Best technique for very shallow pond with grass/weeds

[skekoam]

Lets say you are fishing the above scenario.  Very shallow pond.  Probably .5 ft at the shore and then 2-3 feet in the middle.  To make things harder, there is some type of grass or week growing from the bottom up.  I've had some luck throwing Yamamoto thin senkos on light spinning gear but curious what other baits I can try with a casting reel.  I really want to try a new 110 whopper plopper I bought.  Either that or a lunkerhunter prop frog.

 

thanks

[BrianMDTX]

That is real shallow. 

 

I pretty much fish in ponds, but not that shallow. About 99% of my catches have been on weightless Senkos wacky style or Texas rigs. Mostly wacky. At 2’-3’, there’s not much play room there. 

[CYP]

2 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

That is real shallow. 

 

I pretty much fish in ponds, but not that shallow. About 99% of my catches have been on weightless Senkos wacky style or Texas rigs. Mostly wacky. At 2’-3’, there’s not much play room there. 

Thats what I would roll with too and happens to be what I have to do at the majority of areas I have to fish in Southern Jersey.

[dodgeguy]

Trig power worm. 7 inch 3/16 tungsten sinker.

[skekoam]

4 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

Trig power worm. 7 inch 3/16 tungsten sinker.

Seems to me like a sinker will take you right into the grass every time and would be hard to give the fish any clean presentation?

 

Have you guys tried the thin senko yet?  I learned about them from a guide and was only able to find them on ebay.  Really good bait weightless wacky rigged.

[GreenPig]

Frog, Toad, & Super Fluke. Sounds like my beaver pond, but it's much deeper at 4'.

[Catt]

5 hours ago, skekoam said:

Seems to me like a sinker will take you right into the grass every time and would be hard to give the fish any clean presentation?

 

Ya don't fish grass much huh ?

 

Everything we fish down south is vegetation of some type & mostly a variety 3-4 types.

 

Our #1 technique right now for pond hopping is a Texas Rig, 1/8-3/16 weight, Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm or Speed Craw.

 

Most anglers are throwing frogs & toads, I'm cleaning behind them with a Pop-R.

 

3/16-1/4 oz spinnerbaits is always an option. Start your retrieve at touch down, hold your rod up & reel.

[jdr99a]

I fish a few ponds just like that. I’ve had a lot of luck with paddletail swimbaits on a keel weighted swimbait hook. I throw it in and next to the weeds and slow roll it. 
 

Dinks seem to love it. 

[BrianMDTX]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Ya don't fish grass much huh ?

 

Everything we fish down south is vegetation of some type & mostly a variety 3-4 types.

 

Our #1 technique right now for pond hopping is a Texas Rig, 1/8-3/16 weight, Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm or Speed Craw.

 

Most anglers are throwing frogs & toads, I'm cleaning behind them with a Pop-R.

 

3/16-1/4 oz spinnerbaits is always an option. Start your retrieve at touch down, hold your rod up & reel.

The ponds I’m fishing in Texas (Houston area) have a lot of algae on the bottom, but they’re not super weedy. I find a weightless Texas rig (Senko, Zoom trick worm, etc,) do well with a better chance of avoiding the algae than a TR with a bullet weight. The 5” weightless Senkos in particular cast very well from my baitcaster. I love those things! 

[Koz]

It seems to me that if the water really is that shallow throughout that as it warms up any bass are going to be seeking cover in the heaviest weed areas.

 

I wouldn't even bother trying to fish middle of the column baits. I'd fish something weighted and hop it along the bottom. If that fails I go slow on the topwater with a Pop-R or a frog. After that I speed it up with a buzzbait or a Teckel Sprinker frog.

 

The Sprinker can be fished fast or slow and like the Whopper Plopper creates a disturbance on the surface. But the Whopper Plopper is a weed catcher, especially if you fish a larger one that initially sinks below the surface on touchdown.

[scaleface]

Is the weed growth reaching the surface and matting up ?

[Bankbeater]

I would fish the bottom with a Zoom finesse worm, and on top with a spook or jitterbug.

[nycbhoy]

I have some ponds like that and have been doing well with the megabass pop max. Casts well and then walk the dog back. Maybe a TR Ned rig. 

[Black Hawk Basser]

I fish a similar pond but it's an average of about 6 ft.  My major baits when the grass is heavy are buzz toads/worms, frogs, and a variety of weightless plastics with a general purpose 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook.  Zoom Finesse Worms and Super Flukes are my two of favorite plastics during the summer.

[the reel ess]

The shallower the pond, the easier it is to catch fish on topwaters. Also, a Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm t rigged with 1/8 oz. weight can be a shallow pond killer. Zoom Trick worm is another standby for almost any pond.

[ike8120]

I have the same issue, been using weedless ned rig and T-Rig  also wacky rig. Also tried some poppers.

[A-Jay]

On 7/2/2020 at 6:30 PM, skekoam said:

Lets say you are fishing the above scenario.  Very shallow pond.  Probably .5 ft at the shore and then 2-3 feet in the middle.  To make things harder, there is some type of grass or week growing from the bottom up.  I've had some luck throwing Yamamoto thin senkos on light spinning gear but curious what other baits I can try with a casting reel.  I really want to try a new 110 whopper plopper I bought.  Either that or a lunkerhunter prop frog.

 

thanks

This video clips shows a rig we use a ton and have been for a while.

It's super effective in shallow, very weedy & soft bottom areas.

A big part of the magic is the light LEAD Weight.

It's enough to present & fish the bait effectively, yet light enough to allow the rig to Sit on top of most of the dense weeds on the bottom, rather than plunging through and disappearing or worse, getting fouled up. 

Bass often slurp up this rig when it's paused & motionless. 

Most any craw / creature type bait seems to work

  

 

 

 

A-Jay

[dwtaylor]

I grew up fishing farm ponds with mostly mud bottoms and a ton of vegetation that grows as you describe.  

 

The key with that scenario is keeping your baits clean of weeds and the best lure for that is a topwater frog.  I prefer Spro frogs but most any will do.  Make sure the hook points are not exposed so they don't catch moss.  Always fish frogs with braid.

 

Also try a unweighted super fluke.  You can throw them on top of the weeds and drop them in the holes as you pull the bait over it.  

 

Not all grass is created equal but my experience is with what I call pond moss, duckweed, milfoil, and brittle naiad.  Those weeds kept the water very clear so the fish could easily see if the bait was fouled with grass so thats why it is super important to keep the bait clean.  You can't fish those weeds (other than milfoil) clean with a texas rig or a jig because it will foul the bait up.  The pond being shallow you arent losing much going to a weightless fluke, senko, or worm.

 

 

[plawren53202]

Have a pond almost exactly like this on my inlaws' property. Any kind of topwater early and late in the day, buzzbait or Plopper if the surface is clear enough to avoid getting the prop fouled constantly, otherwise a frog. Then a weightless Super Fluke. With the weight of a 3/0 or 4/0 hook, especially if you use a heavier wire hook, the fluke has plenty of weight to sink down in holes in the vegetation where you need it to but then glide over the tops the rest of the way. I think bass in a pond like this get used to sitting down in the vegetation looking up for prey.

[skekoam]

Thanks for all the info guys.  I tried a whopper plopper R2S 110 last night and no blow ups.  All it did was pick up the weeds on the retrieve.   My son kept using his wacky rig thin senko and got 4.  It almost seems like the whopper plopper is too big as the fish in the pond all range from maybe 1-2 lbs.  I'm going to try a fluke and creature bait next time.  The zoom trick worm looks interesting as well. 

[txchaser]

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-NRTHLTT.html?from=basres

 

These do a nice job of sitting on top of the weeds, if that's what you are going for.

[Bass Ninja]

Haha! That describes most of the ponds and small lakes around here. 90% of the time I only throw 3 things because they're so efficient, that I don't even care to try new lures. The lures are a hollow bodied frog, a flipping rig, and a jackhammer chatterbait. I fish all of them on a medium heavy or heavy rod, all with at least 30lb braid, no leader. The frog is fun because its a frog! I use it in pads, weed mats, open water, into trees, etc. I use it to cover water quickly, and when I come across some really thick weed mats that look too good to pass up, I flip it because odds are, not many fish are going to come up through that mess to hit a frog. And lastly I use the chatterbait in open water, but it really shines over submerged weeds. I swim it down, let it barely snag the weeds and just pop it free. most of my hits are right when it pops free, and they are vicious. But that being said, I spend 90% of my time in 6ft of water or less. Definitely try flipping though. Most people don't do it, or don't do it long enough, and I've cleaned up behind guys in tournaments who were getting skunked. 

[Luke Barnes]

Ive got ponds like this that I hit. To avoid the bottom muck I'll throw a weightless t-rig Fluke. I can cast it on a baitcaster and work it slow or fast. Also I like a chatterbait and have it barely over the top of the grass and weeds and hold on. 

[BassNJake]

I'm a toad guy so that would be me.

I'd follow up with a nail weighted stick bait.

Option 3 would be a swim jig doing the hippy hippy alabama shake

 

 

[Ogandrews]

On 7/5/2020 at 1:56 PM, A-Jay said:

This video clips shows a rig we use a ton and have been for a while.

It's super effective in shallow, very weedy & soft bottom areas.

A big part of the magic is the light LEAD Weight.

It's enough to present & fish the bait effectively, yet light enough to allow the rig to Sit on top of most of the dense weeds on the bottom, rather than plunging through and disappearing or worse, getting fouled up. 

Bass often slurp up this rig when it's paused & motionless. 

Most any craw / creature type bait seems to work

  

 

 

 

A-Jay

One of my main fisheries sounds very similar to the place your fishing in that video. It gets 20ft deep but most of it is under 8-10ft, silt bottom with super stringy grass that grows very thick. Most of the time if you throw a Weighted Texas rig over 3/16 it will bury itself either in the silt or the grass on the bottom, so it makes punching quite difficult. One thing I have been having a lot of success with while fishing the heavy matted stuff is to use a 1/2-1oz dropshot weight with a Texas rigged worm 8-12” above it. The weight will get through the weeds and bury itself in the bottom but it will keep the worm clean and suspended off of the bottom. I’ll have to try that rig you were using in the video, going out there tomorrow ill see how it works.