2 Favorite Weedless Lures for Deep Summertime Bass

You don’t need a dozen bass rods rigged with different baits to target summertime largemouth on deep weedlines. In fact, you can always do well with these two weedless lures.

2 Favorite Weedless Lures for Deep Summertime Bass

The idea for this article happened during a fishing outing on the last weekend of July 2022. I jumped in my buddy’s Ranger bass boat on a Saturday morning to check out a local lake with a decent reputation for largemouth. I’d fished it three times in the past for muskies, but not in the past 20 years. My buddy, Chris, had never fished it. He heard that a few recent bass derbies had been won by anglers tossing hollow-bodied frogs, so we started shallow a half-hour after sunrise. Only two boats had arrived before we hit the water; thankfully there wasn’t another bass derby on this day.

Note: This 850-acre lake is fished heavily and has a public sand beach nearly a half-mile long. Weekend recreational boat traffic borders on insane, and it has 50 parking spaces reserved for vehicles with boat trailers.

We fished lily pad fields and other emergent vegetation for the first hour. Two small bass blew up on our topwater frogs; it was slow and a game plan change was in order. With the sun inching higher in the eastern sky, and temps climbing, too, we decided to search for a deep weedline.

Chris, one of the author’s frequent fishing partners, relies on one lure almost exclusively to catch deep weedline largemouth bass.
Chris, one of the author’s frequent fishing partners, relies on one lure almost exclusively to catch deep weedline largemouth bass.

Two Proven Systems

Before I get into the specifics of what we used for targeting deep weedline bass, let me provide a brief background. I’ve been fishing for largemouth bass for nearly 50 years, and guided in north-central Minnesota for bass and other species for five summers. It was during this guiding period that I met my buddy, Chris. He worked at the same location (Camp Fish, which was owned by Al and Ron Lindner, founders of In-Fisherman magazine, TV, etc.)

Back then — late 1980s and early 1990s — our No. 1 bass lure was a jigworm, which today is often called a Ned rig. Because the natural lakes we fished in north-central Minnesota were typically fairly clear with deep cabbage growth, we chose a jigworm with an exposed hook. There was really no reason to choose a weedless jig or hook in most situations. The advantage to an exposed hook is a largemouth often hooks itself. Sure, we still set the hook with our spinning gear, but oftentimes our clients were just learning how to work a jig along a deep weedline (cabbage ending in 12 to 18 feet), and their hook-up rates were higher with an exposed hook.

When targeting bass in shallower bodies of water, especially in central and southern Minnesota, as well as western Wisconsin, the lakes don’t feature pristine cabbage weedlines. These darker lakes have a mishmash of shallow-water submergent vegetation, and the weeds often stop growing in less than 10 feet, sometimes as shallow as only 6 feet. Remember, “deep” is relative to each lake.

Such was the case on the busy lake I described earlier. As we searched for a deep weedline using Chris’s fishfinder, we learned that weed growth stopped in 6-7 feet. And not every shoreline featured weeds, either. It was spotty at best.

Knowing that a jigworm (aka Ned rig) with an exposed hook would likely snag on the soft and stringy submergent vegetation, we opted for weedless jigs and hooks. Chris tied on his favorite, an Owner Ultrahead Bullet Head, rigged Texas-style with a 7-inch Berkley PowerBait Power Worm (Black Blue Fleck). This offset worm hook features a bullet-shaped weight attached to the wire. It comes in one hook size, 1/0, and three weights: 1/16, 1/8 and 3/16 ounces. Due to the 15-mph winds, Chris was using the heavier option. Street price for these hooks is $4.99 for a four pack.

An Owner Ultrahead Bullet Head (above) works great for rigging a plastic worm Texas-style.
An Owner Ultrahead Bullet Head (above) works great for rigging a plastic worm Texas-style.
One of the best soft plastics for bass is a Berkley PowerBait Power Worm. In clear water, the color Pumpkinseed is a great choice. In darker water, Black Blue Fleck often entices more strikes.
One of the best soft plastics for bass is a Berkley PowerBait Power Worm. In clear water, the color Pumpkinseed is a great choice. In darker water, Black Blue Fleck often entices more strikes.

Chris’s choice is certainly a great one. He’s relied on this setup for decades, and it almost always produces well for him. He’ll sometimes go with the lighter 1/8-ounce head in shallow water and calm conditions, and in clearer water he’ll choose a lighter worm color such as Pumpkinseed vs. the darker Black Blue Fleck. That said, at least 90 percent of the time he’s throwing the 3/16-ounce head with Black Blue Fleck. It works!

I’ve used the Owner Ultrahead/Power Worm combo and like it a lot, but I prefer a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce weedless J-Mac Finesse Jighead matched with a 5-inch YUM Dinger. Click here to see the 1/8-ounce version, and click here for the 1/4-ounce jighead. I like this jighead because is slips through any type of weed better than anything else I’ve tried, it has a 3/0 Mustad Finesse hook, the collar has a barb that effectively holds soft plastics in place, and they’re affordable: $1.58 for a two pack. I usually choose the black jighead, but in dark water the chartreuse is sometimes the better producer.

The author’s favorite deep weedline lure is a J-Mac Finesse Jig (above) matched with a 5-inch YUM Dinger (below). This jig slips through vegetation thanks to the bullet-shaped head and fiber weedguard. In clear water, the author chooses a Green Pumpkin Dinger; in darker water, he prefers Black/Blue Flake.
The author’s favorite deep weedline lure is a J-Mac Finesse Jig (above) matched with a 5-inch YUM Dinger (below). This jig slips through vegetation thanks to the bullet-shaped head and fiber weedguard. In clear water, the author chooses a Green Pumpkin Dinger; in darker water, he prefers Black/Blue Flake.

Sunfish will grab and hold a thin Berkley Power Worm more than they will the fatter YUM Dinger, which is one reason I prefer the Dinger. Also, when a Dinger is rigged on the J-Mac, the worm lasts longer than a Power Worm Texas-rigged on the Owner Ultrahead. Eventually the barb of the Ultrahead begins to tear the soft Power Worm, so Chris has to change soft plastics more often than I do with the J-Mac/Dinger combo.

I also give the nod to the J-Mac/Dinger combo for skipping docks. Chris’s system certainly works, but if the worm is a bit torn, the skipping action can cause the hook to slip out of the worm, which then snags on weeds after it sinks under or near a dock. The J-Mac/Dinger combo skips great and the worm always stays on the hook.

As for YUM Dinger colors, similar to Chris I keep it simple. In clear water I use Green Pumpkin, and in dark water I like Black/Blue Flake.

The author’s favorite lure for targeting deep weedline bass is a weedless J-Mac Finesse Jig rigged with a 5-inch YUM Dinger.
The author’s favorite lure for targeting deep weedline bass is a weedless J-Mac Finesse Jig rigged with a 5-inch YUM Dinger.

Fish On!

It didn’t take long for Chris and me to find a school of largemouth bass. On his fishfinder, we marked an isolated submerged weedbed about the size of a three car garage. Weeds stopped growing in 6 feet, so we backed off to 8 feet and casted our soft plastics toward shore, landing our lures in the middle of the weedbed. Even though the wind was blowing 15 mph, Chris’s boat was kept in ideal position for casting because he hit the Spot-Lock feature on his Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor. I know this will sound like an infomercial, but that’s fine: With Spot-Lock activated, we both could move around the boat landing fish, re-rigging worms, taking pics, eating and drinking, etc. while the trolling motor worked on its own to hold boat position. Like the anglers say in one Minn Kota commercial: “Game changer.”

We fished that weedbed plus a few others around the lake, and after 4 hours we finally decided to leave because the waves from recreational boats and jet skis became too annoying. And the high-noon sun seemed to slow the bite, too. In total, we landed at least 30 largemouth bass, perhaps 40. Biggest bass was a thick 18.5-incher that likely weighed about 4 pounds.

This was not an unusual day on the water for us. Chris and I predicted we’d catch bass one way (hollow-bodied frogs up shallow), but when that didn’t work out, we pulled out our two favorite lures for catching deep weedline summertime bass.



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