Lily Pads.......

[Moto]

Anyone tried fishing Lily pads with a Senko?

[DINK WHISPERER]

Uhhh, only every single trip out! Pitched unweighted in the holes and punched weighted in the thicker parts. Huge producer either way. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

Yep. I'll toss them into holes in pad mat after I have exhausted my froggin. It works, but run braid.

[MassYak85]

Some of my best days ever have come fishing weightless stick baits around isolated patches of lily-pads in the heat of the day in the summer. 

[Moto]

Today I was desperate and forgot my frog at home so I threw a weighted Texas rigged Senko with fluorocarbon line into heavy lily pads (in which the stems are coming out of the water) and I got snagged twice. The first time I threw it I think I saw a bass blow up for it and I set the hook but I wasn’t pulling on a fish - I was pulling on a lily pad - snagged. 

The second time I threw it, it got snagged for good and the line snapped while trying to free it. 

Where did I go wrong? 

[J.Vincent]

You can put the odds in your favor and spool up with 40 or 50lb braid and consider an 1/8oz bullet sinker pegged. This adds weight and reduces loft, but it can also help the worm deflect better off pad stalks. 

[Ralph Nicholas Vito]

Lily pads are my nemisis ... also i have NEVER been able to get a fish on a frog .... not a single fish even goes after em ?

[Bluebasser86]

Yeah it works, but the soft plastic of a senko will tend to allow you to snag more often as you found out. 

[TOXIC]

Lilly pads are in relatively shallow water.  You don't need weight.  Texas rig a Senko on a 4.0 EWG Wide Gap hook and learn to bring it through and over the pads.  I fish a Senko in all types of heavy cover and there is a knack to gently pulling, putting pressure on and then letting it go slack to get a Senko to work it's way through heavy grass and/or pads.  Wood is a totally different technique.  

[Catt]

@TOXIC totally agree ?

 

Most anglers try forcing it through vegetation which is all wrong, you gotta finesse it through!

 

[Waterford]

I Texas rig a Senko and will throw it into the pads all day and night. This is my go to set up to fish pads for largemouth bass. 

[tcbass]

1 hour ago, Waterford said:

I Texas rig a Senko and will throw it into the pads all day and night. This is my go to set up to fish pads for largemouth bass. 

 

 

Weighted?

[long island basser]

Weightless, been doing it for a long time now. Catch tons of bass.

I throw it on MH spinning with 30lb yellow braid.

[Montanaro]

On 7/24/2018 at 7:15 AM, TOXIC said:

Lilly pads are in relatively shallow water.  You don't need weight.  Texas rig a Senko on a 4.0 EWG Wide Gap hook and learn to bring it through and over the pads.  I fish a Senko in all types of heavy cover and there is a knack to gently pulling, putting pressure on and then letting it go slack to get a Senko to work it's way through heavy grass and/or pads.  Wood is a totally different technique.  

 

Maybe you dont consider spatterdock as lily pads but they can be so thick you cant go weightless

[Boomstick]

I have thrown some T-rigs around lily pads and between them. Be sure to use some 40lb or heavier braid though!

[GReb]

I prefer the swim senkos in pads. Drag over pad and let fall over the edge. Also fish flukes this way. Typically the bite will come right as it falls off the pad. 

[Waterford]

On 8/3/2018 at 8:33 PM, tcbass said:

 

 

Weighted?

No weight, in the past I used a bullet weight that would get hung up on the pads. 

[boostr]

Yep, just this past friday I couldn't get a frog bite in the pads changed up to  Zoom trick worm (I know not a Senko, but the same concept) pegged with a 1/8 oz  tungsten bullet weight, and finessing it up and over the pads was the ticket. My son did the same thing, and caught his 3lbr. Seemed like they wanted it slow that day.

[Smalls]

On 7/24/2018 at 12:33 AM, Mottel said:

Today I was desperate and forgot my frog at home so I threw a weighted Texas rigged Senko with fluorocarbon line into heavy lily pads (in which the stems are coming out of the water) and I got snagged twice. The first time I threw it I think I saw a bass blow up for it and I set the hook but I wasn’t pulling on a fish - I was pulling on a lily pad - snagged. 

The second time I threw it, it got snagged for good and the line snapped while trying to free it. 

Where did I go wrong? 

If you weight it, use a very light weight. You have to softly swim it through the stems. 

 

Don’t set the hook when you see a fish blow up. Set the hook when you feel the fish. 

 

Repeat after me. “Thou shalt not use anything but heavy braid in thick lily pads”. 

 

 

[the reel ess]

On 7/24/2018 at 1:24 AM, Ralph Nicholas Vito said:

Lily pads are my nemisis ... also i have NEVER been able to get a fish on a frog .... not a single fish even goes after em ?

Man, sometimes I get a reaction bite when the frog hits the surface. Go to small pond with lilies around the edge. You'll get some takers then. It's my experience that the larger the body of water, the less likely you are to find fish with a frog. I know some will disagree with that but it's just one person's anecdotal experience. They just don't seem to be looking up for a meal as much in bigger lakes. But they'll still be there at the right times. Find docks with weeds and walk that frog all around them. Anywhere that the pads intersect with other cover or structure is prime real estate. If you see a bass go after some bait in the pads, throw that frog right at the spot. You want to get its attention because it's looking for food and isn't shy.

[Gravy Master]

On 7/24/2018 at 12:33 AM, Mottel said:

Today I was desperate and forgot my frog at home so I threw a weighted Texas rigged Senko with fluorocarbon line into heavy lily pads (in which the stems are coming out of the water) and I got snagged twice. The first time I threw it I think I saw a bass blow up for it and I set the hook but I wasn’t pulling on a fish - I was pulling on a lily pad - snagged. 

The second time I threw it, it got snagged for good and the line snapped while trying to free it. 

Where did I go wrong? 

The weight is your problem in that situation, and the fluorocarbon to a lesser extent. If you cast that worm weighted it's going to torpedo through the water and wrap itself around the stems of the pads which are VERY heavy and strong. Just toss it weightless. I keep my rod tip up a little bit and just kind of twitch it and let it wriggle over the tops of the pads. Any little openings in the pads I let it slowly sink a little bit, then pull it back up and over. Also using braid helps a lot - I use 30#. If you do get snagged you can yank pretty hard and the braid will literally just slice the pad/stem in half and go right through it.

[Further North]

On 8/3/2018 at 6:44 PM, Waterford said:

I Texas rig a Senko and will throw it into the pads all day and night. This is my go to set up to fish pads for largemouth bass. 

Yup.

 

Toss it in, get it on top of a pad...twitch it off...BAM!

On 7/24/2018 at 6:15 AM, TOXIC said:

Lilly pads are in relatively shallow water.  You don't need weight.  Texas rig a Senko on a 4.0 EWG Wide Gap hook and learn to bring it through and over the pads.  I fish a Senko in all types of heavy cover and there is a knack to gently pulling, putting pressure on and then letting it go slack to get a Senko to work it's way through heavy grass and/or pads.  Wood is a totally different technique.  

I do the same, but use a smaller hook.