In the 3-minute Facebook video below, James Lindner provides great tips for catching summertime largemouth bass in expansive reed beds (bulrushes).
These areas often are home to largemouths, but the trick is finding the fish. As Lindner explains, when the bass are most active, you can pick them off rather easily along the edges of a reed bed. Simply keep your boat a short casting distance away and target the points, inside turns and edges of the thicker clumps. A Texas-rigged soft plastic will work well, as will a weedless jig. If the fish are aggressive, you can also catch them on a faster-moving lure such as a bladed jig (think Chatterbait) or spinnerbait.
The challenge is what do you do when the reed bed edges don’t produce many (or any) bass? Typically, the bass haven’t left the reed bed; they’ve simply positioned themselves deeper in the heavy cover. To catch these neutral to negative bass, you’ll have to slow down, penetrate the reed bed with your boat, and pitch a weedless jig or Texas-rigged soft plastic into the thickest clumps of reeds. This can be intimidating because you’re fishing slowly, and the reed bed could be huge. But stick with it and you will eventually find the fish.
Watch the video below as James Lindner shares how he dissects large reed beds to locate and catch summertime largemouth. Note: Be sure to click “enter fullscreen” and turn up the volume for best viewing.
