Lily pad question?

[jbmaine]

Lily pads and LM go together like bread and butter. I've seen countless articles and videos about fishing lily pads, but there is one thing I'm not sure of. Around here ( Southern Maine ) all the lily pads I've seen were in about 3-4 ft. of water. Is that normal everywhere? In other words when I see a video of say frog fishing down south, are the pads, and LM in this same depth as up here? I guess when I see videos like this from other parts of the country, I'd like to know how closely can I relate this to conditions here.

                                         Thanks

                                                  Jim

[Choporoz]

Most I've fished are in water between 1 & 5 feet....in tidal flats, they might be 2 feet out of the water in the morning and in the afternoon, the leaves are on the surface.   Deeper than about 4 feet is unusual around here, tho.

[rejesterd]

I think success around pads depends on what else is nearby.  A good example is the cove where my boat is docked.  Every year, there's a set of pads that grows about 40-50 feet from my dock in about 2 feet of water.  I must have fished that set of pads 300 times over the years and never caught anything.  However, I've caught plenty of good-size largemouth in the same cove all around the docks and on the banks where it's shady.

 

But there's another very windy cove in my lake with no docks around (but no real shady areas on the banks because there aren't any tall trees close to the banks) and I've definitely caught a few bass around the pads there (again, in about 2 feet of water).  I generally get annoyed fishing in heavy/weedy/pad cover, so I don't go there much, but I think it reinforces the idea that it depends on what else is around.

 

[813basstard]

If they’re next to a drop off it’s an even more deadly area to catch’em. Around here (central Florida) there’s all of the above. In a foot of water and some I’ve seen in 6-8 foot. General thing I’ve seen is if the lily’s are alone (not much vegetation around) it tends to be deeper. If there’s a lot of other stuff growing it tends to be more shallow. Perfect for me is that 3-5 foot depth 

[Troy85]

SE Louisiana. I see them grow out to about 6-7'.

[long island basser]

In my area 6’ is about the max for pads.

[jbmaine]

Thanks for the replies, I see videos of people busy all day catching bass in lily pads, but have not had much luck up here doing so. It got me to wondering, was there a difference in the depth of water pads grow in to explain why bass were, or were not in them.

[Choporoz]

If I understand your question, I suspect the answer is 'not so much'

 

As suggested above, if there's a defining characteristic, is often something other than the pads and depth - holes, humps, changes in bottom composition, paths, breaks, etc - seem to be more important than depth alone. 

 

    One of my absolute favorite things about kayak fishing is getting into extremely shallow pad fields where boats can't.  Big bass seem to be just as likely to be cruising in a foot of water in the lily pads as they are in four foot deep pads.  Love, love, love pushing into thick fields on a calm day and just sit and and listen...and especially watch - for even very slight movements -- the bass give away their position like no other place on the lake ....unless its a carp...or bowfin....or snakehead...but, you get the picture -- getting that blow up after seeing a pad move just an inch or two and then putting a lure in there perfectly is extremely satisfying

[Junger]

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

    One of my absolute favorite things about kayak fishing is getting into extremely shallow pad fields where boats can't.  Big bass seem to be just as likely to be cruising in a foot of water in the lily pads as they are in four foot deep pads.  Love, love, love pushing into thick fields on a calm day and just sit and and listen...and especially watch for even slight movements -- the bass give away their position like no other place on the lake ....unless its a carp...or bowfin....or snakehead...but, you get the picture -- getting that blow up after seeing a pad move just an inch or two and then putting a lure in there perfectly is extremely satisfying

Nothing better than seeing lily pads part like the red sea and seeing that wake going for a frog or toad!

[Brad in Texas]

We have so many, American Lotus in our case, they are almost a nuisance. But, since they are limited in coverage to shallow water, one thing I like to do is go into a cove with a creek feed and you can literally use the pads to define where the channel is.

 

One of my favorite places to fish isn't actually in the pads, themselves, but making casts down the edge of them either rather tight, or out a ways into the opening area indicating a channel or low spot. 

 

Bass certainly do use these as little highways as do bait fish so they can be on the move there, else sitting just under the edge pads waiting to do what they do best: ambush an unsuspecting target.

 

When I do fish the pads, I stand in my canoe or kayak and pitch to openings in the cover.

 

Shallow water means if a bass is zeroing in on your presentation from a distance, that you can often see an "arrow-shaped" formation pushing a water wave toward it several feet/seconds before it slams it. A 4 pound bass in 4 feet of water is often too large to make a fast dart without displacing some water around it. Very cool!

 

Brad

[Bluebasser86]

I hate fishing them and have never had much luck in them. Thankfully we don't have many around here.

[scaleface]

It depends on where they are at . One lake I use to fish a lot , the pads were the best cover on   it . Other lakes , nothing .

[soflabasser]

Most lily pads I see in South Florida grow in less than 6 feet of water but have seen them in +8 feet. Have caught bass near the bottom of these lily pads, near the surface, and near the border of a large group of lily pads.

[the reel ess]

I think they won't grow in water deeper than sunlight can penetrate well. In my area, the water is permanently stained so they don't grow much deeper than 3' or so. That's a good thing because they won't completely cover a pond if it's got some areas deeper than that and most do. And they don't grow in every body of water here either. I grew up fishing Lake Wateree, SC, which apparently was not ideal for them. All we had was water willow. We didn't even have that when I was really young. It's invasive.

 

I'm constantly surprised how shallow bass will get under them, even in hot weather. The hollow body frog is just the ticket for them. Anywhere another form of cover or structure coincides with lilies is prime habitat. I think they're better in shallower ponds. If the fish can't go "deep" to beat the heat they're more likely to be in the pads in heat of the day. If they can get deep in the summer they will. Pads in places like that won't always hold fish. I always have a frog tied on and when i see a bass chasing bait in the pads I'll toss it right in there. Stealth is not the goal. That fish is feeding so get its attention.

 

 

[Mobasser]

I often fish an old quarry lake. 5 acres, rock wall along one side. There are 4 Lily pad areas here, but 3 are in very shallow water. The only one that has been productive is a 20 ft pad spot that has a drop off about 5 ft out from the pads. This area always holds some fish, but the ones in 2-3 ft of water rarely. Deeper water close by or bordering the Lily pads is important, especially in the summer heat

[sfpalatka]

Fishing the St. Johns river Fl and Lake George Fl, I found that fishing pads, eel grass and other salad depends on the tide. fishing the right tide determines your success. I found that just as the tide starts to fall and fishing depths of 5ft to 3ft seems to be successful for me.

[jbmaine]

Thanks again for the replies and info. It sounds like generally speaking, if there is a large cove full of lily pads in 2-4 ft. of water next to a deeper weedy channel. On a sunny summer day I would be better off fishing the deeper channel. And early morning, late evening, or overcast days lily pads would be a good bet.

[LonnieP]

One of my favorite spots on my lake is some pads in 2 to 4 foot of water that drops off to 15 foot close by. 

[Mike L]

Give me a acre of thick pads with a definate edge line or a foot thick mat of emergent hydrilla and I'll follow you anywhere.

 

 

 

Mike 

[Way north bass guy]

Some of the best pad spots around here are quite shallow. Maybe it’s because we have ice on our lakes for half the year, but it seems like the largest fish love to wallow in ultra shallow water as much as they can. Last week I was fishing after a cold front came through, and even then the best fish were on the back side of the pads in less than a foot of water. 

[Bankbeater]

Years ago I hated pads. Now, if I can, it's the first cover I fish around.

[MIbassyaker]

Understand: Bass are limited to the environment of the water in which they live. Ask yourself: what are the bass' choices?  If you see a field or patch of pads, what other choices do the bass have? are the pads scattered and thin in shallow water, while there is a more developed deep weedline?  In that case, I'll hit the weedline instead.  If shallow pads are thick, that makes them more viable. As a rule of thumb, I prefer to locate pads over the deepest water I can find in the body of water I am at, and hit the thickest patches I can find.  Sometimes that's 2 feet. Sometimes its 4 or more. In my area, pads are especially good if (1) the bottom is uneven, and/or (2) the pads are immediately adjacent to some other, deeper, form of weed, like a cabbage (pondweed) or coontail, or milfoil. 

[GReb]

Lots of Lilly pads here in Mississippi. General rule of thumb is they stop growing in 5-6 ft of water. A small drop off at the edges if you will. From my experience I’ve always caught larger bass on the outer half of the pads. It is my opinion that smaller fish start tucked in tight for protection and to eat small baitfish/bugs while the larger fish roam the deeper edges for food.