Fishing local pond filled with lily pads

[Bigbasser69]

Local bass fisherman in Oregon. Normally I fish lakes and do fairly well. Lately I have been going out to a local set of ponds that are pretty much covered bank to bank in small lily pads I have fished it about 5 hours a day twice this week and I can not for the life of me figure out why I can not get a bite I have fished topwater hollow frogs and soft plastic frogs over every inch of lily pad and got one bite the whole time.. I try several different cadences but nothing im doing seems to work.. Any ideas what I may be doing wrong?

[Bluebasser86]

Only time I've ever done well in live pads is flipping something down through them, usually a beaver. 

[Bigbasser69]

That's one think I didn't try out there. I flipped a Texas rigged senko in one or 2 places but next time I will have to give that a try thanks for the quick reply!

[Sam]

Do you have an oar?

 

Or a heavy pole?

 

Take an oar or pole with you to the pond and open areas in the pads about one foot by one foot or two feet by two feet along and out from the bank.

 

Be sure to remove the pads as best you can or open them up as best you can.

 

Then come back in an hour or two or a day and then drop your baits in the holes you created.

 

They will go back together so do what you can to keep them separated.

 

I would suggest getting in the pond and removing the pads by hand but that could be dangerous. Do this with a friend in case you get into trouble.

 

Pads can be a challenge. Be careful when dealing with them.

[CTBassin860]

Pitch/flip a beaver bait like @Bluebasser86 said. Only way i fish pads other than throwing a frog. If the pads are to dense on top and there are no holes to drop in, I wont even tie the frog on.

[Bigbasser69]

3 hours ago, MassBassin508 said:

Pitch/flip a beaver bait like @Bluebasser86 said. Only way i fish pads other than throwing a frog. If the pads are to dense on top and there are no holes to drop in, I wont even tie the frog on.

Okay makes sense. Thank you!

 

[Koz]

20 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Only time I've ever done well in live pads is flipping something down through them, usually a beaver. 

 

Do you hook the beaver through the tail? Does it try to bite you? Doesn't the big splash scare off the bass?

 

Sorry - couldn't resist

[BrackishBassin]

I had lots of luck at a local pond this week tossing out a Texas rigged craw with a light (3/16) tungsten weight that wasn't pegged. Just like the guys mentioned above, I tossed it in holes and around isolated clumps of lilly pads. Surprisingly, I rarely got hung up. With the weight being a bullet shape and on the lighter side, if I reeled slowly, it just came up and over the pads without issues. Allowed me to cast past the targeted hole and then creep the bait into it to avoid spooking the fish. 

 

Took me about 45 minutes to circle the pond and I hooked up with 7 fish. Nothing to write home about, but it's the first time I've been successful fishing that particular pond. 

[Bigbasser69]

16 hours ago, BrackishBassin said:

I had lots of luck at a local pond this week tossing out a Texas rigged craw with a light (3/16) tungsten weight that wasn't pegged. Just like the guys mentioned above, I tossed it in holes and around isolated clumps of lilly pads. Surprisingly, I rarely got hung up. With the weight being a bullet shape and on the lighter side, if I reeled slowly, it just came up and over the pads without issues. Allowed me to cast past the targeted hole and then creep the bait into it to avoid spooking the fish. 

 

Took me about 45 minutes to circle the pond and I hooked up with 7 fish. Nothing to write home about, but it's the first time I've been successful fishing that particular pond. 

I havent had an opportunity to head back out and fish this pond yet but reading everyone's responses it sure sounds like the way to go. Thanks for the advice brother!

[XpressJeff]

On 8/24/2017 at 2:08 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

 

I love Lilly pads. 

 

I would emphasise to SLOW DOWN!

 

I really like to use a Culprit 7" or longer weightless worm on a straight hook.

 

Patience please!

[thinkingredneck]

Look for any areas that look a little different from the rest.  Subtle differences.  I have luck with T rugged trickworms in pads.

[boostr]

Yup, non weighted to very light weighted pegged or non pegged Texas rigged beaver or worm. Drag over the pads to drop in holes or like previously said, pitch to all the irregularities. It's slow going but the fish are worth it. They seem to be on the larger size as well. A tip if you didn't already know, tie on your hook with a snell knot if your gonna be using any weights, you won't be missing any fish when you do especially for flipping pads or even weeds.

[Scarborough817]

flip a beaver and throw a frog those are the two best approaches i have found

[WIGuide]

Are you sure there's bass in the pond? The only reason I ask is that having pads from bank to bank would indicate very shallow water throughout the entire pond. I don't know if things freeze where you are in Oregon, but if they do this pond would be very susceptible to heavy winter kill, especially if it's not aerated. 

[Preytorien]

I have a pond near me that is similar in characteristics. It's really tough to bank fish with that much growth from the bank. I resorted to buying a fishing kayak. I still don't catch much on it, but I can at least get off the bank a bit.

[scaleface]

Its been a long time since I fished a good pad field . I had great success with a Texas rig worm .

[Bigbasser69]

On 8/29/2017 at 1:51 PM, WIGuide said:

Are you sure there's bass in the pond? The only reason I ask is that having pads from bank to bank would indicate very shallow water throughout the entire pond. I don't know if things freeze where you are in Oregon, but if they do this pond would be very susceptible to heavy winter kill, especially if it's not aerated. 

Yes I'm sure I have caught bass there the first day I fished it. Only one. But I have seen recent pics of people pulling 8 to 10 ponders out of there just don't know what they are using. And the pond that I know up never freezes but I could be wrong.