Night Fishing Mats?

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Will be going night fishing at a pond tonight, where almost half of the pond is a big scum and lilypad mat. My question is, would it be a good idea to frog/punch the mats, or to try to to find an area where the water isnt matted over and throw a spook or something. There are a LOT of weeds, so any kind of crankbait is ruled out. Any help would be appreciated.

[ClackerBuzz]

i'm doing the same thing this evening.  put a bead in front of a weightless senko and it pulls thru weeds nice. i'll also be using a 3/4oz punch rig. it falls thru the milfoil nice b/c they aren't too thick. you can also wiggle it thru thick lily mats by just giving it light shakes till it finds it's weak spot (this method produces far more bites for me vs trying to bomb/punch lily mats. i like buzzbaits and can buzz them over pretty thick weeds as long as i'm reeling before it hits the surface. it takes some practice but it's very productive at night. also i like using a stanley ribbit frog alot more than a hollow body b/c the paddle feet make a great noise at night (realistically you can wake any soft plastic, the less appendages the better--a bead helps with topwater too). and i use weedless 6" hudd's for the more open sections of the pond. 

[OntarioFishingGuy]

i'm doing the same thing this evening.  put a bead in front of a weightless senko and it pulls thru weeds nice. i'll also be using a 3/4oz punch rig. it falls thru the milfoil nice b/c they aren't too thick. you can also wiggle it thru thick lily mats by just giving it light shakes till it finds it's weak spot (this method produces far more bites for me vs trying to bomb/punch lily mats. i like buzzbaits and can buzz them over pretty thick weeds as long as i'm reeling before it hits the surface. it takes some practice but it's very productive at night. also i like using a stanley ribbit frog alot more than a hollow body b/c the paddle feet make a great noise at night. and i use weedless 6" hudd's for the more open sections of the pond. 

Sounds good. The only reason i was wondering is because during the day, bass go under mats to because it is cooler there, but at night, when there is no sun, they would go into more open water. But i guess mats are a good ambush point too, so they would stay there during the night to feed.

[WRB]

I would go with the Curado I as it is just about the best reel for money Shimano has ever made. The Chronarch D was a great reel, but the E fell a bit short IMHO.

As a long time user of high end Shimano reels, I am overwhelmed by the new Curado. Add a couple of bearings to each handle, throw in some ABEC 5's for the spool, and it's close to the Metanium 13 !!!!!!!!!!!

The thing about aquatic plants is they make oxygen during day light through photosynthesis and the bass go into heavy matts for both dissolved oxygen and shade. Night the same plants use up oxygen and the bass don't need shade, so they tend to roam around more.

Buzz baits are good, big soft plastic worms are good. Better off to fish weed edges and any rocky areas in your pond.

Tom

[gulfcaptain]

I'm with WRB, the fish roam looking for an easy meal. They look for the bait or forage that's out on the edges feeding or sleeping.  Easy meals for a hungry bass.  Most of the fish I've caught from the banks at night came within 10ft of the bank.  And like WRB stated, the mats are gonna use up the oxygen in there so the fish aren't gonna want to stay where they are gonna be stressed from lower oxygen areas.  This again leads you to the edges as forage is in the same situation as the bass, if they stay in the weeds they can sufficate due to low oxygen, so they position themselves at the edges close to the surface where the most oxygen exchange rate is.  I've seen it in my fish tanks that are heavily planted....have learned to run an air pump 2hrs before the light's turn off and 2 hrs after they turn back on.  They sit at the top closest to the water output in the current.  So if there's a lot of plant growth and you have a area that's a bit clearer as well as a bit of wind that would be my first choice especially if it was 3-4hrs after sunset.

[Bluebasser86]

Like the others said, fish the edges and don't bother fishing in the mats.