Lilly' Pad Fishing?

[amishnightmare88]

at one certain lake i fish at there is alot of lilly pads. the water usually ranges to 2'-12'ft of water (2ft closer to the shore and 12ft in the middle). what are good baits to use for places like that?

[clayton86]

frogs,plastics,jigs, or spinners depending how many pads there are but iv got bass by casting a spinner to far and right ontop of thick mated pads they musta thought it was a frog or something talking on the pads.

[Flangler]

I found luck with Super flukes. I usually rig them weightless with a 2/0 off set hook. Also weedless. Or, I will put a 5" Senko worm on the same hook. They usually produce bass. I like to use watermelon colors, with red or black flakes in them. Also, I have been catching them with Zoom lizards, also rigged the same way. If you put a small bullet weight on it, you can let them penetrate through the pads or near the edge of them and let them sink to the bottom and you'll usually get a bass.

[Bass_Fanatic]

Also, dont overlook a crankbait, you would be suprised how easily a crank comes through pads. Get a sunperch colored sqaurebill and chunk it in the pads and hold on. Not many people do this, so the fish havent seen many of em there.

Also, a LFT Live Magic Shad rigged on an Owner Twistlock hook swam through the pads can be deadly!

[zach t]

I bump a swimbait off of the stalks.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I use frogs and buzz baits on and around the lily pads. Fish em through the pads and along the edges.

[Oscar O.]

Anytime I can do some frogging I take that opportunity. But the suggestions presented here already are all great, you have a lot to work with and one of these should give you success on the water.

[Mr SwimJig]

I like to throw a swim jig down the outside of the pads, you can also swim it through the pads if they are not to thick. Otherwise a frog is an awesome thing to throw on top of those pads. It is an experience that is for sure when those big bass bust through those pads and attack the frog.

SJ

[bobbyK]

I used to fish in Minnesota and lily pads were my life!!! From shore, wading, in a canoe or boat, I drug a lot of fish from pads. The pads in Minnesota tended to be very thick, lots of overlapping leaves, so not much room for dragging a bait through them. Most fishing was over the pads with frogs and unweighted plastics (mostly senkos, but creatures worked too). Most productive was working the holes, inside turns, points, and the shore side edges of the lily pad fields. The bass would set up there to ambush anything that happened by and lots of fish would strike as soon as the bait landed. Time of day, weather, water clarity, nothing seemed to matter much. If the fish were there, they would eat.

Equipment and technique helped get them out once they were caught. I used medium heavy/fast casting and spinning rods with braided line all the time. Once you set the hook, your choice was to drag them out quick or play them out and watch out for them wrapping up on those tough pad stems. If they did wrap up, it was critical not to try and horse the fish out. It was better to keep a tight line and wait for the fish to free itself up a bit and then haul it in some more. If you horsed it in while it was wrapped up, you would just bring the fish up against the pad stem and then pry the hook out of its mouth - lost fish and usually the hook hung on the pads which meant a trip into the pads to retrieve it.

Now I live in North Carolina - not nearly as many pads here and I have not yet adapted to the structure fishing that it is the norm here. All this talk is giving me ideas to get out tomorrow.

Bob K

[.dsaavedra.]

i like to work a brush hog around the edges of the pads and in pockets and stuff. also a 5" senko wacky rigged dropped on the edge of pads is killer.

[brushhoggin]

the funnest is pullin a ribbit over the pads. then swim a lizard through the pad stems alternating depths to see if you get more bites. the dirtier the water the bigger the lizard. good luck. my favorite cover to fish

[joshholmes]

first off your gonna have to get a tough rod though. 20-30 lb braid with a 6'-7'6" meduim heavy rod. just catching a 2lber in heavy cover with a light rod is near impossible. As for baits fish swim jigs, finesse jigs, stick baits, superflukes, creatures,swimbaits, spinner baits, frogs and even some squared lipped cranks. for most of the soft plastics you need a heavy pegged tungsten weight weighing atleast 1/2 an ounce. flip or pitch the bait into little openings and let it rest for a few seconds. then start the retreive. also be very cautious as many of the hits with creatures or stickbaits will come right on the first fall. make sure you use offset shanked hooks but not ewg offset shanks. The traditional worm hook slides through weeds better than an EWG. slow roll spinnerbaits around the edge of cover and give the tip an occasional jerk. this causes the line to temporarily go slack and make it look like the bait is dying and struggling to swim right. For swimbaits use the bulkier baits like the yum fat money minnow. these provide a more visual bait to see through all the weeds. If you throw the swimbait into thick cover hop it off the bottom as you would a jig.

[BassThumb]

There are a lot of ways to fish lily pads. You can fish the edges with moving baits like spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, chatterbaits, cranks, etc. You can fish the holes in the pads by pitching or flipping jigs and soft plastics. Or you can fish topwater lures right through them, with frogs, toads, and floating worms.

[SwimJigs]

Shhh...but a swim jig around the edges and ripped through the not-so-thick stuff will get you bit. Don't over look a square bill either. Any type of plastic dropped into the pockets will do fine too. Frogs for the thick stuff. Love fishing 'pads, probably my favorite.

[bassfisherjk]

I love to fish a T-rigged Baby Brush Hog around isolated pads.The guys have alot of great suggestions also.Good Luck!

[bilgerat]

A thick walled tube (Yum Vibra King for example) rigged weedless on a 3/0 EWG hook and internally weighted. Slime it up with your favorite attractant - more for the lubrication to keep the plastic from clinging to the stems and leaves - and fish it throughout the pads.

Nah, nevermind. Nobody fishes tubes in pads...

[zach t]

I should add to my answer that I love frogs as much as anything, but the hook up ratio is so poor around lilly pads...that I think you can't go wrong with swimbaits.

Swimming a magnum work works well to!

[A-Rob]

frog and jig for the pads and junk

Outside the pads depends on tons of factors but spinnerbait crankbait swim jig big worm creature bait whatever you want

[Bassbutt]

Buzzbaits thru the pads if possible, frogs and more frogs, flukes around the edges......Also weedless spoons dropped in holes.

[Brad70]

Can anyone recommend a good stout rod for lily pad fishing for $100 or less?