Pro's Quick Tip: Lane's Easy-To-Follow Grass Plan

By Jonthan LePera
Special to BassFan

Chris Lane might be a Florida boy at heart, but his Elite Series track record has shown he can catch them just about anywhere that bass swim. When he gets to target bass relating to grass, well, that’s right in his wheelhouse.

Summer Tactics

Lane targets healthy grass and vegetation, especially in deeper water.

“The fish are generally going to be relating to the deeper grass with edges,” Lane says. “When it gets really hot, they push out to that deeper water. In the evening, if it’s cloudy, those fish push up to the edge of that grass and feed and hide in the edges to ambush any baitfish coming by.”

He’ll use his Raymarine E12, A9 and A7 units with Navionics mapping, especially when fishing dirty water, looking to see how deep the grass grows and where the edge is. From there, he’ll try to dial into a pattern if he can find fish on points, on the edge of the grass, or in the grass.

“If they’re in the grass, I’m going to flip the new Luck E Strike Live Motion Drop Dead Craw that I designed that we won the Sabine River on,” Lane said.

He’ll fish it quickly on a 1- to 1 ¼-ounce Bass Pro Shops XPS tungsten black sinker rigged with a bobber stop looking to trigger reaction bites.

“They might be in the grass in the shade if you can find some canopies in the grass,” he added.

He’ll mix it up throwing a Luck E Strike Pow Stick and let it sink slowly. Or, he’ll use a variety of Luck E Strike crankbaits to cover the water column, and if he sees fish suspending, he’s not shy to break out his dropshot rod either.

“When it comes to summer time fishing, you really have to let the fish tell you what they want,” Lane said.

A Snag Proof Bobby’s Perfect Frog is his confidence bait.

“Bass will push the baitfish into the grass some times,” Lane said. “You aren’t going to get a topwater through that grass and normally they aren’t going to hit it when you flip in there because they’re looking for that baitfish to be up in the water.”

Matching the hatch is key. When largemouth are feeding on brim or bluegill, he’ll opt for a darker color with white or white/chartreuse getting the nod if it's a shad bite.

Fall Time

Especially on Lake Guntersville near where he resides, fall is one of Lane’s favorite times to fish. He’ll have a frog rod and flipping stick on deck while looking to key on vegetation that has canopies that are dead underneath, and where baitfish are living.

“When you find that you’ll find the fish,” he said. “Those fish are trying to get fat before winter. A lot of times you can either see or hear the baitfish in the grass, and a lot of times the fish are not far away.”

Spring Grass Fishing

“Fish are starting to push up and spawn, and if you find one or two spawners you’ll find more and then you’ll drift through and there isn’t anything,” Lane said. “You’ll want to be on your trolling motor, covering water, making long casts and burning it.

He’ll use Luck E Strike Live Motion Frantic Frog, a topwater swimming frog, or a Live Motion swimbait.

If he finds an area where fish are concentrated, he’ll drop his Power Poles and dissect the area with a Pow Stick.

Gear Up

> Crankbait gear, 7'3" medium-action Bass Pro Shops CarbonLite rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (5:4.1 ratio), Stren 100% Fluoro fluorocarbon line, Luck E Strike RC crankbaits.

> Stickbait gear: 7" heavy-action Bass Pro Shops CarbonLite rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (7:1 ratio), 12-pound Stren Original monofilament line, Luck E Strike Pow Stick

> Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Bass Pro Shops CarbonLite rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (6:4:1 ratio for power), 65-pound Stren braided line , various Luck E Strike Live Motion plastics.

> Frog gear: 7'3" heavy-action Bass Pro Shops CarbonLite rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (7:1 ratio), 50- and 65-pound Stren braided line, various SnagProof frogs.