curly leaf pond weed

[Guest]

My favorite lakes are covered with this, ah, stuff. I've tried traditional weed techniques, but have had zero success. Any tips? I haven't fished deep, I don't see anything there on the electronics.

[Guest]

Harry101,
There are a couple things you could try (actually it's more like a couple hundred, but I'll give you a couple basic easy things to try). First, you can try flipping or making short casts to holes and pockets in the weed beds with a jig-n-pig or a Texas rigged worm in about 1/2 oz weights to bust through the weeds. You will need heavy tackle to land these fish and I mean heavy, 25 pound mono or 65+ pound superline and a heavy action rod. Just let the bait hit bottom in the pocket, jig it a couple times, and go on to the next hole. The fish will be sitting on the edge of the pocket waiting to ambush anything that drops in front of it's face. If you get a hit, set the hook hard and start pulling and reeling. You really have to horse the fish out otherwise it will wrap you up and shake loose.

The other thing to try is fishing the outside weedline. Even though you said you did not see anything on your electronics, that does not mean there are no fish there. They could be sitting right on the edge or even be burried in a clump of weeds. Either way it's really hard if not impossible to see these fish on electronics. There are many baits you can use, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Carolina rigs, Texas rigs. Whatever you choose, try to cast parallel to the weedline. That way your bait is in the strike zone for the longest time possible.
Hope this helps you out, Good luck!

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com

[Guest]

Ahh Yes "Curly Leaf Pond dump" or "Crappy Cabbage" as I refer to them. I have not heard much about this exotic like you do about the dreaded E. Milfoil. At my parents Lakes Platte and Sullivan, that stuff seems to have displaced much of the wild rice area's this year. That is in one season. I don't know if it is permenant or not do to the wierd spring. Personally I would rather fish the rice. Even if that stuff is a E. trolling motors worst nightmare. Does anyone know if that Curly dump always dies and turns the lake green if there is a significant amount of it in the lake? i'd be interested in hearing from anyone who knows about the stuff. Thanks.

[Guest]

Basspastor,
Curly-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) usually dies off once the water temps get above 75 degrees. What it is doing is actually going into it's dormancy stage like what most plant species do in the winter. This plant germinates and starts growing in the winter even under thick ice and snow. It then foliates in the spring and seeds in the fall.
Like most exotics, it can be a pest and can take over native vegetation. But, fish like it, so all you can really do is learn to adapt and fish accordingly. Good luck!

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com

[Guest]

As this plant dies off the release of co2 from the decomposing plants will push the fish out away from these beds. Fish bass on the outside edge of these patches during this time. This also happens with the milfoil patches in the fall. Minnetonka is famous for it's milfoil beds, in the fall when these are starting to die off fish in that 12ft range outside of these beds. I did very well in a tournament in sept. doing this.