Pitching and flipping with muck bottom

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

I’ve had fun recently flipping and pitching around lay downs and clumps of weeds. My only concern is about the bottom. I fish lakes with muddy, mucky, weed covered bottoms. It’s pretty easy for me to picture my t-rig just disappearing into the slop. Is a t-rig still effective in these spots? Is this a time to break out the ol Tokyo rig? Or does flipping just not work in these areas? 

[GRiver]

Not sure how much muck you have…. Here we have slit and muck. 
Most of my hits when flipping and pitching are right after it hits the water or on the way down. I get a few from hopping about a foot or a little more at a time.

then it reel up and pitch another area.

[Pat Brown]

Weightless plastics, dropshot, topwater, spinnerbait.

 

Don't be afraid to fish baits in the muck - contrary to popular belief bass regularly eat things that root around in the muck.

[LrgmouthShad]

Only thing I will recommend is to keep your weights lighter. An 1/8oz works well in these kind of bottoms. Jigs should be light too. For reasons I can’t explain, I have never done well on heavy weights in muck. 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

Do any of you use a Tokyo rig in stops like this?

[Pat Brown]

30 minutes ago, August said:

Do any of you use a Tokyo rig in stops like this?

 

I'm pretty sure a Tokyo rig is just a pre-rigged really short leader metal drop shot.  I just use drop shots.

[BrianMDTX]

I fish a lot of ponds with muck bottoms and a lot of algae. I either fish weightless presentations or the least weight possible. Still picks up some stuff every 3-4 casts but not like a TR with a 1/4 oz bullet weight or a 1/2 oz jig. 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

5 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I’m pretty sure a Tokyo rig is a pre-rigged really short leader metal drop shot. 

5 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

 

Yep that exactly what it is

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

What about lakes that have a mat of live weeds on the bottom? A couple lakes near me have a 2-3inch thick mat of living weeds covering the whole bottom 

[Columbia Craw]

Power shot, Tokyo rig or free rig.  

[LrgmouthShad]

14 hours ago, August said:

What about lakes that have a mat of live weeds on the bottom? A couple lakes near me have a 2-3inch thick mat of living weeds covering the whole bottom 

Stay over it. I don’t like the sound of a thin mat of weeds. Doesn’t sound like it’s tall enough to hold fish

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

8 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Stay over it. I don’t like the sound of a thin mat of weeds. Doesn’t sound like it’s tall enough to hold fish

Yeah it’s only a couple inches thick and right on the bottom, but other vegetation, mainly pads grows up through it, so would those pads still hold fish and be worth flipping?

[LrgmouthShad]

23 minutes ago, August said:

Yeah it’s only a couple inches thick and right on the bottom, but other vegetation, mainly pads grows up through it, so would those pads still hold fish and be worth flipping?

Gosh yeah. I love fishing pads. Working a soft plastic in them, just dropping it next to them could be effective. A spinnerbait or swim jig through lily pads is what I cut my teeth on fishing in NY during the warmer months. 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

17 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Gosh yeah. I love fishing pads. Working a soft plastic in them, just dropping it next to them could be effective. A spinnerbait or swim jig through lily pads is what I cut my teeth on fishing in NY during the warmer months. 

So a swim jig or spinner through them, a t-rig or jig on the bottom and a frog on top? That’s how I’ve been fishing this year. 

[LrgmouthShad]

47 minutes ago, August said:

So a swim jig or spinner through them, a t-rig or jig on the bottom and a frog on top? That’s how I’ve been fishing this year. 

Pretty much how I’d be doing it, yeah. Is it working? 

[Bankbeater]

I let my jig fall into the muck, and I let it sit for a few seconds.  When I start the retrieve I bring it back with short jerks, keeping the jig above the muck.

[GReb]

Instead of letting it just soak give tiny twitches while on bottom to keep it at the top of the muck without really moving the bait forward.

[FishTax]

I would find the one piece of wood in the slop, hit it with my jig, think it's a fish, set the hook like a boss, and spend 20 minutes trying to retrieve my jig while ruining the spot. 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

56 minutes ago, FishTax said:

I would find the one piece of wood in the slop, hit it with my jig, think it's a fish, set the hook like a boss, and spend 20 minutes trying to retrieve my jig while ruining the spot. 

That’s about the average day for me

14 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Pretty much how I’d be doing it, yeah. Is it working? 

Yeah it’s been working well

[GetFishorDieTryin]

All of the water I fish is like this.  I like 3/16 for a T rig or F rig.  The cylindrical DS style weight doesnt dig in nearly as much and clear easier than a bullet, but can have issues in certain kinds of cover.  I rarley peg a bullet weight, because by the time the bait gets separation its almost on the bottom anyway, unless it's a bait with a ton of action.