What type of braid

[RHuff]

I need something that is easy to slice through thick lilly pad ears and stems...   The waters I fish are loaded with thick elephant ear pads and I can get bit by some good fish but have trouble getting them up to the surface a lot... Any recommendations on what size/type of braid to help cut through the pad clusters? Does anything help? Right now my success rate is about 3/10 bites I actually get in the boat. Most I set the hook and they get pinned in a pad cluster and if I am able to go in after then all that is left is the hook..... 

[Captain Phil]

It's not your line that is causing these problems.  Pads are about the toughest cover to fish vertically.  What happens is the bass sucks in your bait then proceeds to wrap the line around the pad stems.   By the time you set the hook the fish could be a yard or more away.   As soon as you detect a strike (or think you do), reel down and take out as much slack as possible.  Fifty pound braid is strong enough.  I use Power Pro, but most any quality line will do. Even then, 50/50 is about all you can expect to land.  Snelling your hooks will help by tilting the hook into the fish.

[RHuff]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

It's not your line that is causing these problems.  Pads are about the toughest cover to fish vertically.  What happens is the bass sucks in your bait then proceeds to wrap the line around the pad stems.   By the time you set the hook the fish could be a yard or more away.   As soon as you detect a strike (or think you do), reel down and take out as much slack as possible.  Fifty pound braid is strong enough.  I use Power Pro, but most any quality line will do. Even then, 50/50 is about all you can expect to land.  Snelling your hooks will help by tilting the hook into the fish.

 

  Thanks Captain for the response. I do like to snell the hook. I like using a 3/0 Berkley Fusion Heavy Flipping Hook. I have never really reeled the slack down I have always just tried to keep my rod tip up and at around the 10 o'clock position and when I feel it step back and use my body to set the hook taking the rod as high as I can. Usually I can feel the bait bury and when I get to the top it feels like I hit a brick wall and my boat will start drifting that direction as I reel.... by the time I get to the hook (if I can even get to it) the fish is long gone....Normally....I have to just reel down and put my rod down horizontal and pull the hook lose ripping up the cluster of pads from their roots on the lake bottom. Then I get to pick a big string of pad stems off my boat deck while the fish is probably laughing all the way to the bank..... 

[dodgeguy]

It's not your line. Lilly pads are the worst.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

When you have a fish in tight cover like pads or even docks, you can get the fish out of the cover faster, which increases the odds of landing her if she is facing the direction you are applying pressure from when you set the hook.  When you get that bit, dont just reel down and whack her.  Take the slack up slow.  Once you feel the fish keep applying pressure for a few a few more seconds to turn her head to the direction you want her to go.  Once you feel like you have where you want her drop the tip and hit her and winch her out. 

It takes some time getting the hang of it, but its worked pretty well for me and it sounds like you dont have much to lose.  You do need a rod that has some length and tip to it with a decent mid section, because that what you're turning the fish with before you set the hook.  As a kid I used to do it with braid, but I was using spinning gear that had much more give, I use FC now.

Once youre wrapped up around a lily stem youre in trouble, especially if its more then 1 stem.  A braid with texture will help bite into grass.  Youre looking for a 4 or 5 carrier instead of an 8 or 9.  You eant a strong braid obviously, but a thinner braid will have less resistance.  #65 X5 or #65 Vicious should work pretty well.

[T-Billy]

What rod are you using? You want a long heavy rod to move 'em your way on the hookset. 7'9" - 8' heavy fast is the way to roll in this situation. 40# or 50# braid is plenty. None of that lift on 'em and reel down stuff in heavy cover. Reel down, crack 'em HARD, and winch on 'em.

[Catt]

Ain't no braided line gonna cut lily pad stems!

 

Early stike detection, as soon as you feel the bite, don't wait on nuthin, set hook. 

 

Set hook with authority! Turn that head, get em coming to you, all on the hookset.

 

Be ready to move, sometimes ya gotta go get em. 

 

What happens more times than not is your hook point has penetrated the fish & is exposed. This exposed hook point will stick the lily pad stem. 

 

Watch some Hack Attack videos 

[Captain Phil]

This post is why I much prefer fish pads with a spinnerbait over flipping.  If you can get the bass to strike near the surface, you have a much better chance of landing it.   Digging a bass out of pads is like untying the Gordian Knot (Google it). 

 

Some may be asking how I throw a spinnerbait in a pad field?  The answer is you have to pick your spots and be accurate with your casts.   It also takes guts.  You will get hung up, so get used to it.  The reward is worth the trouble.  Big bass seek out pads.  Pads are big bass condos.  I often ride around the Harris Chain jumping from pad field to pad field.   I rarely get skunked and most of my fish are over 4 pounds.  I use heavy line and haul the bass out before it has a chance to know what's happening.  Try it, it works.

[Catt]

13 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

If you can get the bass to strike near the surface, you have a much better chance of landing it. 

 

Spinnerbaits are one option 

 

Zoom's Magnum Ultravibe Speed Worm reeled on top.

 

I have more success with Stanley's Ribbit or Zoom's Horny Toad over hollow body frogs.

 

[Zcoker]

Load up with 50-65lb Power Pro and call it a day. It's all I use in the glades for just about everything. Always try to go to the hung fish and then work it upwards. Never try to pull it toward you through all the mess. 

[OkobojiEagle]

A four carrier PE line with a rough texture will help.

[casts_by_fly]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

Ain't no braided line gonna cut lily pad stems!

 

Early stike detection, as soon as you feel the bite, don't wait on nuthin, set hook. 

 

Set hook with authority! Turn that head, get em coming to you, all on the hookset.

 

Be ready to move, sometimes ya gotta go get em. 

 

What happens more times than not is your hook point has penetrated the fish & is exposed. This exposed hook point will stick the lily pad stem. 

 

Watch some Hack Attack videos 

 

 

This is the answer.  I also fish pads like the OP.  If you don't get them turned and moving up quickly they will tangle you.  I still pitch them with jigs and plastics, but I'm throwing 50 lb 832 and a high speed reel.  the rod tip is almost toughing the water when I start to set the hook and I don't stop until its 6' higher in the air.  Since I'm fishing down to 8-10' most of the time, that fish is well on its way to me quickly.  You won't land all of them, but that's about as close as I've found.

[Mike L]

I use the Original 4 carrier Power Pro for punching and what you describe. 
Nothing will cut through like a machete but it won’t just slide over them either. 
 

That type of fishing is what I try to do more often than any other and it’s what I have the greatest amount of success with.

The best individual results and most consistent success is using the baits or their equivalent of what @Catt mentioned above. 
 

When fishing on top of a pad field using a horizontal retrieve a frog type bait is best just moving from one pad to other pausing as it drops off, walk it in place a bit and go to the next. 
 

When using a swim type plastic (Magnum UV Speed Worm) you do the same but first skim it across from one pad to the other especially looking for small spaces between them where you pull just enough to get the tail moving before killing it and coming up and resting on the next. 
Pull it on, Drop it off, work it, and continue. 
 

As far as setting the hook See Below…

The key is to be ready with your drag set, thumb on the spool with the rod at always at the correct angle to immediately set to get her head up and out. 

 

4 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Early stike detection, as soon as you feel the bite, don't wait on nuthin, set hook. 

 

Set hook with authority! Turn that head, get em coming to you, all on the hookset.

 

Be ready to move, sometimes ya gotta go get em. 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[WIGuide]

@RHuff What rod and reel are you using when fishing this way?

 

I doubt you're ever going to get a line to cut through pad stems as they're just too thick and tough, but you should be able to increase your landing rate considerably over what your current rate. 

[FishTank]

Two of the lakes I fish have several spots that are covered in pads, making it almost impossible to fish. I have tried a few different braids but nothing really cuts through them well. If I pull too hard, the hook on my flipping bait gets exposed and then I'm really hung up. So I've come to the conclusion that if there is fish in there, it's worth the risk to battle it and hope for a good outcome.  

 

One technique I've seen that does work but I stink at it.... Carolina Rig.  You have to have some luck and some skill. Basically you cast the weight onto a pad and allow the lizard (or whatever) to fall on the loose line between the pads, slowly dragging or hopping the weight across the pads. Done right, you don't get snagged as much. 

 

 

[JediAmoeba]

I find 4 carrier braids cut through better. They are noisy and rough so you lose some stealth but they seem to saw through the pads.

[RHuff]

I use the Lew's Super Duty LFS 8:3:1 Reel with a 7'4 Bass Pro Carbonlite 2.0 Heavy/Fast Rod..

I typically flip 30lb braid but I may look at the Berkley X5 65lb..  Below is a few photos  of the lake I am referring to...

 

 

[Boomstick]

I would second that it's not your line - unless it's actually breaking on you. Most braid cuts through lily pads roughly evenly.

 

Honestly your experience sounds pretty much accurate for fishing lily pads. you want to set the hook early and turn their heads and pull them out of the pads before they can run figure 8s around all the stems and make a real mess for you.

 

If you do want a recommendation on braid, I usually go with Daiwa JBraid Grand x8. PowerPro Maxcuatro is also worth a mention as it is thinner in diameter and fairly smooth. There are plenty of others that will do the job as well, so these are far from the only options.

8 hours ago, RHuff said:

I use the Lew's Super Duty LFS 8:3:1 Reel with a 7'4 Bass Pro Carbonlite 2.0 Heavy/Fast Rod..

I typically flip 30lb braid but I may look at the Berkley X5 65lb..  Below is a few photos  of the lake I am referring to...

 

 

 

These pics have got me excited for summer! With pads like this, I would say you will want at minimum 50# braid to be safe. Personally I only run 65# braid on my two reels since I pretty much use it for heavy duty weeds and use straight fluoro thee rest of the time - although I may spool one up with 50# next year (I think I have a spool of 50#).

[PhishLI]

I used Daiwa J8 and fish lakes loaded with pads. No problemo. I've never been broken off using 40lb, and rarely 30lb. I still use 50lb for frogs and swimmers rigged with larger Beast hooks.