Casting for Bass on Pewaukee Lake with Weedless Plastics

Casting for Bass on Pewaukee with weedless soft plastic baits is any easy way for anglers to catch fish!

Pewaukee Lake is historically known as a “weedy lake” particularly on the East end. The area we’re referring to in this post encompasses the Rocky Point narrows down to Curly’s Waterfront Pub & Grill to the South, up to Taylor’s Bay to the North, continuing to the East until you reach the beach in downtown Pewaukee.

With an average depth of 3-8 feet of water, fishing boats will often refrain from even attempting to fish this part of the lake due to the frustration with the submergent weeds that blanket this portion of the lake. This oversight can be a costly one if looking to catch some of the
biggest Bass in the lake!

Below I’ll give you the information you need to catch these Bass on Pewaukee like we do with the kids from the time the season opens until it’s time for them to go back to school!

The Rod & Reel

There are two Rod & Reel combos that have excelled for clients over the past 2 seasons based on the ease in throwing these light weight presentations, quality hooksets over a long casting distance, and most importantly the ability to land these fish in the net once you’ve hooked
them.

The first set up is a Pflueger Trion Spinning combo specifically the 35 size with the Medium Rod Power. The reel in this size balances well with the 6’6″ rod and holds plenty of line plus backing. The drag is smooth enough to fish big fish but strong enough when needed to keep the fish from becoming buried down in the weeds. The Medium Action loads very well during the cast allowing small, compact, weedless bait presentations to launch a long distance from the boat.

The second set up is the higher end 7′ Fenwick HMX spinning rod in a Medium Action paired with an Abu Garcia Orra SX in the 20 size. The Carbon Matrix hybrid drag system on these Orras slips just enough when tightened all the way down on hook sets making for great hook penetration and then immediately getting these aggressive Pewaukee Bass up out of the weeds and coming toward the boat. The Fenwick’s rod action, again, allows for really long casts for kids just learning to throw a spinning combo, and is light enough at 4.31 oz. for young anglers to never complain about hand, wrist, and arm fatigue.

The Line

When spooling up line to target these Pewaukee bass, we will spool on 150 yards of 10# Berkley NanoFil in the Low-Vis Green color. We use this line because it simply offers the longest casting distance with less effort! Longer casts covers more water which increases the probability of enticing Bass! It offers minimal stretch so hooksets at a distance are secure in the fish’s mouth
and cuts through the weeds extremely well during a battle!

One important step to remember is to put about 2-5 yards of Berkley Mono line on the reel first before the Nanofil to ensure the Nanofil doesn’t slip during retrieval.

The final line hack we include in successfully targeting Largemouth on Pewaukee is to use an Alberto Knot in order to join the Nanofil to a 3-4′ Berkley Fluorocarbon Leader in 8-10lb test. This fluorocarbon leader that is tied directly to the bait offers no stretch as well and is virtually invisible to fish underwater. Most Lake Country area lakes offer clear water and when fished side-by-side throughout many trips early on in my guiding career I’ve taken ample notice that those anglers who utilize the fluorocarbon leader get bit significantly more than those who tie directly to the Nanofil or fish with another type of line. As you may realize, when fishing with kids, the more bites during a trip the better!!

The Bait

Last but not least we have the “business end”! The part of the system that brings smiles to young faces all season long!

The key to rigging soft plastic weedless baits on Pewaukee for Largemouth Bass is to make sure the soft plastic of choice is PEGGED in order to remain weedless.

What is meant by pegging the bait is threading a slip bobber stop up onto the fluorocarbon leader first, followed by a 1/16th oz tungsten bullet weight. Next, tie an improved clinch knot or a palomar knot to a 1/0-2/0 Berkley Fusion19 EWG (extra wide gap) hook. Finally we texapose a 4″ swimbait on the hook and cinch the bobber stop and tungsten sinker down against the nose of the bait making the system virtually weedless!

One final weedless soft plastic system that works effectively on Pewaukee Lake is to use a Berkley Fusion19 Swimbait hook with a screw lock system. Using this system you don’t need to spend the
time rigging the above mentioned components (i.e. bobber stop, tungsten weight, etc.). Simply take your preferred 4-6″ plastic swimbait or swimming senko and screw the nose into the screwlock system. Finally texapose the hook inside the bait and you have a weighted soft plastic
system that will swim over and through the countless weedbeds on the East end in search of Largemouth Bass!

If you’d like to get out in the boat with me and let me show you how effective this technique can be, don’t hesitate to contact me and set up your trip today!