickest and heaviest grass I can find up there. You have to remember that the grass provides three things for the bass - shade, a lot of oxygen and a great place to ambush bait. So a bass has everything it needs to be comfortable and earn a living when it’s holding in that grass.

Question: What lure will you be using to punch the grass?

Rose: I’ll probably be using a 1-ounce Strike King Premier Elite Jig in the grass. I’ll also be tying a 1-1/2-ounce tungsten weight on one of my rods and fish a creature bait like the Wild Thang up under the grass. I may even be using the Strike King tube in some of the places I’ll be fishing. I don’t think the bait is nearly as critical in your punching the grass as finding a lure and a method of getting that lure to a place where a bass can eat it. However, baits that are more efficient and pass through the grass the quickest and the easiest are lures like the tubes and the jigs. They don’t get hung-up nearly as often as the other baits do.

When I’m searching for bass, I’ll more than likely be fishing a jig. A jig doesn’t get hung up very often and is a highly-productive search bait. I have a lot of confidence in fishing the Strike King jig. When you tie on a jig that’s good to go, you can fish almost anywhere without having to re-rig and re-tie. I punch the grass with a jig as well as I do with the tubes and the other baits I’ll be fishing. Strike King’s jig has a weed guard on it that enables you to punch through that bass and get it down to where the bass are holding. Since it’s a big-fish bait, you almost have to use it. Although I can’t fish in the really thickest grass with the jig, when I locate grass that’s a little-more sparse than the other grass around it, that’s where I’ll use my jig.

Next: Do It on Top

Contents:

• Part 1: In the Heat of the Battle
• Part 2: Know What the Frog Knows
• Part 3: Where I Go Next
• Part 4: Do It on Top
• Part 5: How to Fish Shut-Down Bass