Ok, Ive tried everything Ive heard of so far...... PLEASE, just lay your best tips on me.... Im fishing a nasty, muddy, shallow lake thats got more lilly pads than you can toss a lure at in an evening fishing trip. Its a small lake, 99 acres, 10 feet deep, mud bottomed, moderate pressure from lots of anglers who have no idea what theyre doing, and theres lilly pads lining everyinch of undeveloped shore.... help me pull a bass out of these weeds! PLEASE! hit me with your best shot. So far Ive tried the following extensivley to no avail:

-Bigfoot Frogs

-Zoom Horny Toads

-Swimbaits, Grubs, Buzzbaits, Wake bait style Cranks, & Lipless Cranks all along the edges

-Topwater Poppers along the edges

let me have it........ oh and to compicate things, I have limited evening fishing hours, and once and a while I get lucky and manage to rent a boat with a trolling motor on it. Which ALWAYS has to be in within an hour or two of me renting it.   I need a fast paced, highly effective, reaticon causing trick to get these stupid Ohio bass to bite!

light weight, smaller (around 4") petite soft plastic worms and craws.

Now get with it!

Big O

www.ragetail.com

Is this lake always muddy, or is this due to a recent event?

SPINNERBAITS!!!

SPINNERBAITS!!!

My thought exactly!!! Try WHITE spinnerbaits! Trust me on this one!

I need a fast paced, highly effective, reaticon causing trick to get these stupid Ohio bass to bite!

No such thing, just keep chunking-n-reeling & trying different locations  

Spinnerbaits X3 in white or black

Got to go with spinnerbait as well.  Maybe white/chartruse.  Also try swimming a swim senko through there and hold on!

white,chartruese and/or junebug colored senkos 4-5 inches. Throw these on a wacky rig and work them pretty fast(as fast as they can without coming out of the water) along edges.

my favorite lake is just like that, except it isnt as muddy as yours.

what i do is i go there, and i wacky rig a 4" senko style lure (i use *** trick sticks) and i will flip it into every pocket i can fit it into. this usually yields a good limit for a night.

colors i like to use are (these are all *** colors): shimmer shad, smoke red pepper, smoke blue pepper, junebug, juneug. the thing about these colors is that they are all dark (for contrast in muddy water) and they all have glitter (for attraction in muddy water).

give those a shot and let us know how you do!

ps. use 50lb braid, because those bass will tangle you in lilies like nobodies business... :-[

I like the 3/8 ounce black & blue pro model jig with a zoom black & blue trailer and flip it. Or try flipping a spinner bait / white with gold blades. It works for me!

ok, so I know you guys all said spinnerbaits, but Ill admit that it isnt my goto confidence lure like most people, but Im going to give it a shot..... about the muddiness, its ALWAYS nasty.... lol makes for great summer feeding conditions tho..... so heres another ?

How do I work the senkos? just rig them whacky and weightless and let them drop? or what?! Ive tried to pitch them up onto lilly pads, twitch them a bit then let them fall in and drop. But the problem is the pads up here rise about four or five inches outta the water, and then "tilt" to one side or the other, so getting a bait to stay on the pad is borderline impossible.

Im going to try the spinnerbait tho...... Colorado blades right?! more displacement and "thud" than willows........  

and on the note of braid, Im not going anywhere near those pads without 25lbs spiderwire or 15lbs fireline tied on.... is that ok?

-plus im only using 12lbs mono when im working baits outside the edges of the pads... should I switch to fireline there too?

Spinnerbaits with a colorado or indiana blade to move more water.

Jigs with a rattle

Larger worms with a rattle.

Slow down and soak the jigs and worms.

Fish tight to cover.

Look for the clearest water available.

If you try this on your pond, I guarantee you'll catch some fish, although I can't promise any size to them:

Yamamoto mini craw (I think it's like 3 inches long), pumpkinseed, 2/0 or 3/0 EWG hook, t-rigged. Cast it onto the edge of the pad field (outside, deeper edge if possible), pull it off the pads and let it sink. If nothing hits it on the fall, reel in and repeat. Do this on any of the different contours of the pad bed if possible (points, coves, openings, holes, etc.). Good luck!

Have you tried using a 4" watermelon colored senko.  Just let it fall between the lilypads without a weight.