Throughout the Midwest during the summer months, largemouth bass can be found in a number of places in a body of water. Some will be on the weedline, some will be over the tops of weedy flats, there will be a few hanging around boat docks or shore-related objects, and some will be in the heaviest vegetation the lake contains. Often, the biggest ones will be in the heaviest, sloppiest weeds to be found. It requires heavy tackle and some weedless lures to get to these fish, but the extra effort it takes to reach these big dudes will be rewarded the first time one of them takes your bait. The action after the bite will result in a lot of splashing and perhaps the biggest bass you’ve ever caught. Here’s how you can catch sloppy bass.

The first thing you have to do is find the areas that hold the fish. Check out the heaviest areas of lily pads, rushes, or any other type of vegetation you can find. Some lakes will have a couple of different types of shallow water cover, and the bass might prefer one over the other. The only way to find out is to fish the areas and see what the fish tell you.

There are two ways to fish these areas. You can make long casts with a weedless spoon like a Jaw-Breaker, or you can make short pitches to holes in the cover with a plastic bait rigged Texas-style.

It often works well for the person in the front of the boat to throw the spoon. Snake it through and around the cover. Watch for activity on the surface near the spoon. Sometimes you will be able to see a wake as the bass approaches the bait from a few feet away, other times the water will explode at the bait. Either way, the strike will be obvious. The spoon allows for a lot of water to be covered in a short period of time.

The person in the back of the boat can also throw a spoon, but often it works best if they simply pitch the Texas-rigged plastic to holes in the cover. Short pitches of ten or fifteen feet work best. Baits with lots of legs and bulk, a Power Hawg is favored by many bass chasers, work best for big fish. In the summer, big bass want big baits.

With either the spoon or the plastic, when you feel the fish or the line starts moving sideways, set the hook hard and get the fish coming toward you. This is no place for finesse or light line. Seventeen pound Trilene XT or Big Game line is the minimum, and many bassers like twenty five pound test monofilament. A longer rod like a Lightning Rod Flippin’ rod teamed with a tough C Series Abu Garcia reel is what you need to get these bass to the boat. Traditional spinning tackle won’t do the job when the bass are in the slop. It is amazing how a three pound bass can overwhelm an angler when you go after the bass in his neighborhood.

If you’re looking for hand-to-hand combat with a fish, there are plenty of places in the Midwest where you can find sloppy bass, and right now is a great time to do so. Give it a try once and I bet you’ll be back for a return bout.

For more fish-catching information, visit http://www.fishingthemidwest.com