What kind of baits to use on a muddy bottom?

[Shif29]

So i have a private pond that everyone shares in my neighborhood, it’s around 25 acres and 20 feet deep at certain points. It’s a great pond with plenty of structure but the bottom is straight muck and mud to the point where in shallow water my trolling motor will throw mud from the bottom so weights sink in it. 10 acres of it used to be lilypads but they died off. The muddy bottom really limits the potential in my opinion because the only thing me and my neighbor have been successful with is weightless worms which gets repetitive after a while. I’ve fished crankbaits, chatterbaits (which have worked nicely), texas rigs (which get stuck), jigs (which get stuck), poppers, and attempted frogs but there is not much vegetation so they don’t get bit. I’ve fished jigs in other rocky water and enjoyed it and wish i could fish them in my pond. is there a certain type of head i can use or weight to be able to fish them effectively? or any other baits beside weightless worms? The fish are not the problem i can catch 10-20 in the afternoon on the worms but it gets very repetitive. Big fish are in there too, I have caught a couple 5 and 6 pounders so far this summer and missed one that was probably a citation and not to mention my neighbor caught one that was 14 pounds (yeah, seriously). Anyways back on track does anyone have suggestions for baits i could start to throw or some tips or techniques to fish weighted despite the mud?

[evilcatfish]

I’ve had success dragging big worms In the mud, the dirt and silt stirred up gives them something to hone in on and the large size is easy to find. June bug and black/blue are my preferred color in such situations 

[Junger]

Drop shots and Tokyo rigs.

[scaleface]

I fish a bay that is silted in .What use to be deep river  is now a shallow pan , leveed off from the Mississippi . It is not wade-able . A person will become stuck in it and when they do escape ,with much effort,, they will probably be shoe-less .There are some nice bass that live there . I use Texas rigs with 1/8th ounce weights , spinnerbaits and buzzbaits . 

[r3825]

Don't peg your texas rig so tight,  give it room for the weight to slide forward and the bait to back off of the weight up into the water some

[LCG]

I would use as light a weight as possible, maybe 1/16oz if you can get away with it. Maybe try Ned, neko, drop shot, or Wacky rigs. For reaction bites maybe a spinnerbait. 

[gilkeybr]

I would consider a suspending jerkbait as well.  Something that can be fished off the bottom

[jr231]

Try the jika rig. It's essentially a Texas rig but with a drop shot weight. It'll keep ur bait slightly off the Bottom and the shape of the weight will shake mud alot easier than the Texas rig, regardless what you use. 

 

My best baits on it have been the keitech crazy flapper , rage bug, GY double tail hula grub.