Fishing In The Weeds

[kiefer06]

I always see these bass fishermen casting way up to the shore into thick lily pads. And they always seen to catch the big ones in there. How do they cast into the thickest of weeds and not get snaged? Is this a technique or is it a type of lure, and where can i get one? Thanks for the replies!

[Flipnripem]

I giggle when I see guys try to pull fish out of the pads with a spinning rod. Therefore you will need to use a med. heavy flipping stick with a bait casting reel. You will need the leverage to horse these fish out of the heavy stuff. Weightless worms, no weight, top water frogs, spoons and my favorite a pig and jig. Remember the most active fish will be on the outside of the pad field. You wont have to go in after them when they are feeding. You will know when this happens, its a blast. Good luck. Flip

[Tom Wilson]

Flipn,

You wouldn't giggle in my boat. I own plenty of baitcasting equipment, but I fish spinning tackle 90% of the time. This is mainly due to the fact that I fish plastics 90% of the time. I am glad you have an opinion on the matter, but to make this person that is trying to figure out how we fish up in the slop and thick weeds feel like he can't fish without going out and spending a bunch of unnecessary money is wrong. I took first place in a tournament on Howard lake last weekend fishing in thick curly leaf pondweed and milfoil and horsed out 18 pounds worth of bass with spinning tackle. I took 5th place last year and 18th place this year in the Minnetonka classic fishing milfoil with spinning tackle. I released two 5's and a 6.2 on Waconia Saturday out of the milfoil on spinning tackle. I'm not attacking you brother, but there is no truth whatsoever in the statement about spinning tackle being innefective. For some people spinning tackle is even better because it can allow them the opportunity to learn techniques like flipping and pitching without all of the learning curve necessary to learn it with baitcasting equipment. Now if I'm fishing a heavy jig, or frog, or crankbaits, I too prefer baitcasting equipment, but in plastics situations I prefer spinning tackle even in pads. All one needs is to be set up with a good rod, and a heavy reel, with the right line. My setup is simple, and I have 4 of the exact same setup and 5 that are a mixed variety. I use only IM7 graphite rods, because I prefer it to the IM8. There's just something I don't like about IM8 in the backbone category (JMO). I use both Shimano and Okuma reels (both in the 4000 size). I will use some mono, but have become absolutely sold on the 10lb Power Pro. I will put that stuff up against anything on the market. That line is unbelievable and I have absolutely no fear of breaking it whether I am in milfoil or heavy thick pads, and I don't even think twice about horsing a 5lb fish out of the lily pads with it. I have yet in two years of fishing to have that stuff break on me from horsing a fish. I do know what your talking about though, but it's not because a person is using spinning tackle, it is because they are not using the proper spinning tackle. There is no way that a person who typically fishes walleyes, can take out a medium action 6 to 7 foot rod with a 2500 series reel and 8lb test line and expect to catch fish out of the lillies. But this is not because the equipment is spinning tackle, it's because it's not the right equipment for the job. Day in and day out most people including myself will tell you that baitcasting equipment is for heavy applications, and spinning tackle is for light applications, but that is not all encompassing. There are always different ways to do different things, and when properly matched--spinning tackle can be every bit as effective as baitcasting tackle for fishing the thick stuff. Again, I'm not picking on you, just trying to spred some light.

[kiefer06]

Thanks for the reply. I understand the rod and reel stuff, but i don't understand how you can get a spinnerbait through the weeds. Don't some weeds get caught or do you use a worm to cover the hook. Again I understand th rod and reel stuff but I am really confused on how and what you use as far as the "hook". Thanks again for the awesome replies. KIEFER

[Tom Wilson]

Kiefer,

Actually a spinnerbait is one of the most weedless things you can fish in the lilypads, and through most submergent vegetation. Where you cannot fish a spinnerbait is through algea or the bright green "slop" that starts to appear on most lakes about now in the shallows. This is pretty much limited to frogs, and or large jigs that will punch through the mat. In most lakes though, lily pad fields are not nearly as choked out as they appear to be and will have lots of clean open water underneath them to fish an arsenal of different baits through them. I prefer plastics as stated above for most of my pad and or heavy weed presentations, but jigs, frogs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc, etc... are all good weedy lures. Judging by your questions above, I think the thing you need to do first is lose the fear of taking a few weeds off every now and then. You need to have that good day of fishing in the heavy stuff to understand why we do it. It only takes one 6lb'er to learn this. I wish you all the luck. If your ever out on any of the west metro lakes and see a bright yellow ranger, swing by and talk to me, I'll be glad to give you much more info.

[grip-em+rip-em]

Im with Tom on this one. I also use spinning reels 90% of the time and have almost an obsession for fishing the thick and nasty. I started using power pro line this year vs spider wire and am completely sold on power pro. I just think that it casts better (farther) then spider wire. When your fishing the slop you are generally shallow and its important to get your bait in front of the fish before the fish sees or hears you. I like to make long casts with top water lures. I prefer the moss boss in the heavy cover, it will go through or over just about anthing. Look for the open pockets in the slop and get the lure to the opening, the fish will follow and hammer it. I also like to fish the thick stuff from different angles. Why the fish bite when the lure comes from one way and not the other, I have no idea, but they do. The spinning combo with power pro line pulls the pigs through the slop just fine.

[Guest]

My personal favorite slop lure is a Moss Boss. One key to fishing it is to stop the lure before it hits the water and start retrieve right away, you don't want it to sink right away then just go with a speed that keeps it on top. Some let it sink in pockets but I keep it going and when a fish blows up on it keep reeling and wait until you feel it to set the hook, don't just set on the explosion. If they miss they may hit again. If not have a worm ready to pitch right into where it blew up. Look for holes and mixtures of weeds and try to cast beyond where you think they may be. I take one pass so I can cast just into the lilly pads and get the fish on the edge then run the edges of the pads and cast further in. Be ready to horse them out quick. This pattern just seems to get better as the summer gets warmer for me.

[katoguy]

Congrats to Flip on yet another win. Darn near 20# on 5.

Dominating for the 4th year in a row??? You will be hard to catch with your early 40 points. We are at 30 with the 6th place finish.

[Flipnripem]

Thanks Kato, the next two are tough on me and catching up isn`t going to be that tough. The reason I have the jeebies about spinning tackle in PADS, is a past tourny we drew bad and were beat to a small patch of pads. They were loaded with quality fish. We fished deep and waited to get in. I watched a good fisherman, later found he was using a SUPER LINE on a fairly stiff spinning rod, and watched him drop fish after fish. He did not have the power to get the fish out of the cover and to the boat. I`m not saying it can`t be done Put the odds in your favor. A decent bait casting outfit can be had for under 75$. Flip

[katoguy]

I throw both spinning and baitcasting in the slop. It depends on the weight of the lure. Small Scum Frogs I can chuck a lot further with spinning tackle and Spiderwire. I get those professional over-runs with my baitcaster. When I fish bigger baits I do use the baitcaster.

[Mark Christianson]

Put some small chunks of plastic worm in the scum frog for weight, and you can chuck em with the bait caster much more effectively.

I prefer to use baitcasters in thick weeds, just because I can reef on the fish better with that rod/reel set up.

BUT, my spinning gear gets used plenty as well. I'd say I am 50/50 on baitcasters and spinning gear in the thick weeds/slop.

[Ole the Guide]

Hey Tom Wilson,

Do you put a flouro leader on your 10# power pro or just put the hook on directly. I too, fish w/ spinning gear in the slop w/ plastics, etc.. I've been using a 2' Seagaur flouro leader on my power pro with good results. Just wondering if others are doing the same or tying on directly to their power pro?

Ole

[EBass]

I tie a leader to. Sometimes mono and sometimes flouro. I do tie direct to the topwater froggy.

[Aj10]

I was fishin the pads at bush yesterday walkin the shore line with senkos and got some nice fish doing that.Im still alittle rusty though cause that was my first time bass fishing this year so i had some trouble feeling the hits but we still got some nice ones.

[Tom Wilson]

Ole,

I have tried using the leader, but I have a very powerful hookset. My experience has been that I would snap the leader, or if the fish was on the larger size, the leverage that they can produce would break the leader as well when fishing the pads and foil. I have been throwing everything with the power pro tied directly to my hook or jig. I have found that even in clear water situations that I don't see enough of a difference to justify the leader. Flourocarbon is some fine line for finicky fish, but a bass that is gonna eat is gonna eat. You might have to finesse them to some degree, but if that fish is in a state that it would not bite the power pro line, it probably isn;t gonna bite any line. I bought into the whole thing a couple of years ago with the whole they can see it deal... but I just don't find it to be true. I think when the line being seen does become an issue is when you're talking about the 50 -80 lb line sizes. It really looks like rope compared to flourocarbon, however the ten and even the 15lb power pro is no larger than 6 lb test mono. I was talking with someone at Gander the other day when he asked me about the power pro I was buying, and he was so adament about letting me know that there was no way he'd use that stuff because the fish could see it and wouldn't bite. He then told me what he was throwing and he preceded to buy Trilene XT 20lb line in the dark green color. I decided it was better to just let him go than to try to explain that to him. My suggestion to you and others who I'm sure have this same question is to try it for yourself. There is just no replacement for confidence in something when you're on the water. The next time you're out and they're pounding it, replace your leader with a direct tie and you should see no difference. Also when you are struggling but you know there are fish there, do the same. You'll have to make that decision yourself and build that confidence, but I really think it makes no difference on the smaller diameter braids. I did quite a bit of sight fishing this spring on some of the clearer lakes here around the metro, and I fished this setup on bedding bass, and it worked flawlessly. I truly saw no difference in the way the fish perceive the lure and line even in tough bedding fish situations. The greatest benefit of this is simply the way this whole thread got started--I have absolute confidence that even in short line situations, that I can cross her eyes with a hard hookset and get them straight up out of the foil or pull them up and out of emergent cover with no fear of breaking the line. The other benefit that I have found with no leader is that my retieng has gone from 15-20 times a day with mono down to just 2-3 with the braid. I check it alot, but if there is no fray I don't worry. Try it for yourself man, and let me know how it works for you.

[HawgTide]

I agree with you Tom. I really don't think fish will see or care about the line in most cases. I use 30lb PowerPro on most of my rods and 50lb on my flippin rod. I do have a few rods with Vanish Transition (12lb, 14lb and 20lb). (I have a hard time seeing new PowerPro when I'm fishing senko's.)

[Gus]

I fish 20lb power pro and only tie on a flouro leader when fishing clear open water. In the slop the green line is just another weed to the fish if they even see it at all. At least thats my philosophy on green tinted line.

[Ole the Guide]

Thanks for the replies on this subject. I've been using 12# Seaguar flourocarb for my leader but after hearing what you guys have to say I'm going to tie it on directly and see how it works. I usually use 15 or 20lb. PP. It make sense that it would appear to be just another weed down there and Tom you're right, if they want to eat they're going to eat! Good fishing!

Ole