I'm fishing a new pond today, (very small) and the whole shoreline is covered in weeds, trees, etc. (a lot of vertical weed cover in the water by the shorelines in some places) How should I fish this type of cover? Would a texas rig be a good choice? Also, should I flip and pitch, or cast?  

Texas rig is an excellent choice .  Flip , pitch and cast .Do whatever it takes to get the lure where you desire .

3 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Texas rig is an excellent choice .  Flip , pitch and cast .Do whatever it takes to get the lure where you desire .

Ok, thanks. Would a vile craw be a good choice, or would something else be better?

1 minute ago, EGbassing said:

Ok, thanks. Would a vile craw be a good choice, or would something else be better?

I think any soft plastic would be a good choice . If it doesnt work try another .  If there are  a lot of weeds I would  try   some  weightless varieties . A Yum Swurm or stick worm are smart options .

I've never used one, but it looks like it should do just fine.

 

Depending on the weed characteristics, you may have some options....or you could be forced into some limitations.  When approaching heavily weeded areas, I generally do one or more of the following (assuming little/no slimy mossy stuff):

-Texas rig or jig (or punch to fish the bottom) - you may be limited to just vertically punching through - but if you can work lure horizontally back to you, that's often better.

-Stay on top - frogs, toads, weightless worms, etc.  If you have a bit of space between top of weeds and surface, you can also pull spinnerbait/chatterbait or even lipless crankbait just off the tops.

-Come across the top, but drop into apparent holes, spaces, gaps, etc.  Great for lily pads and even thick, but patchy hydrilla and other grasses -- let bait fall into gaps and holes (caught one yesterday by teasing a weightless worm across the top of weeds until a gap caused where there was a log laying - worm dropped in the gap onto the log and got slammed.)

Come across the top, but drop into apparent holes, spaces, gaps, etc.  Great for lily pads and even thick, but patchy hydrilla and other grasses -- let bait fall into gaps and holes (caught one yesterday by teasing a weightless worm across the top of weeds until a cap caused where there was a log laying - worm dropped in the gap onto the log and got slammed.)

 

A place I fish regularly is filled with thick weeds.  This is what I do a majority of the time with good success.  I generally use a weightless T-rig when doing it.....either a Senko or a Rage Bug.  

I fish weeds and lily pads a lot from shore on a pond on my place.  I use an owner beast twistlock weighted hook and put a brush hog or lizard on and drag over the top until I get to a hole to drop into.....then BAM!  I get a lot of good hits that way.  

Great place for a weightless Senko. We've caught some of our biggest bass that way in 2 ft. of water or less.

I would use a weightless senko on a 4/0 or 3/0 ewg worm hook. A fluke twitched over the top would also work well.

If you decide to T-Rig, be sure to peg the weight. A free weight will catch the weeds between it and the bait.

For pond fishing, or any fishing from shore as long as shoreline cover allows. I recommend casting as you can cover more water vs.pitching. Parallel casting is an excellent way to cover areas close to shore.

Treat the edge of the weed line like the bank. Look for points, and pockets in the vegetation. Try and get your bait as close to the weeds as possible. When you’re bringing the bait back in keep it close to the weeds. 

On 4/2/2018 at 10:09 AM, EGbassing said:

I'm fishing a new pond today, (very small) and the whole shoreline is covered in weeds, trees, etc. (a lot of vertical weed cover in the water by the shorelines in some places) How should I fish this type of cover? Would a texas rig be a good choice? Also, should I flip and pitch, or cast?  

This screams out frog to me.  Also, would be doing a Johnson's Silver Minnow all day.