So the main lake that I fish is completely overrun with milfoil this time of year.  It's bass fishing paradise as far as western wisconsin goes.  My question to everybody is what bait do you use OTHER than frogs?  I've had great success with frogs but I want to see how far I can push the envelope.  It seems like in certain conditions that the fish are there but they just want something different than a frog.  I understand the benefits of pitchin/flippin/punchin, but its a paddle only lake and trying it from a canoe seems to be inefficient and slightly dangerous.  I plan on experimenting with t-rigged 10 inch berkley power worms without a weight and just slithering it about through the jungle after work this week.  I know there is no such thing as a magic bait, so I'm just trying to fish outside the box a bit. Any suggestions would be very appreciated...

Rage Craw or Havoc Pitboss retrieved over and through the weeds will catch fish. A fluke can work really well also. 

Can't get a bigger boat?  It has been over 20 years now that I think of it but I used to know a couple of guys from Wisconsin ( I was living in Columbia MO at the time) and they both had pretty cool boats.  They were 15' plastic/fiberglass ( not sure which) semi-v hulls, roughly 40" or so wide and they were called row-trollers.  I think that they were made in Hayward, Wisconsin.  Absolutely the best row boat I've ever fished from, bar none.  They rowed like a dream, you could stand up any time you felt like it and not feel tippy.  They fished 2 guys very well, with plenty of room left for gear.

 

Just saying, that might be a presentation option that is better than a canoe.   Those boats weren't cheap, but they weren't totally pricey either.  I think that they had $800 to $900 (in mid-80's dollars) invested in those boats.

A weightless fluke, or weightless senko type bait.  If there is some space between the top of the weeds and the water surface, you might try burning a spinnerbait, or a lipless bait, across the top of the weeds.  A crank that runs shallow like a Mann's 1 minus might work also.

Spinnerbaits, jigs, anything that won't get caught up easily in the milfoil. Buzzbaits, shallow cranks, noise maker or water displacing lures above. Everything outside the patch whenever it clears

I have the answer for you==== JIKA rig!!!!! The Jika rig is perfect for what you want to do! It is great for any kind of weeds and it comes through the weeds better than any rig I have ever fished. Most of the hits will be on the fall so watch your line.The bait has much more movement. Give it a try!