13 hours ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

That pic gives you an idea of how tall they are.  But there are spots where they’re are so dense.

 

Woukd punching work? 

1/2oz or heavier tungsten and a strong sharp flipping hook, I would be punching pit bosses or normal sized d bombs in the pads that are really clumped up, make sure you have a heavy rod and some braid to get them out of there, because those pads will break anything else off. Also a weightless fluke/senko in the open holes. 

26 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I was thinking of this thread as I worked through this stuff. I pitched it with a beaver and threw a keel weighted d-shad around the edges and through the thinner pads. All of the suggestions above will fish through it, just have to find what they want. the pictures don’t do it justice. The pads were 12” off the water and higher than the side of the boat. The big field is also a quarter mile square (not shown in picture).
 

 

THANK YOU. That def looks familiar.  
 

what is a keel weighted D-shad 

27 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

I was thinking of this thread as I worked through this stuff. I pitched it with a beaver and threw a keel weighted d-shad around the edges and through the thinner pads. All of the suggestions above will fish through it, just have to find what they want. the pictures don’t do it justice. The pads were 12” off the water and higher than the side of the boat. The big field is also a quarter mile square (not shown in picture).
 

 

Is the first pic swartswood lake NJ? I recognized the pads hahaha 

15 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Is the first pic swartswood lake NJ? I recognized the pads hahaha 

cranberry.  I was going to fish the musky tonight but a guy was coming off when I got there and said they had just sprayed the weeds and they were dying off.  Looking around you could see the dead strands and when this happened last year it really put the bass off for a month. So I bounced to cranberry which I swore off at the end of last year and proved myself right. 

23 hours ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

THANK YOU. That def looks familiar.  
 

what is a keel weighted D-shad 

D-Shad is a Yamamoto fluke style bait. Keel weight is this hook:

That looks like literally every body of water here in FL! What I have found to work best for the bigger fish is pitching compact baits right at the base of the stems.

For a faster approach and more active fish I throw a 1/2oz spinnerbait and try to tick as many pad stems as possible. Try to find the open "lanes" to use as paths for the bait. That  has produced the most strikes and the most aggressive strikes as well. Good luck, it's very doable. 

24 minutes ago, DINK WHISPERER said:

That looks like literally every body of water here in FL! What I have found to work best for the bigger fish is pitching compact baits right at the base of the stems.

For a faster approach and more active fish I throw a 1/2oz spinnerbait and try to tick as many pad stems as possible. Try to find the open "lanes" to use as paths for the bait. That  has produced the most strikes and the most aggressive strikes as well. Good luck, it's very doable. 

i saw a guy in a bait throwing a spinner bait right into them.  I don’t understand how that big single exposed hook doesn’t get hung up constantly??

Just now, Jeffrey Walker said:

i saw a guy in a bait throwing a spinner bait right into them.  I don’t understand how that big single exposed hook doesn’t get hung up constantly??

Believe it or not, the spinning blades help 'clear a path', plus the hook-point is in line with the wire...kinda acts like a weed-guard on a jig.

29 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Believe it or not, the spinning blades help 'clear a path', plus the hook-point is in line with the wire...kinda acts like a weed-guard on a jig.

This right here^^^

The hook point "hides" behind the wire that holds the blades. I run a spinnerbait through almost anything. 

On 6/20/2023 at 7:53 PM, dave said:

Spatterdock

Bingo

On 6/20/2023 at 10:36 AM, Jar11591 said:

This looks like water chestnut rather than Lily pads.

Here water chestnut has much smaller leaves of about 3" that lay flat on the water, tightly side by side, and roots together into a floating matrix of what feels like cables. Try to wade through it, or rather trudge through it, and you'll end up dragging it with you. I don't think a fish could bust through it to get a frog once the mat is fully developed. Very tough, and the triangular leaves are spikey. The DEC removes it manually here, thank God. It's unfishable in a few feet of water depth.

Weightless Texas Rig, 5"senko on a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG or a Spro popping frog. 20# braid with the Senko and 50# with the frog. 

On 6/22/2023 at 8:14 PM, MN Fisher said:

Believe it or not, the spinning blades help 'clear a path', plus the hook-point is in line with the wire...kinda acts like a weed-guard on a jig.

Yep, I do it all the time.  I love spinnerbaits.

when the water drops a lot the pads are up above the water, when the water comes back up they will be flat level with the water. Like other have said spinner bait, it is so overlooked down here in Florida in the summer in that situation. When the pads get like that they let in a lot more light but still offer cover, and the bluegill beds are all over the place. Twice this week I fished behind guys throwing frogs and caught fish on a Nichols Pulsator with a sunny gill trailer. You can just steer them through the gaps and drop them in lanes.  I also love a swim jig with a ezy swimmer in the same situation.

pick it apart with a texas rig,  could use a wacky rig around the outside edges,  weight less senko over the top, frog, or my persons favorite get a 1-1 1/2 oz jig and punch through it.  

 

 

this has been a rediscovery summer for my self so far.  meaning i’ve had a lot of success on the more affordable brands and lures IE yum, zoom, norman, booyah etc etch.  so far all of the expensive designer lures have fallen kind of flat.  

 

 

i may need to add a silver minnow spoon.  it would fit in with the above paragraph. 

On 6/20/2023 at 7:53 PM, dave said:

Spadderdock...

This^^^^^^^

From the pics I would,

-Frog across the top of the pads stopping in holes.

-Keitech 3.8 run on the edges

-Wacky senko weightless on the edges

-Weightless fluke pitched into open areas in the pads.

Well, we need some information first.

Even though you see "lilly pads" there are different types of pads.

Some pads have thick stalks from the leafs on the surface to the bottom that are not good for the bass to swim around.

 

Then there are the pads that have one thin stem from top to bottom that are the best to fish as the bass have room to move around and hunt crawfish and bream, etc.

 

Always start fishing the pad fields from the outside and move inside, using the holes between the leaves to flip and pitch your plastics or drop shot/Texas rigs.

 

Look up on Google the various pads, or send a message to your favorite pro, and ask them about the lilly pads and how to identify them.

 

One more secret: take your paddle and go into the pads and use the paddle to make a large hole in the pads. Come back to the hole(s) about an hour or two later, or the next day, and fish it. Let us know what happens.

The johnson minnow works great!  thanks for the advice

windering if a big bubba shot would work??  power shot is another name for it, likes a super big drop shot weight and worm

You tried a spinnerbait yet? Saw other people mention them. A spinnerbait is my favorite lure and pads is probably my favorite type of cover to fish them in. 
 

frog, spinnerbait, light texas rig, and a light punching rig/heavyish texas rig - something like what @TriStateBassin106 mentioned is about all I use in pads. If I was smart I’d learn the Johnson minnow

 

Edit: wait. I forgot a very important one. Swim jig too

Have any of you tipped the Johnson Silver Minnow spoon with a live minnow? (or a gulp minnow just for the scent) this technique works good in my lakes for pike, think it would be good for bass too.

3 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You tried a spinnerbait yet? Saw other people mention them. A spinnerbait is my favorite lure and pads is probably my favorite type of cover to fish them in. 
 

frog, spinnerbait, light texas rig, and a light punching rig/heavyish texas rig - something like what @TriStateBassin106 mentioned is about all I use in pads. If I was smart I’d learn the Johnson minnow

 

Edit: wait. I forgot a very important one. Swim jig too

OMG YES!!! it’s amazing, moving fwd one of my favorite wally’s to fish, it’s semi too water as it climbs over the pads and really able to slow it down in open areas.  THANK YOU.  

 

I have noticed that some brands and models work better than others.  Which ones do y’all use?

15 minutes ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

I have noticed that some brands and models work better than others.  Which ones do y’all use?

Oh my lord. too many. 

 

Sometimes I make my own but I go between zorro's, booyah coverts, stanley, megabass, trophy bass co's, nichols, and a little strike king and war eagle. I own a ridiculous amount of spinnerbaits. I also modify most of them out of the package

which ones are best for cutting through the spadderdock? (apparently that’s what the weeds are called).  not actually lilly pads

My lake has vast fields of lilly pads that extend out to 12-14ft of water...  Really it depends on the day.....  Some days paralleling them with moving baits work... some days... dropping a wacky along the point edges work..... sometimes flipping the holes work....some times frogging the top of them work....   

On 6/20/2023 at 11:46 AM, Jeffrey Walker said:

Here is another pic.  There are some areas where it looks like a field.  And i’m not sure they are lillie’s either, lillie’s usually lie flat on the water, these protrude.  
 

Light texas rig has worked so far but looking for other ideas?

 

Johnson minnow will work?

I can hook them in this but the bass wraps around the stake and by time I get to them they have pull the hook loose on the stalk.  Any suggestions?