With most of your cypress-tree engagements coming close to the wood, flipping and pitching jigs and soft plastics accounts for a lot of the action.
Toledon Bend’s Darold Gleason likes a ¾-ounce, bluegill V&M Elite Punch Jig with a green pumpkin V&M Wild Thang Craw trailer.
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Cliff Prince is also a fan of the flipping stick deal, but he’s keen on sending a Texas-rigged YUM Mighty Worm into action. Prince uses a 3/16-ounce weight on the worm or a YUM Wooly Bug.
The latter, Prince said, is his choice for flipping to bream beds amid the cypress.
But on most days, Prince starts his cypress search with a Devil’s Horse prop bait and give his Rebel Pop-R a few reps, as well. Notably, Prince said his topwater prop bait can prove highly productive around bream beds.
Other effective options include:
• Squarebill crankbaits — Bump these lures off cypress roots to trigger aggressive reaction strikes.
• Spinnerbaits — These are a good idea if you see shad or fish chasing them.
• Swim Jigs — Work swim jigs in the gaps and open stretches between trees for roaming bass, particularly on cloudy days.
In this close-contact style of fishing, Prince recommended stout tackle for a good hookup-to-landing ratio. For most of his cypress duty, he’ll use a 7-foot, 3-inch heavy-action Duckett rod and 15- to 17-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line.
Here, he said, leverage matters more than speed, so a 6.3:1 reel works just fine.
