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Do bass use dead weeds as cover?

Question:
I am from Southern Illinois and we have some deep weed edges in 8-15ft on several of the lakes. In the fall once the water hits 55 degrees and the water starts to turn over the weeds die. The bass seem to exit the weeds during fall turnover. The grass continues to stay dead pretty much all winter. Will bass return to the weeds and utilize dead weeds as cover throughout the winter as water continues to drop from 55-40 degrees? If not at what temperature will the bass begin to utilize the weeds again as cover in early spring? -Greg

Answer:
When weeds die in the fall, the decaying process takes oxygen from the water. Bass will leave this area. They will however use dead matted weeds to get under for cover  and they will use the outside edge of the weedline for cover. As soon as the grass starts to grow in the spring it will produce oxygen again and the bass will back in it! -Boyd Duckett

Bass will indeed use the dead weeds as cover, but they tend to use it a little bit differently.  They usually get around or on top of the dead weeds, rather than in them.  It’s often the most prevalent cover available so they will typically stay very close. Once the water begins to warm slightly that grass will once again begin to grow and that’s when the bass really flock back to it in big numbers.  I like to look for what I call “short grass” which is basically just new growth that may only be an inch or so long.  My favorite bait for this type of fishing is an ExCalibur XRK75 “one knocker” or an XR50 Rattlebait.   Retrieve these baits slowly and allow the bait to make frequent contact with the weeds.  If you are feeling the weeds, speed it up a little, if you’re not feeling the weeds, slow it back down. This is a tactic that will catch you some HUGE bass. -Alton Jones

Great question...my answer is:  It depends, sometimes dead weeds wick up the necessary oxygen that fish need to breath. That's another reason why you see fish migrate to hard cover during the cold air and cold water dying cycles of certain aquatic vegetation.
On the contrary, fish sometimes use dead vegetation especially when its in the form of a mat because the vegetation acts as a canopy and a heater.  If the surface mat is a darker color, it will wick up sunlight and warm up the shade seeking fish below.
I usually see the first scenario in the Northern climates.  It is especially prevalent in lakes/reservoirs that fish have a "choice" of either vegetation or hard cover.  If the veggies are rotten, then they choose wood or rock. The second scenario is more prevalent in Florida lakes.  These fish don't have much of a choice other than vegetation down there, so they move around and use different vegetation and even some dying stuff, especially in Dec-Feb.  And keep in mind, some states are also warm enough that the vegetation never really dies, it may shrink back due to colder water, shorter days and less available sunlight, but it's still alive. In parts of Texas that is the case.  thanks....-Dave Wolak

That's a great question!  What I have found is quite simple.  If it is an emergent vegetation like Lilly Pads, Bloodweed, Kissimmee Grass, Hyacinth, etc.  then the bass will still use this cover even when it is dead.  Sometimes when it is dead it is actually better.  As an example a few years back in Florida all the big fish in the lakes were locked on dead hyacinth in the winter because it caught the most heat from the sun and was like a heating blanket for the fish.  They actually preferred the dead vegetation over the green vegetation.  On the contrary I have found that submergent vegetation like hydrilla and milfoil generally produce far less results when it is dead or even lying over.  When I am looking for this type of vegetation I try to locate the greenest most healthy looking grass on the body of water and that is 9 times out of 10 where the highest concentration of fish are located.  Good Luck -Sean Hoernke