i realize that this is a often posted about situation and since so much has been said i hesitated to post this.  that said, here goes...

anyways i was wondering what the favorite techniques are for very weedy ponds.  im not talking about the weed beds so much as ponds that are weedy from shorline to shore line.  some place it may go all the way to the surface and others may only grow a foot or so above the bottom but there is not an exposed piece of bottom anywhere in the pond.

the techniques that work best for me are by  far the fat ikas, senkos, and frogs (usually ribbits but sometimes bronzeyes).  these far outproduce any other techniques although other weightless soft plastics do well too (flukes, trick worms and others).  buzzbaits produce a few fish in the weed edges (really where the deep weeds  meet the shallow weeds).

swim jigs and other jigs are good for a few fish but difficult for me to fish without a solid bottom.  i still manage a few fish with them although i have in large part abandoned them (which i hate because for some reason i love to fish jigs and i have been fishing in these ponds more often than anywhere else lately).  do any of you guys fish jigs in these conditions and if so how do you go about it?

T-rigs are good for a few fish although i find that they are not nearly as productive as the same baits fished weightless.  

these ponds are different than most weed mats and such that i have fished on larger bodies of water.  on those i often find myself fishing baits with heavy weghts either on the weed edges or in holes or even punching through the mats, where there are hollow areas underneath.  in these ponds any weight seems to be a hinderance, especially if you start using the heavier weights that i am accustomed to using when fishing weeds and stuff.

anyways, what other techniques are you guys using in these sort of situations,

matt

I fish a few similar ponds and have had a lot of luck with a jointed rapala fished slow just under the surface where the deeper weeds and surface weeds meet.  Also works good in the morning and evening when twitched on top.  Other than that i usually use weightless plastics.

I think you are on the right track. There are a couple of sinker tricks to change up behavior of a weighted worm. Leaving a bullet sinker about 1/8" away from the nose helps it sink straight down. Snugging the sinker against the nose lets it glide more, fine for more open water. I've use tungsten sinkers there, smaller profile. Punch through the mat wherever you think extra water is underneath, let it fall watching the line. After it hits bottom, yo-yo it in place a few times then cast again somewhere else. Somehow keep an accurace account of exactly where the bites come from. All small ponds have at least one sweet spot that will consistently give up a bass.

Jim

I fish ponds like that. Basically, any lure can be effective if it's fishable. When the weeds are on top, it's soft plastics or weedless topwaters. When they're submersed, other topwaters, shallow-running crankbaits, inline spinners and spinnerbaits, soft plastics, Chatterbaits and perhaps others.

alright first thing you need is like a MH power rod and with like 15lbs test or braid ok once you have that then, I know you dont like to but get you a t-rig tube with a 1/2 oz weigh I fish a pond just like your fishing. and what you do is let it sink to the bottem then you are going to hop it off the bottem but give your rod a pretty hard jerk each time you want to hop it off the bottem so it will jerk right through the weeds and you want to fish it sort of fast but every once and a while let it sit for a second or two. And trust me it works good

this is a vido I made and just look in to the water and all you see it weeds and more weeds.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1154658465

I would try a pop-r or a texas rig because it doesnt collect weeds.

yeah ive got the right gear and what not.  i almost always use heavy braid in this scenario.  im not having trouble catching fish at all actually.  ive been absolutely whackin em in these ponds regularly.  im just curious about getting outside the box of weightless soft plastics.  anyhow it dosent sound like i need too.  these ponds are definetly too weedy for anything with trebles.  even in the non surface weedy places there is much too much straggler surface weeds to fish them.  and i have tried the exact rig that was suggested with a heavy t-rig tube and others and just didnt have as much success with it as with the weightles plastics.  

jim is once again on point i believe.

thx for responces,

matt

One more suggestion. Use a Zoom Ulta Vibe Speed worm weightless. Reel it in fairly fast just fast enough to make it gurgle on the top like a Horny Toad. I think you will find this to be a better option then a Horny Toad. Hardly lose fish on this rig and believe me when I say this hardly any weeds interfere with this. It is slim and slender and comes through even the thickest of grass.

if you have a pond/lake with thousands a dense lilypads and thick heavy surface grass and a very shallow bottom with a whole lot of leaves twigs trash mud then thats exactly what i fish.  if your bottom is as dirty as mine then you cant use bottom lures because every time theyll get covered in crap.  its good to use topwater lures because you can fish the few open spots there are and theyre good in the summer.  or set up a texas rigged worm with a heavy sliding weight (3/8+) to get to the bottom.  but i recently got onto spinnerbaits and theyve been working for me when you yank out of cover they get alot of strikes.