Ok so... this one is going to sound crazy... but I need your help...

 

Yesterday I caught my PB largemouth (5.25 lbs, 20" - she was FAT) at a lake that has a max depth of about 9 feet. It is COVERED in cheese (algae / muck) and loads of pads, with some really good sunken stumps and timber. There are also pike and muskie stocked here. I'd like to try row boat trolling along the outer edges of the acres and acres of pad fields and across the open water. A local on the shore told me all of his fish came off the outer edges of those pads, where the stalks from last year poked above water. Problem is, I have no idea what options are available for "weedless trolling."

 

I'll be rowing, so I won't exactly be flying... but what baits come to mind as you imagine this situation? I was considering a floating toad, but it would be nice to find something that would stay just a foot or so below the surface and work in that open water and also along the pads, but I'm not sure about all of this. Would love to get it figured out before I take my boys out here though - because that is happening. Thanks! 

 

 

This isn't silly at all. The kayak guys here do the same (and many examples on Youtube! ) And I have done similar...for pike specifically.

 

Topwater is especially good for this because the row-pause-row cadence is precisely how you fish most topwater.

 

The loudest, most disruptive topwaters seem to work best. Jitterbugs, Ploppers, Jackall Pompadour, Raid Dodge , rat lures, etc There really is no wrong answer here. The Booyah Toadrunner works very well if you find your steering/wind/current puts the bait into the weeds; it's a weedless frog/Plopper hybrid. It works very well indeed! 

 

Next, soft plastics Texas rigged. Again, no wrong answer here. The Z-man stuff floats and you can use a weighted hook to get it a bit sub-surface. This takes trial and error, however.

 

I'll defer making any shallow subsurface hard bait recommendations here as I'm not expert enough in this area, though I have used a Rebel Crickhopper to great effect. 

 

I can't stress enough though...no wrong answers here! Throw whatever you have that you *think* might work. As you know, fish crashing out of the pads are rarely picky...pike especially! 

 

 

weighted hook and a fluke/dshad or similar.  It will hang up on grasses and then pop free.  

Perfect - thanks @RRocket. I hear Canuckistan has lovely weather this time of year. 

 

Your suggestions, and yours as well @casts_by_fly are very much appreciated! Now I need to play with elaztech and bullet weights to get the "perfect" sink rate that I can row and keep a few feet subsurface. Let the experimentation begin. Have a great weekend! 

59 minutes ago, AJ Hauser said:

Perfect - thanks @RRocket. I hear Canuckistan has lovely weather this time of year. 

 

 @casts_by_fly

Definitely! 

58 minutes ago, RRocket said:

Definitely! 

 

Nice!

Have any of you tried rowing a boat with oar locks in weeds? It’s very difficult!

Paddling a boat is easy rowing isn’t.

Suggest rowing in clean water up to the weed edges and cast your lures, moving the boat to work the edges and pockets.

Tom

2 hours ago, AJ Hauser said:

Perfect - thanks @RRocket. I hear Canuckistan has lovely weather this time of year. 

 

Your suggestions, and yours as well @casts_by_fly are very much appreciated! Now I need to play with elaztech and bullet weights to get the "perfect" sink rate that I can row and keep a few feet subsurface. Let the experimentation begin. Have a great weekend! 

for a standard size fluke I’d go with a 1/8th ounce weighted hook.  Should be pretty close 

17 minutes ago, WRB said:

Gave any of you tried rowing a boat with oar locks in weeds? It’s very difficult!

Paddling a boat is easy rowing isn’t.

Suggest rowing in clean water up to the weed edges and cast your lures, moving the boat to work the edges and pockets.

Tom

 

Noted - thanks!