Identifying Grass 2024

Big_Easy_Bassin reply :

So as my bass fishing fever grows a little more each day, I decided to do some research on my local pond/lagoon system I fish in NOLA City Park. The water here is full of vegetation, so I figured knowing exactly what was there, and more specifically what was in different areas would be a plus. I've identified 7 different types of vegetation, but I'm not sure about this last one. I'd appreciate any input.

Team9nine reply :

Looks a lot like coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum) to me.

-T9

Big_Easy_Bassin reply :

On 1/11/2017 at 9:55 AM, Team9nine said:

Looks a lot like coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum) to me.

-T9

That's what I was thinking too, but a few pics of milfoil I saw had me thinking it might be milfoil

NCbassraider reply :

Looks like a form of hydrilla.

Team9nine reply :

On 1/11/2017 at 9:58 AM, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

That's what I was thinking too, but a few pics of milfoil I saw had me thinking it might be milfoil

Definitely not milfoil IMO...at least not the invasive type. Still sticking w/coontail for now

NCbassraider reply :

I've had a eurasian milfoil in my lake and if is much finer than his pic. It grows exponentially and almost overtook the lake.

Whatever it is, it's an invasive species.

RoLo reply :

Team9nine nailed it.

The Y-shaped fronds are a prominent field mark.

Roger

IndianaFinesse reply :

Yep, definitely coontail.

Big_Easy_Bassin reply :

Any of you guys have any experience fishing coontail? Just wondering if there's any techniques I haven't tried that I need to bust out

IndianaFinesse reply :

On 1/11/2017 at 11:22 AM, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

Any of you guys have any experience fishing coontail? Just wondering if there's any techniques I haven't tried that I need to bust out

No different than fishing around other weeds, except coontail seems to be somewhat brittle and easier to break off with a quick pop of the rod. As such fishing a rattle trap or jerkbait right above them works well, occasionally jerking it threw them and popping them off erratically.

Big_Easy_Bassin reply :

On 1/11/2017 at 11:38 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

No different than fishing around other weeds, except coontail seems to be somewhat brittle and easier to break off with a quick pop of the rod. As such fishing a rattle trap or jerkbait right above them works well, occasionally jerking it threw them and popping them off erratically.

Rattle traps are my go-to bait pretty much year round. Followed by a jig or T-rig on the edges of the grass

"hamma" reply :

Looks like coontail to me as well,.also known as combomba weed,...if I spelled that right.

As this stuff grows sunmerged, I will run a single bladed colorado spinnerbait over it, or a jerkbait with rattles, a topwater wont hurt either. I try to "call" bass out of it. When its reached the surface,.. I will frog fish the thick mats, and run a spinnerbait/jerkbait along its edges

When bass bury themselves in it they seem to be alot tougher to catch, bait harbors in it well too, with all the room in the world to live their lives amungst the thick protected strands. At times a treble hooked lure will drive one nuts as this stuff will grow to some decent depths, and as you fish the "edge" there maybe more of it submerged that you cant see. A texas rigged worm is at home in this stuff, but the weeds "patch" can be huge, and texas rigged fishing can become a tedious, and exhausting task

Its a good weed though (in my opinion) bass love it, lakes up here that have it are well known bass lakes, and can produce some good sized bass,. Again, when they arent buried in it, "dormaint"

But,... when removal of the invasive specie of weed takes place, fishing will become tough, real tough. You'd think the opposite, less weed? easier fishing? but that usually doesnt take place. Its "almost" as if the fish are now homeless, and seek out whatever they can to relate to, apparently upset that they have been evicted, they become uncooperative. Either that, or the shiner bearing shore fisherman, plucks out the fish before I get there,...lol

kickerfish1 reply :

Upon quick glance at the 1st pic with the darker green and the red decorative piece I was thinking part of a Christmas tree, but then I realized I am a few weeks out of season.

RoLo reply :

Cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana), also known as fanwort is actually a different plant. One difference is that ‘coontail’ has no true root system, while fanwort is a rooted submergent.

Since the title of this thread is "Identifying Grass", let me share a quick way to distinguish between the 3 most common bottlebrush-shaped submergents:

Hydrilla

Hydrilla is debatably the favorite weed of largemouth bass. It has the general shape of bottlebrushes underwater with foliage that's hard and stiff. When hydrilla is removed from the lake it retains its shape totally, which is a very distinguishing feature. In addition, hydrilla has a raspy feel all its own.

Coontail

Coontail is cherished by northern pike, being second only to cabbage (pondweed). Coontail consists of firm, Y-shaped filaments with an overall shape resembling the tail of a coon (no surprise there). When coontail is removed from the lake it retains most its shape but not as rigidly as hydrilla. Coontail has no true root system, just hold-tight filaments at the bottom of its stems. For this reason, coontail beds can be relocated by high winds or strong current, but they normally colonize in protected bays or amidst a companion plant like hydrilla,

water lilies, and so on

Milfoil

Milfoil (actually 'Eurasian watermilfoil') is beloved by muskies. a plant with soft, wispy foliage that resembles down feathers. Milfoil has an overall shape that reminds me of Christmas garland. When removed from the lake, milfoil collapses completely, a real giveaway trait.

Roger

Paul Roberts reply :

Also, you can see the little "teeth" on the leaves. Milfoil is smooth leaved, and much less dense.

Catt reply :

Paul Roberts reply :

"hamma" reply :

Thanks for the clarification RoLo, I've been confusing them for years, I find alot of the fanwort here then, as they are rooted, and dont float away with wind or current. Bass sure do like it.

I stand corrected

Team9nine reply :

On 1/12/2017 at 12:19 AM, Catt said:

Triple Rattleback Jig ?

On 1/12/2017 at 2:41 AM, Paul Roberts said:

Mango jig ?

Big_Easy_Bassin reply :

Thanks everyone. I know it doesn't make a huge difference, but as I get more into bass fishing I find that every detail, even small things, can help when trying to locate fish. It's crazy... I put 100,000% more "study time" in when it comes to fishing versus when I was in school lol. My wife thinks I'm crazy bc I tend to do tons of research and I like to take notes

lonnie g reply :

On 1/11/2017 at 11:22 AM, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

Any of you guys have any experience fishing coontail? Just wondering if there's any techniques I haven't tried that I need to bust out

it holds bass well. crank a red eyed shad close to it. or maybe a revo also used pop r in warmer weather.

scaleface reply :

It can grow thick in the lakes here but not deep .My three top lures for it are worms both weighted and unweighted , spinnerbaits and buzzbaits .

RoLo reply :

THE JIGLESS JIG

In the 'Florida Slop', my most weedless probe is what I call a 'jigless-jig'

The 'crawless-craw' is a Deps 4.5" Twin-Tail Grub (Very tough plastic)

The skirt is 'live rubber'

The Hook is a 5/0 grip-pin rebarb straight-shank

Dyn-o-mite

Roger

scbassin reply :

Here you go.

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/

Paul Roberts reply :

The two major fishing weeds where I live are milfoil and coontail. Both hold fish but milfoil is easier to fish, being more brittle and less dense. Milfoil also needs a lot of light (more than coontail), so milfoil tends to die back underneath leaving space for bass to move and hunt. When water levels drop in summer the milfoil canopy collapses creating great mat fishing. During dark overcast summers, milfoil dies back and coontail takes over. Coontail is denser and can mat too, but often too densely IME.

Team9nine reply :

On 1/14/2017 at 12:10 AM, Paul Roberts said:

The two major fishing weeds where I live are milfoil and coontail. Both hold fish but milfoil is easier to fish, being more brittle and less dense. Milfoil also needs a lot of light (more than coontail), so milfoil tends to die back underneath leaving space for bass to move and hunt. When water levels drop in summer the milfoil canopy collapses creating great mat fishing. During dark overcast summers, milfoil dies back and coontail takes over. Coontail is denser and can mat too, but often too densely IME.

Great post. Agree with everything above, except possibly what your definition of "brittle" entails. My experience is that milfoil is like a wet noodle that drapes and collapses over baits and can be hard to snap off with rod and reel, whereas coontail is much more crisp, a lot like cabbage, and it therefore seems baits can be snapped free easier and more frequently.

A-Jay reply :

On 1/14/2017 at 12:10 AM, Paul Roberts said:

The two major fishing weeds where I live are milfoil and coontail. Both hold fish but milfoil is easier to fish, being more brittle and less dense. Milfoil also needs a lot of light (more than coontail), so milfoil tends to die back underneath leaving space for bass to move and hunt. When water levels drop in summer the milfoil canopy collapses creating great mat fishing. During dark overcast summers, milfoil dies back and coontail takes over. Coontail is denser and can mat too, but often too densely IME.

Agreeing with @Paul Roberts and @Team9nine here. And the First & last green of the season is almost always money.

I'll add that at certain times of the year Cabbage Weed here is a great place to find some stout bass. (Can also be a Pike Magnet, but you gotta take the good with the bad I guess.) And although the pic below designates it as "The Best weeds" and it can be - it's often a little easier to fish. This becomes prime time for me when there are "patches" of this growing on a hard bottom with some open water between them - not too much, but just enough to allow me to pull along a swimbait, swim jig, chatterbait or zip a spinnerbait or shallow crank (usually squarebill) or the best case scenario - Lippless bait ripped along the edges - catching a bit here & there - and then ~ BOOM !

If the horizontal presentation isn't getting bit and a I need to go vertical - 90% of the time it's one of these

A-Jay

Paul Roberts reply :

On 1/14/2017 at 12:26 AM, Team9nine said:

Great post. Agree with everything above, except possibly what your definition of "brittle" entails. My experience is that milfoil is like a wet noodle that drapes and collapses over baits and can be hard to snap off with rod and reel, whereas coontail is much more crisp, a lot like cabbage, and it therefore seems baits can be snapped free easier and more frequently.

I know what you mean about noodles and crispness. Milfoil stems are the noodles, but their leaves are pretty fragile. Those thick stems though are solid enough to "walk" crankbaits over, which is helpful. Coontail here can be so dense though I simply have to fish the outsides or tops of it. Guess I'm thinking cranking here.

On 1/14/2017 at 12:30 AM, A-Jay said:

Agreeing with @Paul Roberts and @Team9nine here. And the First & last green of the season is almost always money.

I'll add that at certain times of the year Cabbage Weed here is a great place to find some stout bass. (Can also be a Pike Magnet, but you gotta take the good with the bad I guess.) And although the pic below designates it as "The Best weeds" and it can be - it's often a little easier to fish. This becomes prime time for me when there are "patches" of this growing on a hard bottom with some open water between them - not too much, but just enough to allow me to pull along a swimbait, swim jig, chatterbait or zip a spinnerbait or shallow crank (usually squarebill) or the best case scenario - Lippless bait ripped along the edges - catching a bit here & there - and then ~ BOOM !

If the horizontal presentation isn't getting bit and a I need to go vertical - 90% of the time it's one of these

A-Jay

I don't have "cabbage" here. I fished it in a number of places in NY and it was a bass magnet. I have P. crispus (Curly Pondweed) here, but it doesn't seem to provide much fishing. This could be bc it dies back so early and is only around during the spawn, when the bass are occupied with other business. The other Potamogeton I have here is pectinus, which I call Threadleaf. It's awful: It doesn't interest the fish and is impossible to fish through, even close to.

WRB reply :

IN-Fisherman did a early study report called "largemouth bass in the slop", excellent detailed report on various weed types and how bass use them.

Tom

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