Weedy and shallow Lake Baits

[N Florida Mike]

That’s mostly the waters I fish. I am not one to do much research on new baits, because the videos promoting them want to catch YOU, so you’ll buy their bait.

That is why I occasionally need recommendations from those of you who have fished new baits and had some success. I mean mostly new- it could be a new bait for me. 
By the way , the lake is somewhat stained this time of year. It’s much clearer in the summer when the weeds are more prevalent.

What are you throwing and how are the results?

[TOXIC]

Senko with a screw in nose weight if I want to get threw the weeds or a weightless DShad fished on top.  

[Jar11591]

3/4oz spinnerbait fished right in the weeds, and rippin it through em. 

[Catt]

Mister Twister® Mag 8" BUZZ Worm

[N Florida Mike]

@Catt I’ve always done well with mr Twister worms. Haven’t used the BUZZ worm yet though…

[Catt]

Buzz Worms comes in 8" & 12", I've had better luck with the 8" in green pumpkin blue tail. 

 

I would also suggest Yamamoto's 10” Ichi Worm, it's  made from Yamamoto’s Mega Floater Formula, which makes the tail stand up off the bottom. It's heavy enough to good distance unweighted.

[softwateronly]

The weed growth up here can almost get to florida levels, and the Xcite Baits maximus 10.5" worm is my absolute favorite for the thickest of stuff.  It's a big, subtle, and durable high float worm that can snake through the densest milfoil.  During the summer and my big worm time, I like a one two punch of the maximus worm and a 8" hags tornado which is also good float, but more bulk to "hang up" more.  

Besides worms, frogs, flukes, punching, etc. I've done a couple things that are less popular that have been successful for me.  Number one is a Dirty Jigs 3/4oz Cali swim jig w/ a r2s 120mm D walker on my frog rod and straight braid.  I'll throw it at the thickest stuff and power it through.  It's somewhat a chore to fish, but it catches if they're there.  I like to think of it as horizontal punching, in my mind I'm blasting it into their home and they immediately attack it.  Definitely not subtle, but somewhat novel.

 

The other one is really new to me, and I only have last year as guidance.  I started the year after the spawn because of work obligations and wanted to learn the jighead minnow/hover strolling thing.  So as I was learning it, the weeds filled in like they always do and I kept working it and learning new things about it and basically came all the way back to a jigworm.  So I basically upsized the jigworm to a 7" fluke/minnow bait and shook it while retrieving thru the weeds.  It was way better getting though the junk than I imagined.  A light head weight, smaller hook even though exposed, the bulky bait, and constant shaking was really effective at staying clean and I think calling bass to it.  Slightly different profile, decent water displacement, and what I think looks like an oblivious and vulnerable meal just rooting away at the cover got bit.  The retrieves took some time, so it's not best at covering water quickly.

 

 

If you made it here, thanks for reading my coffee fueled bs.

 

scott

 

[Jigfishn10]

Ripp'n emergent weeds with a lipless crankbait has always been a favorite technique with me  

[Mr. Aquarium]

I love fishing floating glides in shallow weedy lakes. 

[Munkin]

Pearl white Fluke weightless would be my first choice.

 

Allen

[the reel ess]

I think the last time I fished a big pond that was almost covered with weeds I thought I would use a frog, toad, etc. Turned out the weightless Senko saved the day. I like a Trick Worm. I've also done well with a weedless spoon with trailer and a lizard with very light pegged bullet weight.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

All the water around here is shallow, but the big difference is whether its weedy lake or slimy bottomed lake.  You can rip traps and chatterbaits in moderate weeds, but lakes that have lots of slime or slimy bottoms really limit your choices unless you want to spend all day cleaning your bait.

Swim jigs and texas/free rigs are a good 1 2 punch in lakes that are really choked up.  You can use the swimjig to cover open stretches and pitch the T/F rig around key targets.  Using the lightest weight you can, limits the it from digging into the bottom.  

Its also a good habit to have a weightless senko or fluke ready to go.  If you miss a hit or have a follow that wont commit to the swim jig you can throw the senko or fluke and most of the time that fish will hit it.

[Pat Brown]

Frog/Fluke/Weightless Worms (mag speed worm/mag speed craw/mag trick worm/Senko/etc.)/lipless crankbait/bladed jig/Jerkbait/glide bait/swim jig/drop shot/c rig/punch rig/heavy grass jig/big soft swimbait on beast hook.

 

When I'm fishing over healthy grass a trick I employ is using heavy monofilament line to help keep my baits up in the water column/slow the rate of fall.  Pretty invaluable when fishing OVER grass 😉

[Bay of Quinte Bass Addict]

evergreen swim jigs

[Catt]

@N Florida Mike An explanation of just how much "weedy" ya talking might be helpful.

[scaleface]

  I  dont have  real vegetation to fish in. All there is around here is algae and gorilla snot. I fish the edges with spinnerbaits, chatterbaits , buzzbaits and various top waters . I fish through it with frogs , toads and weightless soft plastics.

[woolleyfooley]

On 1/2/2025 at 12:04 PM, Mr. Aquarium said:

I love fishing floating glides in shallow weedy lakes. 

@Mr. Aquariumany particular brands/models you would recommend?

[Bankbeater]

I fish in a lot of coontail.  Sometimes it is growing almost to the surface, and sometimes it is a few feet below the surface.

If I can tell how deep the vegetation is I will fish with a jerkbait or a lipless crankbait.  Most of the time I'm using a weightless worm, fluke, or senko, a light jig and craw, swimjig, a wakebait, or a topwater bait.

[Jigfishn10]

When I was in FLA for a week, I had a 4 hour window and went out with a guide. Kind of a last minute thing. As a fair warning, he said that the fishing had been terrible. I fished with a swim senko, T-rigged with an 1/8 oz sinker. 
 

Long casts, just swimming the bait and dropping inTo pockets. Must have caught closed to 15 in that 4 hour window. He said it was the best 4 hours he had with a client in a week.

 

So ok, swim senko  

[wdp]

I fish 3-4 shallow weedy lakes, with bunch of lily pads too. I always fish topwater, usually Ribbit and Horny Toads swimming frogs. I added another to the rotation this past yr - the Zoom swimming frog that floats and made outta foam. You can pause it plus it’s a loud swimmer. 
 

Other good baits to use are weightless flukes & zoom ultra vibe speed worms. Love buzzing a speed worm over shallow grass. The magnum worms cast well and will slow sink in the gaps of grass & pads.

 

 Sometimes I’ll use a small 1/16 oz or 1/8 oz t rigged trick worm or magnum speed craw if grass is sparse enough. Wakebaits work great in sparse grass too & along weeds edges.

 

Oh yeah, and as mentioned, weightless senko seems to always catch em. T rigged weightless doesn’t get hung too bad even in thick grass. 

[N Florida Mike]

@Catt , The best ways I can describe the weed situation in most of the lakes I fish is by % of total coverage on the surface ( vertical), and the thickness of the weeds ( horizontal ).

For example right now my lake probably has 20% coverage on top , Eel grass is the main grass. It is growing very thickly.

There also weeds under the surface too of course that haven’t got to the surface yet. You will get a clod of algae nearly every cast.

[PourMyOwn]

Weightless super flukes and Johnson Silver Minnow are two I don'teave home without. Lots of 6' deep weed choked ponds around here with big bass that don't get fished hard.

[Pat Brown]

4 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

@Catt , The best ways I can describe the weed situation in most of the lakes I fish is by % of total coverage on the surface ( vertical), and the thickness of the weeds ( horizontal ).

For example right now my lake probably has 20% coverage on top , Eel grass is the main grass. It is growing very thickly.

There also weeds under the surface too of course that haven’t got to the surface yet. You will get a clod of algae nearly every cast.

 

 

Weightless mag speed worm would be an excellent jack of all all trades for this kinda spot IMHO - you can buzz it - pitch and flip it - slowly swim it mid column - and mostly it'll stay clean dragging it with a high rod and occasionally popping the junk off the front of the bait.  Sounds like a really good time to bury the hook eye and knot if you aren't already doing that 😎👍🏼

 

Nail weights for faster fall rates at a spot like that and I'd use a worm hook so I'm picking up as little junk as possible rather than a EWG which would catch way more junk on the retrieve.

 

Sounds like a great spot for 20 lb big game so as to really help hover that worm over the muck rather than quickly plunge into it on pauses.

 

Eel grass is excellent for a frog - sometimes they really want their meal up high and not down low or even mid column and frog is my favorite bait for tons of junk when they want it high and slow/subtle.

[N Florida Mike]

Thanks for all the input so far.

I probably should have mentioned what I do use. Speed worms, dingers/senkos, flukes, trick worms, various other plastic worms, and various other plastics, like baby brush hogs .

I use frogs more in the summer but the action with the topwater frog is always slow. The horny toad is a different story. I get a ton of bites with them. 
I occasionally use spinnerbaits, but the plastics always out fish them.

I have used chatterbaits too, with fair success.

Using anything with treble hooks with catch me nothing but a clod of weeds on my home lake.

[Pat Brown]

The worm is king in Florida, Mike and it sounds like you're already 100% with the program!!!

 

Maybe try downsizing your braid to 15 lb and throwing a weightless trick, worm or even a finesse worm from Zoom and try colors like watermelon seed or pumpkin seed this time of year. I'd skip The dye in the winter.

 

I've heard that Old-Timers that catch big Florida bass when it's cold around here like to cast their worm out and light a cigarette and they don't even move it till they're done smoking the first 100 mm. 😉