Fishin The Pads

[Coosa]

So I got permission to fish this lake near my house. I know there is some really nice fish In there but there is a lot of really thick Lilly pads with white flowers on them. There are a few places that are not as thick as others. I tried throwing a few different types of topwater frogs and had lots of good strikes but no hook ups. They just keep missing the lure completely.

So what would you guys try.

[moguy1973]

I'd throw a texas rigged senko, craw, or creature bait in them and see what happens.

[MOsmallies]

moguy1973 gave some good ideas. Definitely throw them on braid, as braid will help you haul them out of the pads and will actually slice through the pad stems as opposed to mono or fluorocarbon that will just wrap around the stems. Don't give up on the frog. On hollw body frogs, try bending the hooks up just a little bit. This may help your hook up percentage.

[hoglaw]

Everyone is really into the hollow body frogs. I like them, but I've always caught a lot more fish on the swimming style ones like zoom horny toads and the Ribbit frogs. They have a very good hookup ratio for me anyway. They're awesome in lilly pads.

One tip for the hollow body frogs is to use a stout pair of pliars and bend the hookpoints out away from the body just slightly. With that little bit of clearance, you'll get more hook-ups. Also, be sure to let the fish take the frog. It's hard to keep from ripping him as soon as he blows up on it, but you need to let him turn down with it, then hit as hard as you possibly can.

The baits moguy suggested are all awesome. So between those and your frog, you have the top and bottom covered. But you need something in the middle as well. A non-weighted senko, a trick worm, fluke, or a whacky rig/flick shake worm can be very good in that situation. The pads are thick on top, but they're wide open just underneath them. Fish can be right underneath them sometimes, and have a hard time resisting something fluttering right in their face.

[hoglaw]

What MOsmallies said...

[Coosa]

Well sounds like I'm on the right track. I've been throwing the KVD sexy frog and the ribbet frogs. Really like like the ribbits. Also been using yum money frogs. I like the Idea of bending the hooks up just a tad. I don't think im setting the hook to early. I get a lot if blow Ups where I just do nothing and they come back and hit it 2-3 times. They are just missing their target. Got the braid thing coverd and using a stiff rod. Tried a senko just a little bit but trying to get under the pads is tough as they are super thick in some spots. Fishing from a kayak. It a 155 acre lake with pads about 150 ft wide most thd way around and also some big patches in the middle so there is a lot of water to cover. So I guess ill just keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best

[Jerry Rapp]

white fluke, weightless

[Al Agnew]

Can't figure out why they would be consistently missing the frogs. All I can say is, when using the solid soft plastic frogs like the Ribbits, make sure your hook is big enough that all that plastic doesn't fill up the gap. And when they hit it, give them about a second or so before setting the hook...as my old fly fishing buddy says about setting the hook using dry flies, say "God save the queen" before setting.

Love Jerry's advice on the weightless white fluke...one of my favorite pad lures. Another one is the hollow plastic Mann's walk the dog lure, can't remember what it's called. If there's an opening in the pads of three feet or so, you can walk that thing almost in place across that opening and really drive a bass nuts. I've caught some of my biggest pad bass doing that.

[Coosa]

I do have some YUM money hounds but I don't think I'm going to find many 3 ft openings in there. I'm lucky to find 3 inches of opening. Definitely gonna have to try the fluke though. I think I can get it to fall in those tiny holes. Thanks for the input guys!

[LarrySTL]

If the weightless or lightly weighted plastics don't solve this and if the frog still just draws misses, the first thing I would try is slowing the frog wayyyy down slow. Get it on top of a pad and just make the whole works jiggle a little, etc.

If that still doesn't do it, I'd go to the opposite extreme and get almost right on top of the pad edge and flip. You can often get away with at least 3/8 to 1/2 oz weight in 18" or more of water, and if I was still having trouble getting a bait through the pads, I would keep increasing the weight til either I was getting fish or I was flipping 1 oz or 1 & 1/2 oz weights.

Braid either way, 50 lb or more, no leader just tie to the lure.