Anyone have experience fishing these mini suction cups.  I much prefer lilly pads as they offer some space.  How do you all fish these?

 

My best luck has been crawling lures on top (i can drag at 3/8 oz swimjig + trailer on them they are so thick).  You can't pull anything through the stuff.  Bass seem to be able to get through the stuff pretty well though.

I fish Sleepy Creek Lake in WV from a kayak. That lake gets pretty well covered by water shield the farther along in the summer you get. Up there, the shield grows in great 'mats' parallel to shore, leaving about a 5-10 foot gap between shore and the edge of the watershield. I hit that gap hard with spinnerbaits and with sluggos and do OK.  Working the inner and outer edges with a sluggo, senko or dropshot worm is good too.  Sometimes a frog across the top of the shields will produce strikes, but it is tough to hook up.  My favorite thing about the water shield is that if I can find a good target near the shore, I can 'park' my kayak in the middle of the water shield which clings to my boat and prevents drifting - that way I can cast to any target multiple times. 

I was actually referencing Sleepy Creek!

 

I actually catch most of my bass on the outside edge.  Right now, on the inside edge, the milfoil is dead/dying and drops the oxygen levels in the water.  I've coasted through the inside edge and there is very little life...a small bluegill darting through here and there. 

 

I've been really surprised by the explosion of vegetation in that lake the last few years.  There have always been lillypads, but as far as I'm aware, watershield and milfoil never ringed the entire lake.  I wouldn't complain if it didn't make fishing excellent lay downs and stump fields almost impossible.

Ha, that's a coincidence!  Depending on who you ask, watershield is a sign of a healthy lake or is a sign of a mis-managed lake.  I dunno. I do know that it is pretty and makes for some good froggin' at times.