One particular lake I fish this time of year is loaded with these really stringy spaghetti-type weeds in some areas.  Its so bad its pretty much unfishable.  They grow right up to the surface.  My weedless wedge bow mount prop is constantly getting fouled with it too.  On top of that, I can't hardly get a lure through it.  A hollow body topwater frog works, but they won't bite it.  I tried a texas rigged plastic but I had to work it painstakingly slow and even that only yielded a couple bites.  I know there are fish in there.  So far my strategy has been to work the outside edge of it, with minimal success.  Usually it starts to die off come August.  How would you go about fishing this "pasta bowl?"

welcome to my world.  We usually get it starting in early- to mid-may depending on temps.  Then when some of the lakes get sprayed with weed killer the milfoil breaks down into 6' long strings made from just the stalks which are a challenge in their own right.  A previous thread of mine turned up all of the usual options.  I've fished a few of them to some success.  The gambler flat tail worm is on my to try list next time, I just didn't have the right hooks last time (it needs a little bigger gap EWG).  A toad is a good way to cover water if the fish are active and a bit different to a hollow body frog.  Pitching and punching down through it is an option if you know an area where the fish are holding.  My path at the moment is to fish moving baits to cover the water until I find a fish or two and then slow down with plastics for a bit.  If nothing, keep moving.

 

 

I will try the toad and the flat tail worm next time.  I think I'm going to stay on the edge of it and try casting right into it.  My prop can't go through it.  My hope is that true to pattern, it will eventually die off in the next couple weeks and that area will be more fishable until the end of the season.

Stringy weeds= weightless trick worm weedless 

@gimruis do you have a ninja blade on the motor?  It helps with most all aquatic vegetation.  With the 1-2mm stringy stuff it doesn't get all of it but it does still cut through a lot.

1 minute ago, casts_by_fly said:

do you have a ninja blade on the motor?

Its a weedless wedge prop, like this one.

 

https://minnkota.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/accessories/trolling-motor/prop-weedless-wedge-2-mkp-32

I hate fishing the stringy grass stuff. Like naiad or stonewort. It'll jam the TM props instantly. Frogging is the only thing I've found to be effective. Ya need a heavy weight to punch it, but even then the stuff is so stringy it just envelopes the bait completely on the way down. Its so shallow rooted (or not at all) that you cant work a bait through it without pulling a huge clump in. So if I have to fish it I stay on top with a frog. But fish seem to prefer milfoil or hydrilla or pondweed is what I tell myself.

9 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

It'll jam the TM props instantly.

It wraps around the back of the prop attachment like rope.  I try to increase power and sometimes its already wrapped so bad that the whole bow mount just vibrates with a loud hum.  Then I lift it out and clear it manually.  My friend who was with me last time in that stuff called it the "pasta bowl."

I have the equivalent prop for my autopilot and it works wonders in weeds on its own.  However, adding a ninja blade is a whole nother level.

 

https://www.precisionsonar.com/products/accessories/ninja-grass-blade

 

Since my motor has to come up through a hole in the bottom of the boat, weeds can block being able to pull the motor up through the hole (which is how you have to clean off weeds).  real pain when they accumulate on the nose cone of the motor in particular.  However, the ninja blade helps ensure that anything that makes it back to the prop gets cut off so you always have the prop spinning.  For me, I can then turn the motor 180 degrees and move the opposite direction to get out of the slop.  Then shut off the motor and spin it 180 degrees to let the boat back out of the slop that was on the nosecone.  Lots of pain, but the ninja blade keeps the prop itself clear.  On a regular TM you can pull up the motor to clear weeds, but if you're right back down into the slop you're going to grab more.  I wish I coudl upload the video of what I routinely go through.  Matted milfoil with occasional pads and pondweed underneath.  Just don't let the prop stop/slow down and it plows right through.  I went through a lily pad bed the other week that was 50 yards long and solid across the top.

1/8oz bullet weight and gambler burner worm, size is your choice. Swim it as a topwater or just underneath surface, if that is possible. Pop to shake free of any grass on retrieve but otherwise, reel it in nice and steady