How to Fish like a Grass Assassin

Happy Monday Spacefish!

Every angler who spends enough time on the Mosquito Lagoon eventually runs into the same problem. You’re cruising a shallow flat when a redfish pushes a wake through a patch of turtle grass. Maybe a trout explodes on bait in the middle of a grassy bottom area. You make a cast, your lure lands perfectly, and then…Grass. You retrieve your lure and come back with enough salad to feed a family of four.

Most anglers respond by moving on. They search for cleaner water, open water, deeper edges, or shorelines with less vegetation. The problem is that some of the best trout and redfish in the lagoon spend much of their lives buried in the very grass that frustrates us.

The grass isn’t the problem. The grass is the cover. Just as bass anglers flip lily pads and hydrilla to target fish hiding in heavy vegetation, inshore anglers can learn to fish directly through thick grass rather than around it. To consistently catch fish in these environments, I’ve come to rely on three presentations that have earned a permanent place in my kayak when fishing Mosquito Lagoon in the warmer months; a Texas-rigged paddle tail, a soft plastic frog, and a weedless spoon. Together, they form the foundation of what I like to call the Grass Assassin’s Playbook.

Texas Rig

If I could only bring one bait to fish heavy grass for redfish and trout, it would be a paddle tail rigged weedless. But lately I have shifted away from the twistlock hook, with the belly weight into a technique brought over from the sweetwater. My setup is simple: a Saltwater Assassin Sea Shad in Fried Chicken or Slammin’ Chicken, rigged on an Eagle Claw EWG 2/0 worm hook with a pegged tungsten weight, 3/16 oz. It’s essentially a bass fishing Texas rig that happens to be deadly on inshore fish.

The beauty of this setup is that it allows me to fish places that would be nearly impossible with a traditional jighead. But I like the weight forward castability and nose down fall of the jighead, so this is the next best thing to me. Instead of constantly cleaning grass from the hook, I can cast directly into thick vegetation, swim the bait across grass flats, and work it through the cover and potholes where redfish and trout often ambush prey.

The two colors I throw most are Fried Chicken and Slammin’ Chicken. Both have been catching for me in the slightly stained water that I have been fishing between Haulover and Beacon 42. Slammin’ Chicken has a junebug back, and a white belly with silver flakes, and a chartreuse tail. Fried Chicken has a solid bone back, and the exact same belly and the chartreuse tail.

Most strikes come as the bait clears a grass clump from getting ripped after feeling a hanguo, when it is swimmed over a pothole, or I let it fall after pulling it out of grass. Redfish in particular seem unable to resist a paddle tail that suddenly appears in an opening after traveling through thick cover.

The biggest mistake anglers make is fishing this presentation too fast. I want that paddle tail ticking the tops of the grass, occasionally hanging for a split second before breaking free. That sudden burst often triggers the strike.

Weedless Spoons

If the Texas-rigged paddle tail is the modern grass fisherman’s weapon of choice, the gold spoon is its grandfather. Long before anglers were rigging paddle tails weedless and buzzing frogs across floating vegetation, old school inshore anglers were catching Mosquito Lagoon redfish on simple gold spoons. The reason is straightforward; they work.

Mosquito Lagoon is famous for its shallow grass flats. Unfortunately, that same grass can make life miserable for anglers throwing jigheads with soft plastics and treble-hooked lures. A gold spoon solves that problem. The built-in weed guard allows it to slide through turtle grass, skim over scattered potholes, and bounce through sparse vegetation without constantly collecting salad.

What makes the spoon special isn’t just its weedlessness. It’s the combination of flash, vibration, and casting distance. On windy days when fish are spread across vast shallow flats, few lures can cover water as efficiently. The dense metal body launches like a missile, allowing anglers to reach nervous redfish from a distance without pushing them off the flat.

For those new to spooning, 1/2-ounce gold spoon is a good starting point for most inshore conditions. It casts well, stays high enough in the water column to avoid digging into the grass, and provides plenty of flash for fish to locate it. When fishing in areas of 1-3 feet, a 1/4-ounce spoon can be a better choice.

The biggest mistake anglers make with spoons is fishing them too fast. I want just enough speed to keep the spoon wobbling. I also will mix in pauses, twitches and flutters. But the moderate steady retrieve creates a side-to-side kick that imitates a struggling baitfish and often triggers aggressive reaction strikes from redfish buried in the grass.

When I encounter a large flat with scattered potholes, shorelines with broken grass edges, or areas where mullet are actively pushing water, the spoon can become one of the most effective search tools. It allows an angler to cover water quickly while staying virtually snag-free. Maybe this is more intangible, but there’s also something fulfilling about catching a Mosquito Lagoon redfish on a bait that has been fooling fish for generations.

Weedless Topwater

One of the most magical times on the flats of Mosquito Lagoon are summer sunrises. The world is waking up, bait is on the move, and the predatory fish are active. My first move is to go with a topwater plug, my personal favorite being the Rapala Skitterwalk. But last weekend I churned my wheels for over an hour before I decided to go T-rig and spoon for the remainder of the day. This past weekend I brought my frogs to the party.

Most anglers associate frogs with bass fishing, but the truth is they’re incredibly effective for redfish and trout in the Lagoon’s shallow grass flats. When fish are buried in thick turtle grass, or if there is floating grass – areas where traditional top water lures constantly foul, a weedless buzz frog can open new opportunities for the topwater bite.

My favorite approach is simple: make the longest cast possible and begin a steady retrieve that keeps the frog churning across the surface. The kicking legs throw water, create vibration, and leave a visible wake that fish can track from surprising distances. In the slightly stained water common throughout much of Mosquito Lagoon, that vibration often matters more than the lure’s appearance.

What makes a frog special is its ability to travel through cover that would stop almost anything else. Grass clumps, floating vegetation, shallow potholes, and scattered oyster shells all become part of the retrieval path rather than obstacles to avoid.

One of the biggest mistakes anglers make is setting the hook too quickly. A fish exploding on a frog is one of the most exciting strikes in fishing, but it’s important to resist the urge to swing immediately. I try to wait until I feel the fish’s weight before driving the hook home. Easier said than done, but it dramatically improves hookup percentages. That being said I went 0 for 3 on redfish on the Zoom Horny Toad this morning. But I got a few consolation seatrout.

Will a frog outfish a paddle tail every day? Certainly not. But when the grass gets so thick that other presentations become frustrating, a weedless frog allows you to keep fishing confidently in the places where some of the biggest redfish on the flat often spend their time. As far as colors go I prefer the Junebug to offer a dark silhouette, white is always a safe bet, and Watermelon Red Pearl is also an effective color inshore.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, the biggest mistake anglers (including myself in the past) make when fishing Mosquito Lagoon is treating grass like an obstacle instead of an opportunity. That same grass that fouls our lures provides food, oxygen, shade, and ambush cover for the trout and redfish we’re trying to catch. Rather than avoiding it, success can be found when we learn to fish through it, and target fish in it.

For me, that’s where the Grass Assassin’s Playbook comes into play. A Texas-rigged Saltwater Assassin allows me to methodically pick apart grass flats and potholes. A gold spoon helps me cover water efficiently while remaining virtually snag-free. And when the grass gets truly thick, but I still want to fish topwater, a weedless frog allows me to continue fishing confidently where many other presentations fail.

The beauty of these three lures is their simplicity. They aren’t the only ways to catch fish in heavy grass, but together they provide a solution for nearly every situation you’ll encounter on the shallow flats between Haulover Canal and Beacon 42 behind the spoil islands.

Of course, having the right platform to access these fisheries makes a difference too. One of the reasons I love fishing Mosquito Lagoon from my Hobie Outback is its ability to quietly slip into shallow water, navigate expansive grass flats, and reach areas that larger boats simply can’t access. If you’re looking for a fishing kayak capable of tackling the Space Coast’s incredible inshore fisheries, be sure to visit Kayaks By Bo in Merritt Island.

And if you’re looking to stock up on Saltwater Assassin paddle tails, weedless spoons from Johnson or Aqua Dream, Zoom Horny Toads, tungsten weights, EWG hooks, or any other tackle needed to become a grass assassin yourself, make sure to stop by Strike Zone Fishing in Melbourne. Their knowledgeable staff can help you put together everything you need to fish the thick stuff with confidence.

Thank you for taking the time to read this report, may your lines be ever tight! Until next time!