Determining whether or not weeds are dying is fairly simples. Crank any lure with exposed hooks through the vegetation -- if parts of the plants break off easily, and your lure comes back to you with leaves or fronds hanging from it, then they’re dying. It’s time to move away.

Hardy plants, on the other hand, will fight you for that lure.

WEED MECHANICS
Understanding why bass love weeds and learning how to determine where those fish will be at any given time is only two thirds of the battle.

Being proficient at choosing the proper lure -- and then presenting it correctly -- can spell the difference between a livewell full of fish or one with only water.

Lure choice goes back to one of the bass’s main reasons for being in the weeds in the first place. And by playing the percentages and picking baits that closely resemble what fish are feeding on, you’ll be in good shape.

“What’s the No. 1 forage that these bass are after right now?” asked Barrack. “If fish are in the middle of thick vegetation, eating frogs or rodents straying across the surface, I don’t want to crank the outside edges.

“In that situation, I’ll always go with a Snag Proof Tournament Frog -- the color and size will depend on the time of year.”

If you have no clue as to what the bass in vegetation are eating, a few standard choices will increase your odds of catching fish. If the weeds are healthy and water temperatures are above 55 degrees, try working topwater baits, buzzbaits and spinnerbaits directly over the plants.

If the vegetation is dying, and the water is cooler, start off by flipping weedless jigs or soft-plastics, twitching crankbaits along the edges or slow-rolling spinnerbaits.

Presentation is extremely important when fishing vegetation. Don’t think that bass won’t be skittish just because they have thick cover to hide in. Bass in vegetation will spook just as easily as fish in other habitats.

“I never go into a weedy area with my boat on plane,” said Barrack. “I’ll shut my big engine down well before reaching the area I want to fish, then use my electric trolling motor to move close to the weeds quietly. And when I’m right in the weeds, I’ll use a sturdy push-pole to move the boat.”

TACKLE
Here are some items to have in your tackle box whenever you’re fishing weedy waters.

Be sure to use them all with non-stretch lines, and stout rods and reels, which are designed for getting bass out of heavy cover.

Spinnerbaits
These light-wire lures aren’t made for thick vegetation, but they’re ideal for working through sparse grass and parallel to weedbed edges. They’re also a good choice when you want to cover lots of water in search of bass. You’ll be able to fish them from just below the surface to near the bottom.

Spinnerbaits come with skirts in a variety of colors, with all-white and chartreuse the most popular. Try one pattern with red or orange mixed in when you think bass are feeding on small sunfish.

When imitating minnows or shad, use spinnerbaits with nickel or gold blades to produce lots of flash.

Buzzbaits
Similar to spinnerbaits, these noisy lures work best when targeting sparse vegetation or submerged weeds that don’t reach the surface. The advantage of buzzbaits -- as their name implies -- is the sound that their odd-shaped blades produce. They also create a unique disturbance on the surface that bass can’t resist.