Very tall and thick Lilly Pads, How do you fish?

[Jeffrey Walker]

See picture below.  The lake i fish has likly pads that come well out of the water up to a foot or more places.  How would you approach them? 

what techniques would you use?

 

Ive had some luck with texas rig senko but what else can i do?? punching? flipping?  

[Mobasser]

Try a Johnson Silver Minnow, Heddon Moss Boss, or similar weedless spoon. Add a trailer and fish it over the top of these pads.

[Bird]

Flukes, soft swim baits, frogs as well as weightless senkos.

I prefer to stay in the upper water column when dealing with thick pads and a suitable rod for hoisting fish out.

[Jeffrey Walker]

17 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Try a Johnson Silver Minnow, Heddon Moss Boss, or similar weedless spoon. Add a trailer and fish it over the top of these pads.

You can’t there well out of the water.  trying to post a picture but the file is too big 

[TnRiver46]

Another vote for the silver minnow, worked for me in a pad field on vacation 

[casts_by_fly]

those aren't too bad in your picture.  50 lb braid and you can work weedless topwaters through it.  A weedless floating worm will work through it.  A heavy weedguard swim jig will get through that.  You can fish anything on the edges of it. You can also pitch into it with 1/2-3/4 oz weight in most places.  We get those around here.  That said, I don't find that the fish relate to a lot of it if its only those type of pads.  If you've got other weeds around it then you're golden and concentrate there.

[Jeffrey Walker]

That pic gives you an idea of how tall they are.  But there are spots where they’re are so dense.

 

Woukd punching work? 

[casts_by_fly]

Yes, you could slow down and punch through it.  What's in the picture isn't even punching to me, that's just heavier pitching.  Punching is when you need the weight to punch through the vegetation.  In this picture you just need to pitch at the holes and bases of the stalks.

[Catt]

With my fingers crossed ?

 

 

[Jar11591]

This looks like water chestnut rather than Lily pads. These things can be d**n near impossible to get through. Way thicker and tougher than lily pads, the under side is a tangled mess of thick stem, and can absolutely choke out the areas where they root. I think your best best would be looking for any gaps and sliding a slim T-rig or punch rig through. 

[Jeffrey Walker]

Here is another pic.  There are some areas where it looks like a field.  And i’m not sure they are lillie’s either, lillie’s usually lie flat on the water, these protrude.  
 

Light texas rig has worked so far but looking for other ideas?

 

Johnson minnow will work?

[river-rat]

 

I can assure you a Johnson Silver Minnow will work. Rig it like Catt is showing in the pictures and throw it on 50 lb. braid. Make sure you sharpen the hook before using it. Straight out of the pack, the hook is very dull due to the plating process used in making it.

 

A Texas Rigged Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worm would also be something I would try. Use a light weight and swim it through the pads.

 

[Jeffrey Walker]

35 minutes ago, riverat said:

 

I can assure you a Johnson Silver Minnow will work. Rig it like Catt is showing in the pictures and throw it on 50 lb. braid. Make sure you sharpen the hook before using it. Straight out of the pack, the hook is very dull due to the plating process used in making it.

 

A Texas Rigged Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worm would also be something I would try. Use a light weight and swim it through the pads.

 

i’ll try it.  Is that a skirt or a trailer.  What trailers or skirts do you recommend?

[Mobasser]

12 minutes ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

i’ll try it.  Is that a skirt or a trailer.  What trailers or skirts do you recommend?

Catts rig looks very good. You can use any skirt, frog type plastic trailer, or a section of plastic worm threaded on the hook. A pork frog trailer is a classic for this lure. As has been said, sharpen the hook really well, and give the fish a short pause before you set the hook.

[Jeffrey Walker]

Does the lure sink fast?

Or fish it like a frog?

[JediAmoeba]

50# braid and send it. I would probably flip a Texas rigged senko or creature bait.

[ATA]

Also frog on top of weighted Senko can be productive.

[Jeffrey Walker]

1 hour ago, ATA said:

Also frog on top of weighted Senko can be productive.

is this a joke or are you serious? 

[Lmbasshunter]

50lb braid and fish a frog. If they’re not eating that slow down and pick apart the whole area with a Texas rig or jig 

[Jeffrey Walker]

Gotcha. 

 

ironically i have tried a frog and Texas rig so far. Frog hasn’t produced at all but the T-rig has. 

 

Wonderi n also about wacky rig, but can the spinning gear setup handle to bigger weeds.

[ATA]

22 minutes ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

is this a joke or are you serious? 

Bad grammar , I meant beside using weighted Senko , You can Fish with frog and get some result as well and the frog can be popping style *with cup mouth/Water shooter) or walking style frog(with pointy nose). Sorry I just put everything together and you missunderstood.

[Jeffrey Walker]

lol, i was actually trying to visualize a frog on top with a senko bell. 

below

[dave]

Spadderdock...

[LonnieP]

I’d be pitching a jig in the open spots or either throwing a frog.

[casts_by_fly]

I was thinking of this thread as I worked through this stuff. I pitched it with a beaver and threw a keel weighted d-shad around the edges and through the thinner pads. All of the suggestions above will fish through it, just have to find what they want. the pictures don’t do it justice. The pads were 12” off the water and higher than the side of the boat. The big field is also a quarter mile square (not shown in picture).