Lily pads and spoons

[hamer08]

I plan on fishing a large lake this weekend that is ~50% covered by lily pads with little other cover. I've never dealt with so many lily pads, what method would you try? While researching the idea, I saw some old timers swear by the spoon. I've never fished a spoon before. Any ideas?

[jdw174]

Johnson Silver Minnow w/pork or plastic trailer.  An oldie, but a goodie  .  Another great spoon is the Mepps Timber Doodle.

[Lucky Craft Man]

The best weedless spoon I have ever used (especially in lillypads) is the Rapala Weedless Spoon.  Unfortunately, they do not make this lure anymore (which is why I stocked up with a lifetime supply of them off of eBay).  If you have any laying around or can find one, give it a try.  These spoons also ride nice on top of the lilly pads for any topwater bite (though, I would use a weedless frog for this).

[hoosier11]

ive had tons of luck using the silver minnow with a pork trailer or a mister twister type trailer and keeping it atop the pads and retrieving it at a decent pace, i know alot of people say use a frog but im more comfortable using the silver minnow method and for me its cought more big fish, make sure ya use a hefty line i always use power pro #8 diameter for the slop spots, but everyone has thier own favorite.

and i always let the lure drop in the pockets and let it hover to the bottom and twitch it a few times that usually gets a strike, but this is what works best for me since its my confidence tactic hehe

im sure alot here as i have found will have some trmendous ideas this is a great place for info and everyone is friendly and courteous

good luck and have fun on the lake

anthony

[Catt]

Johnson Silver Minnow (Gold) ¼ or ½ oz

Uncle Josh #11 Pork Trailer Green with spots

Or a Chartreuse Spinner Bait Skirt

Fish it on top like a frog or just below the surface; wait until you feel the weight of the fish before setting hook.

Beware you'll get a lot of line twist if you reel to fast causing the spoon to roll over, so keep the retrieve slow enough to produce a wobble.

You can also try a Heddon Moss Boss Lures

[Marty]

I used to use weedless spoons and there is no doubt that they are good at attracting strikes. However, I haven't used them in years, as I have more confidence in getting a hookset with soft plastics.

[Guest avid]

No doubt the silver minnow is a classic.

Personally I like to buzz a horney toad through the pads.

Kill the action and let is slowly sink down.

Then jerk it back to the surface and repeat.

[hamer08]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll stop by my sporting goods store on the way home tonight and see what of these they have available. I'm interested to try a spoon, just to see if I can catch a fish with it.

I'm a little curious as to what the max depth is you have with lily pad coverage, I'm in IL. I'm also considering taking the canoe, how easy is it to get a canoe through lily pads? Is it just more trouble than its worth?

[.dsaavedra.]

shouldnt be any harder to paddle....if you plan on using a troling motor...good luck :

what kind of pads are they? are they the kind that lay flat on the surface and overlap or are they the kind that gro in clumps and extend out of the water? i like the latter. a spoon should work very well!!! try a johnson silver minow like others have said. i remember fishing in early spring before the lily pads could gro above the surface...and i would run a spoon thru there and catch bass.

[hamer08]

I'll be paddling. I think I'll try to get there an hour or so before sunrise and work the openwater from the bank with topwater lures. Once the sun comes up, I'll try the lily pads from the canoe.

[OBX-BASS]

when i fish pads i have used senkos right on the pad line and it has produced good fish for me....i also ALWAYS bring a buzz frog slowly across the tops of them....to do this you have got to have a heavy action rod and very strong line to yank em out of the pads....i have always used 20 lb braid to do this but i have even got broke off with that....my cousin has a reel spooled with 50 lb power pro which is specifically for the lilly pad fishing and he says it works really well to yank em out.....good luck

[Guest avid]

paddling a canoe through pads is easier than most other types of weeds.  Even TM'ing is not that difficult if you take your time, and the lilly field is not too dense.

[JayW]

Johnson Silver Minnow w/pork or plastic trailer.  An oldie, but a goodie  .  Another great spoon is the Mepps Timber Doodle.

I agree. I've caught some nice Bass off of a Johnson spoon with a pork trailer. I used to use those for pads and grass back in the early mid 80's.

[Rob G.]

As for spoons I like the Miller Wobbler, similar to a Johnson, Silver Minnow.  I am using swim jigs more then spoons these days though.  I still thrown a rat occassionally.

[tritz18]

I had to deal with lily pads today but I still managed some nice bass. use a senko or any other bait meant for bass and cast it along edges of lily pads or in holes in lily pads. The fish will be hidding under lily pads for color so you will be able to draw them out if u get close enough. but don't into the lily pads you don't wanna get snaged on them. or just use a weedless hook.

[fish-fighting-illini]

Hey Ham welcome to the boards. You will find a lot of great information here and some darn good people.

I'm from Il too near Peoria where in Il are you from?

[hamer08]

fish-fighting-il, I live in the Peoria area also (moved into the area a couple of years ago from OH). I'm still learning about bassin central IL style. The lily pad lake I was fishing is Spring lake. I only caught one 12" on a Jitterbug about a 1/2 hr before sunrise. After sunrise, we fished the lily pads and edges with spoons and plastic worms without a bite. It was my first time bass fishing there so I wasn't sure what the problem was. There were other boats targeting the same areas with the same results. I was really surprised by the action of the Johnson spoon and pork rind tail. I will continue to try that when the opprotunity presents itself.

[tritz18]

How were you rigging the worms, also what brand and color?

[hamer08]

They were T-rigged, 7" berkley PB worms, red shad and a couple 2 color varieties. T-rigging is a confidence bait for me, so I was a little disappointed.

[tritz18]

Ok although t rigging is a very good way to catch fish I perfer to fish wacky rigging with gary yamoto senkos, Color depends on water color. I have been most succesful with pumpkin and watermelon colored. If you don't understand wacky rigging check out this http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1121527643

It will give you all the info on fishing senkos which I perfer to fish more than any worm, hope it helps