| The bulrush (bullrush, reeds) is often confused | | | | other end of my line. Too light of a weight on a |
| with cattails. Bulrush tends to grow in slightly | | | | windy day will throw off your pitches and often |
| deeper waters and have more of a circular cross | | | | get your wrapped around a bulrush stem. The |
| section as compared to the semicircular section of | | | | only time I resort to heavy weights is when I'm |
| the cattail. Depending on the time of year and | | | | flipping matted cover in the bulrush. I'll use 1/2 - 1 |
| bass feeding habits, bulrush often dominate in fish | | | | oz weights in this type of situation. If matted |
| catches over cattails. I believe it's primarily due to | | | | cover exists in bulrush, you've got to get your |
| the depth of the water (it grows in deeper | | | | flippin stick out and flip the mats. If you don't you |
| water). The larger bass tend to migrate to the | | | | will lose out on many opportunities to catch above |
| first structure they come to when actively | | | | average bass. In working the bulrush patches/lines |
| feeding, and the bulrush is often closer to these | | | | start back from the bulrush approx. 10-15 feet |
| deeper water migration routes. My personal | | | | and pitch. Pitch forward of the boat if possible and |
| favorite technique for fishing bulrush is to pitch a | | | | restrict any side pitches or back of the boat |
| Texas rigged worm. I tend to use a harder, | | | | pitches. The reason for this is that the bass are |
| straight tailed worm over a ribbon tailed one. The | | | | often spooked by the boat passage, and by |
| reason is that the ribbon tail will often wrap | | | | pitching sideways or towards the rear of the boat |
| around the bulrush stem thereby wasting time | | | | you are often pitching to spooked fish or fish that |
| and aggravating the fisherman as well as spooking | | | | have moved due to being spooked. Always be a |
| fish. My favorite worm for pitching is the Zoom | | | | line watcher, whether pitching, casting or flippin a |
| trickworm in the Junebug (purple/green flack) | | | | soft plastic. Any twitch of the line or sideways |
| pattern. The weight I use with the Texas rig | | | | motion of the line often indicates a strike, so reel |
| varies with water depth and wind. The shallower | | | | down and set the hook even if you don't feel the |
| the water, the lighter I go. A lighter weight gives | | | | typical thump! When pitching, work both deep into |
| the worm a more natural fall and can get more | | | | the bulrush patch and to the outside edge of the |
| strikes, however if too light, the worm may catch | | | | bulrush. Try to make contact with the stems |
| on the bulrush stems and not finish it's way to | | | | whenever possible, but don't neglect the open |
| the bottom. The windier the day is, the heavier I | | | | pockets and also work right in the middle of those |
| go. This gives me better control during the pitch | | | | pockets. If you follow these tips, I'm sure you will |
| as well as better feel for what's biting on the | | | | be doing more catching with less fishing! |