Locating the weedline

[Craigums]

So I've been hearing everyone saying the fish are congregating along the deep weedline. How do you locate that, Do you need to have electronics?

[MinnesotaMongo]

That's how most people will do it. On a flasher, you will see a very thick broken up, varying line all the way to the bottom. On a graph, well, depending on the graph it will look blobby and "weedy".

[st.crioxfishin]

You don't need to have electronics to find a weedline. Pick up a jig or crankbait and you should be able to find the edge of a weedline by feel. However, if I had the choice, I'd choose to have electronics.

[Bass Whacker]

carolina rigs work well to

[Katman]

I've learned to use carolina rig or jigs to pickup my weedline locations because I didn't have electronics and I fished from canoes. Just try to feel for some drag, bump, etc....then keep moving till it clears. You'll pull up bits of weed, algea, or be hung on a rock. Part of it is feel, another is like a 6th sense...and the last is luck. Do it for a while and you actually get a feel for it. Your mind paints the picture for you. Worked for me for years before a real boat came into the picture with electronics.

Imagine how many ppl will be fishless if you took their depth finders away?!?!? =)

[Daze Off]

Throw a crankbait - I find one every time I do....

[Deitz Dittrich]

As many said, you dont need electronics, but they sure help. Often times what you see with your eye is not the weed edge. Many times weed are deeper than that but are outside our view. However they show up on electronics quite well.

I have said this before, but its worth saying again. Learning how to use and read good electronics is a larger skill in fishing than feeling for bites. But thats just my opinion.

[JConrad]

It really is amazing how electronics have changed our great sport....The newer sonar/gps/lake mapping units are amazing with regard to what you can determine and mark. It's not just finding the weed edges but the type of weeds and the type of bottom including sand, rocks, gravel, bends, inside turns, sharp breaks, etc.

It's all about structure and developing patterns around where the fish are. Those of us who have fished for many years and fish competitively understand this when fishing in the summer months. Interestingly a walleye guy won the Minnesota bound tournament Rich Boggs. He was fishing big structure on the main lake.. Al Lindner who finished 4th was also fishing main lake structure... Hmmmmm....

I was in the boat with 3 really good fisherman last weekend during the Minnesota bound tourney on my home lake Gull... Charlie Moore, Jim Picha, and John Peterson.. By the way all great guys and enjoyable to be in a boar with!!! All spent most of their time on the edges looking for green cabbage weed and in particlar if we found green cabbage and coon tail together in 10 - 14 ft of water we found bass in good numbers.

As we move toward fall when the weeds start to die off it's then time to look for the green cabbage and coon tail..

Late summer and early fall is a great time to be on the water and in particlar catch big fish of all species.

[Timmy D]

I always have my electronics on, but I prefer to fish my way to the weed edge using a crank or jig or plastic. The deeper fish are not alway on the weedline. Sometime, fishing your way out to find the edge, you will find the fish are in the weeds or the fish are off past the weed edge. The weedline is a great reference point when locating schools of fish.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Yes, electronics will make it much, much easier to locate a weedline but like others said you can use a lure to tell what kind of structure you are on. Its a good skill to have, really pay attention when you're using a lure, are you hitting rocks, gravel, weeds, etc.?

I think you also need to consider water clarity and depth of weed growth I think weedlines are going to be most productive in lakes that have a visibilty over 2' right now. The deep water provides cooler temps as well as cover. If the water is murky Id look for deep hard bottom areas or thick shallow cover.

Finding the weedline isnt going to be the end of your search. It will help if you can find differences in the weedlines Points, turns, weeds near dropoffs, rocks, or where two different types meet will up your chances of finding fish.

[LazyIke]

Great information fellas! Thanks a million.

[RK]

Hiya -

I really have to agree that a combo approach of the ability to interpret electronics + developing a sense of feel is a really good skill set. You don't need to have the top of the line electronics to learn to read them well either. Cripes - I was a flasher guy up until just a few years ago, and I still miss them at times. Electronics give you a general picture of what's down there, and some of the details as well. A sense of feel helps fill in the blanks and interpret the fine details. In deeper water, a combination of a deep diving crankbait and a jigworm is a pretty potent interpretive tool set. Back when I was bass fishing virtually every day, and most of it was jigworming, I could tell what kind of weeds I was hitting just by feel. My skills have atrophied some but even at that I can still feel my way down a weedline and find the little points, dips, and transitions while only glancing at my electronics occasionally. TUTF makes a great point - finding the little anomalies along a weedline are really what you're after, because that's often where the fish are. It's a learned skill and it takes some practice, but boy is it worth it. Once you start getting a feel for what different kinds of weeds and bottom content feel like with a jig or a crank, and then put that together with what the same stuff looks like on your electronics, you start to get pretty dangerous

JConrad - you had some pretty good boat partners up there. Charlie Moore is one of my oldest and closest friends, and I've known John P. for close to 20 years as well. Won't find nicer guys... Heard the event was a hoot. I almost fished it, even though I'm not really a tournament guy, but my son's 3rd birthday trumped it

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[JConrad]

Rob, it really was a blast.... Charlie and John were both great guys to be in a boat with... When you are drawing for a partner you just don't know who you might get.... I was very fortunite to draw these guys... I hope I have the opportunity to do it again... When you see Charlie tell him I said hello.

This really is a terrific forum and we all continue to all learn and benefit from the experience here...

Joel