“Don’t worry,” he said. “You can fish a mile of this stuff and not catch a fish. But then you will find a little spot where you catch six or seven 5-pounders in as many casts.”

His word was all I had to go on because I was a grass-fishing virgin. Yeah, I had tried it a couple of times, but never fully understood what I was doing. I was hoping Wheatley was going to change all of that.

Also in the boat with us was long-time grass fishing veteran and past BASS Masters Classic qualifier Maurice Jackson. He is known as one of the best grass fishermen on Toledo Bend. In fact, he’s the one who taught Wheatley how to effectively mine these deep grass beds.

“Hang in there boy,” said Jackson. “We’re going to get on them eventually.”

So far, my head was full of empty promises and not much else. But I knew I was in good hands.

Wheatley guided his Triton Tr21 around a point in the expansive grass bed we were fishing and found a little gut in the grass with his electronics. He pitched his jig to the edge of the grass and patiently let it fall 18 feet before it hit the bottom.

Wheatley felt the distinctive thump of a bass inhaling his jig and he jerked back on his rod.

“Finally got one,” he said as he started reeling in his prize.

I looked at his rod and realized that it didn’t look like he had a fish. It appeared more like he was just reeling in an old tire or maybe a discarded shoe.

Soon, a huge glob of grass came to the surface.

“What, you lose him?” I asked.

“No, he’s in there,” Wheatley responded. “We’re just going to have to clean him off a little.”

Jackson reached down with the net and scooped up the ball of grass.

Wheatley reached into the net, and after removing what seemed like 10 pounds of hydrilla, pulled up a 5-pound bass. He grinned as he held his fish up for the camera.

“See, I told you,” he said.

Wheatley slid the bass back in the water and got back to work. He didn’t even get to pick up his rod before Jackson was calling for the net.

The same scenario played itself out again. Another 5-pound bass was soon being held up for the camera. Then another, and another. We had found the proverbial needle in a haystack.

“The problem for most anglers,” said Wheatley, “is they give up too soon when they come out here to fish the grass. This definitely isn’t a numbers thing. We’re looking for five to 10 bites a day. And a lot of times, those bites will come within a 30-minute period and from an area the size of a bathtub.”

To learn how to fish the deep grass properly, Jackson said it is important for anglers to realize how to focus on the key areas in an expansive grass bed.

“The bass aren’t just going to be anywhere,” he said. “They will key on very particular areas within the grass.”

The first key zone to explore is the edge of the grass.

“The grass will only grow so deep,” said Jackson. “It all depends on water clarity and depth. But where the grass stops growing, it will create a wall of sorts. We all know that bass like edges, and this is the most productive edge that Toledo Bend has to offer, especially during the summer.”

Some other areas to key on are points formed by the grass, cuts, guts and ditches that run through the grass, and little areas of isolated, clumped up grass. Jackson especially likes the little isolated clumps.

“Those are my most productive areas during the hottest part of the year,” he said.

According to Wheatley, another important consideration is the depth of the grass.

“The strike zone within the grass gets deeper the farther south you go,” he said. “Up at Converse, the best grass is in 3 to 5 feet of water. But around the 1215 area, it may be down to 7 or 8 feet. And go on down to Indian Mounds, Housen or Toro and the best depth is 15 to 20 feet.”

Wheatley and Jackson like the deep grass down south the best.

“Very few people have the patience to fish the deep stuff,” said Wheatley. “They would rather go up to 1215 where it’s a little easier fishing, and that’s fine. That means Maurice and I get all these deep fish to ourselves. Sure, we see people fishing all around us, but they are usually fishing way too shallow.”

When Wheatley and Jackson head out to fish the deep grass, they gear up with braided line, big worms, heavy jigs and even heavier rods.

“You can get your heart broke quick,” said Jackson. “When a big bass bites you in 18 feet of water and around all that grass, you better have the right stuff or you’ll never see him.”

The anglers agree that if braided line has a place in bass fishing, this is it.

“It has several properties that make it great for grass fishing,” said Wheatley. “First off, it doesn’t have any stretch, so you’re going to be able to feel the bites better. And second, it has a small diameter, so it actually cuts through the grass instead of getting bogged down like mono. Finally, the stuff just lets you manhandle the bass in that thick grass. When they bury in the grass, you can just keep reeling and the braid will pull them and the grass right on up.”

And when heading to the deep grass beds, Wheatley and Jackson tie on a jig that was made especially for fishing grass.

“We both use either a 3/4- or 1-ounce Cyclone Jig,” said Wheatley. “That jig has all the features you need for grass fishing. It has a bullet-shaped head that allows the jig to pull down through the grass without getting hung. The weed guard has just enough stiffness to keep the jig clean, but it’s limber enough to keep you from losing fish because of it. And the hook in a Cyclone Jig is awesome. It’s a 5/0 Mustad Mega Bite hook.”

Wheatley explained that the Mega Bite hook in a Cyclone Jig helps him land more fish from the grass because of its unique bend.

“Once they get hooked good with that hook,” he said, “they just can’t throw it.”

Wheatley said some of their most productive colors for Toledo Bend are Hydrilla, Green Scales and Alligator.

“Anything with a little green in it will work,” he said.

He has found the bass in Toledo Bend have a special affinity for a ReAction Gator Dog trailer.

“Just match the color to your jig,” he said.

He recommended trying Root Beer Pepper/Green Sparkle or Peanut Butter & Jelly.

Two other lures to try in the grass are big worms and tube jigs.

“I don’t really know what it is,” said Jackson, “but these fish will sometimes bite straight plastic lures over a jig on any given day.”

That’s why, when Jackson has other anglers in his boat, everybody has something different tied on to see what the bass prefer.

“Once we figure it out,” he said, “we all change to that lure.”

And the final part of their grass gear is stout rods that are capable of horsing a big bass up from the grass.

“You’ll catch a 5-pound bass,” said Jackson, “and it will have 10 pounds of grass on it. So you better have a rod capable of getting all that mess in the boat.”

Jackson likes a special round wrap heavy action Cyclone Rod of his own design.

“We wrapped the eyes around the rod blank so that they start off on top of the blank and wind up on bottom,” he said.

This design works better than conventional rods when fishing braided line.

“It gives you greater sensitivity, and the braid won’t wrap up around the tip of your rod like it does on a regular rod,” he said.

After gearing up with the proper tackle, Wheatley said the next thing to learn is how to present these big worms and heavy jigs to fish hiding beneath the grass.

“What you’ve got to remember,” he said, “is that while the grass may look solid on top of the water, it has plenty of openings and travel lanes in which big bass live.”

Some veteran grass anglers refer to these areas as “the voids.”

To get your lure into these voids where the big bass live, Wheatley said it is important to make short pitches to the edges of the grass or to holes within the grass bed.

“If you make a long cast,” he said, “you’re putting a lot of grass between you and your jig. And that will make it nearly impossible to feel your jig or land a bass.”

Making short pitches with your jig results in an almost vertical presentation.

“That’s what you want to strive for,” said Jackson. “You just pitch your jig out to the edge of the grass and slowly feed line as the jig falls to the bottom.”

To feed line to his jig, Jackson leaves his reel in free spool and strips line off the spool as the jig falls to the bottom. He does it just fast enough so that he can maintain contact with his jig as it sinks.

“When you feel it hit bottom,” he said, “quickly engage your reel and pay attention because most of your grass bites come right when the jig hits the bottom. If you feel a thump or something heavy or out of the ordinary, set the hook.”

If Jackson doesn’t get a bite when his jig hits bottom, he shakes it a few times then reels in his jig. He said to get your lure in after you shake it.

“If you don’t get a bite when the jig hits bottom or after you shake it a few times,” said Jackson, “get it in as quick as you can so you can make another pitch.”

Jackson added he can’t stress that point enough because the more pitches you make in a day the more fish you’re going to present your lure to and catch.

When either angler catches a fish from a grass bed, they kick a marker buoy in the water.

“It’s easy to get turned around when you’re wrestling with a big bass,” said Wheatley, “and you can easily lose your place. But if you kick a marker buoy in the water, you can return to the spot where you caught the fish and usually catch a few more.”

Wheatley went on to explain that there is usually something different in the grass that attracted that bass to that particular spot.

“And if one bass likes that spot,” he said, “other bass will like it too.”

Usually there will be some type of little depression or hump under the grass that attracts fish. Or maybe it’s a little underwater point that you can’t see. Whatever it is, it’s important to keep fishing around that area to maximize its potential.

And when you eventually find a few key areas in the grass, Wheatley said you could count of them for most of the summer.

“Whatever holds those bass there will keep them there until something changes. Maybe the grass will get too thick and they’ll leave or something else changes. I just know that when I’ve found them in the past, I can go back and catch them in the same area until conditions change.”

Jackson offered one last piece of advice for anglers fishing the thick grass.

“Most people think that fish will move to deeper water when they’re getting a lot of fishing pressure. But that isn’t the case on Toledo Bend. The bass will actually move into the thickest portion of the grass bed. And that isn’t in deep water. The grass is thickest in shallow water.”

To reach these bass, Jackson dive-bombs his jig through the mat.

“I basically just pitch a 1-ounce jig high in the air and let it crash down onto the mat. When it breaks through the mat, it will fall into the void underneath,” he said.

It’s a lot of work, but it has paid off in some of the largest grass bass he has ever caught.