Grass in the Past
IT’S UNDERSTOOD THAT the ageless angling axiom “grass equals bass” implies no lack of opportunity on rocky, woody lakes where bass have never established vegetation-centric patterns. However, when lakes once thick with hydrilla, milfoil, eelgrass and the like find their grass in dramatic decline, the impacts are undeniably far reaching.
Several of the nation’s top fisheries have, in recent years, seen natural and man-made forces greatly reduce their grass volume. An exhaustive list isn’t necessary, but several Bassmaster Elite Series anglers familiar with the declines share insights and perspectives with broad applicability.
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Grass can meet its demise in several ways. Here are the top offenders.
Tropical Storms: Most grasses can handle the constant wash from a busy holiday weekend, but those pleasure boaters, anglers and Jet Skiers will never generate the kind of relentless battering from hurricanes or those fierce storms common to the Midwest. Elite angler Cliff Prince recalls 2017’s Hurricane Irma not only dumped incredible amounts of water on his home state of Florida, it took a weed whacker to the St. Johns River eelgrass beds.
“The high wind tore up one side of [Lake George], and then the dark water that flowed out
