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This is probably a dumb question but here it goes. I have noticed on this forum and others that folks love mirrorlure's lil' John. How is the best way to rig this little hunk of plastic while fishing over grass. I'm thinking that it will snag a ton of grass with a jig head, but a weedles rig with a weighted hook would keep it from moving well because of the blunt head. Also, any recommendations on color preference? I usually fish the Brandenton area. Thanks for any input.

Rig it weedless over the grass, and just twitch it.

For potholes and areas void of grass, rig it on a 1/8 oz jig head and just work it slow.

Golden Bream color works well this time of year. With the colder water, the fish are zeroed in on small bait like small crabs and mud minnows, so that color has worked well for me this time of year.

I rig it on either a 1/16th or 1/8th jig head. I don't rig it weedless. Keeping it up out of the grass is a matter of practice. You have to develop a feel at how fast to move it to keep it up out of the grass. Once you get the feel you will be amazed at how effective you can be at working it the grass. The Lil John is one of my "go-to" lures.

I like to use a worm hook with a kink at the eye. Rig it like a weed less worm but run the hook through the soft bait and let the tip and barb lay right on top of the bait. The rig is mostly weed less but the hook is exposed enough for a quick hook set.
If I need weight to get the soft bait down I add a typical worm bullet weight.

Mission Fishing 1/16 or 1/8oz weedless jig head...

Manning wrote:I rig it on either a 1/16th or 1/8th jig head. I don't rig it weedless. Keeping it up out of the grass is a matter of practice. You have to develop a feel at how fast to move it to keep it up out of the grass. Once you get the feel you will be amazed at how effective you can be at working it the grass. The Lil John is one of my "go-to" lures.

This is the answer. I never fish anything weedless. I simply don't like any weedless set ups.

One guy around here is well known for saying "weedless is fishless". I always fish weedless because grass is a PIA. He never fishes weedless. He usually catches more fish than me. Maybe there's something to that saying of his.

I appreciate all of the advice. Went with 1/8 red jig rigged on a golden bream lil john. Fish loved it. I had no trouble keeping it above the grass. I caught snook, flounder, jacks, trout and a red fish on this set up. I think this might be my new goto soft lure. I won't be able to make it down again until July and I'm hoping the fish still love them. I'm not sure if I should stay with golden bream that time of year....we'll see.