Heavy weeds and mats

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by cody hampton on August 3, 2009 at 7:11pm

i have never been there but any time i fish any kind of thick crap then a frog is flippin awesome, and if there is any open pockets then i would throw a buzzbait

Permalink Reply by Tag Watson on August 3, 2009 at 8:11pm

In addition to Cody's good suggestions, I would definitely try punching the heavy vegetation. This technique is a great complement to a frog pattern. For your punching set-up, use a 7'6" to 8' flipping stick, 50#-65# braid, two sinker stoppers, a 3/4 oz. to 1-1/4 oz. tungsten flipping sinker (1-3/8 oz. to 1-1/2 oz. may be necessary in the thickest mats), a plastic bead or two and a heavy straight shank hook snelled to the braid. Experiment with a variety of soft plastic baits and sinker weights until you find the magic combination(s).

In the pads that are relatively devoid of milfoil, I would also try a 1 ounce jig/plastic trailer combo. I like punching with a heavy jig where I can get away with it because I don't have to re-adjust my plastic bait periodically or rig up a new soft plastic after each fish. The jig offers more bulk and can also achieve a slightly slower rate of fall once it punches through the pads, which can be an asset at times.

When you get bit, resist the temptation to drop your rod tip before setting the hook on the fish. Just reel quickly and pull back on the rod, applying firm consistent pressure to drive the hook home. Because of the heavy weight, the fish will sometimes spit your bait out the moment you drop your rod tip. Then you have a missed fish and a heavy tungsten weight flying back at you like a bullet. This is an important tip.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on August 3, 2009 at 8:35pm

Thanks Tag. When you are fishing a lake with a tonn of weeds, is there anything you look for specifically? What makes one area in the weeds better than another?



Tag Watson said:

In addition to Cody's good suggestions, I would definitely try punching the heavy vegetation. This technique is a great complement to a frog pattern. For your punching set-up, use a 7'6" to 8' flipping stick, 50#-65# braid, two sinker stoppers, a 3/4 oz. to 1-1/4 oz. tungsten flipping sinker (1-3/8 oz. to 1-1/2 oz. may be necessary in the thickest mats), a plastic bead or two and a heavy straight shank hook snelled to the braid. Experiment with a variety of soft plastic baits and sinker weights until you find the magic combination(s).

In the pads that are relatively devoid of milfoil, I would also try a 1 ounce jig/plastic trailer combo. I like punching with a heavy jig where I can get away with it because I don't have to re-adjust my plastic bait periodically or rig up a new soft plastic after each fish. The jig offers more bulk and can also achieve a slightly slower rate of fall once it punches through the pads, which can be an asset at times.

When you get bit, resist the temptation to drop your rod tip before setting the hook on the fish. Just reel quickly and pull back on the rod, applying firm consistent pressure to drive the hook home. Because of the heavy weight, the fish will sometimes spit your bait out the moment you drop your rod tip. Then you have a missed fish and a heavy tungsten weight flying back at you like a bullet. This is an important tip.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by cody hampton on August 3, 2009 at 9:30pm

i have an answer, you look for anything thats different, like if there is alot of lily pads , look for a point that sticks out in the pads of another
kind of weed that intercepts with pads or a laydown with matted vegetation is also really good like tag was saying, you can flip ,and flippin laydowns would be good and go for the thickest part of the laydown first then work out the edges, and frogging around that would be good too.

AARON373V said:

Thanks Tag. When you are fishing a lake with a tonn of weeds, is there anything you look for specifically? What makes one area in the weeds better than another?



Tag Watson said:

In addition to Cody's good suggestions, I would definitely try punching the heavy vegetation. This technique is a great complement to a frog pattern. For your punching set-up, use a 7'6" to 8' flipping stick, 50#-65# braid, two sinker stoppers, a 3/4 oz. to 1-1/4 oz. tungsten flipping sinker (1-3/8 oz. to 1-1/2 oz. may be necessary in the thickest mats), a plastic bead or two and a heavy straight shank hook snelled to the braid. Experiment with a variety of soft plastic baits and sinker weights until you find the magic combination(s).

In the pads that are relatively devoid of milfoil, I would also try a 1 ounce jig/plastic trailer combo. I like punching with a heavy jig where I can get away with it because I don't have to re-adjust my plastic bait periodically or rig up a new soft plastic after each fish. The jig offers more bulk and can also achieve a slightly slower rate of fall once it punches through the pads, which can be an asset at times.

When you get bit, resist the temptation to drop your rod tip before setting the hook on the fish. Just reel quickly and pull back on the rod, applying firm consistent pressure to drive the hook home. Because of the heavy weight, the fish will sometimes spit your bait out the moment you drop your rod tip. Then you have a missed fish and a heavy tungsten weight flying back at you like a bullet. This is an important tip.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on August 3, 2009 at 9:45pm

Thanks Cody. This is fishing that I have always avoided, but like all other tactics, I need to get some experience at it. I know it can be productive, but I never know where to start in a lake that has acres of weeds and it all looks similar and a bit intimidating.

cody hampton said:

i have an answer, you look for anything thats different, like if there is alot of lily pads , look for a point that sticks out in the pads of another
kind of weed that intercepts with pads or a laydown with matted vegetation is also really good like tag was saying, you can flip ,and flippin laydowns would be good and go for the thickest part of the laydown first then work out the edges, and frogging around that would be good too.

AARON373V said:

Thanks Tag. When you are fishing a lake with a tonn of weeds, is there anything you look for specifically? What makes one area in the weeds better than another?



Tag Watson said:

In addition to Cody's good suggestions, I would definitely try punching the heavy vegetation. This technique is a great complement to a frog pattern. For your punching set-up, use a 7'6" to 8' flipping stick, 50#-65# braid, two sinker stoppers, a 3/4 oz. to 1-1/4 oz. tungsten flipping sinker (1-3/8 oz. to 1-1/2 oz. may be necessary in the thickest mats), a plastic bead or two and a heavy straight shank hook snelled to the braid. Experiment with a variety of soft plastic baits and sinker weights until you find the magic combination(s).

In the pads that are relatively devoid of milfoil, I would also try a 1 ounce jig/plastic trailer combo. I like punching with a heavy jig where I can get away with it because I don't have to re-adjust my plastic bait periodically or rig up a new soft plastic after each fish. The jig offers more bulk and can also achieve a slightly slower rate of fall once it punches through the pads, which can be an asset at times.

When you get bit, resist the temptation to drop your rod tip before setting the hook on the fish. Just reel quickly and pull back on the rod, applying firm consistent pressure to drive the hook home. Because of the heavy weight, the fish will sometimes spit your bait out the moment you drop your rod tip. Then you have a missed fish and a heavy tungsten weight flying back at you like a bullet. This is an important tip.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by cody hampton on August 3, 2009 at 9:49pm

you just have to look for stuff thats different and with alot of weeds like that for me, using a frog is a good way to cover alot of water and then if you see stuff that looks really good then yoiu can flip it and fish it more thoroughly, i think its fun to find the thickest you can and pull good fish out of it.

AARON373V said:

Thanks Cody. This is fishing that I have always avoided, but like all other tactics, I need to get some experience at it. I know it can be productive, but I never know where to start in a lake that has acres of weeds and it all looks similar and a bit intimidating.

cody hampton said:

i have an answer, you look for anything thats different, like if there is alot of lily pads , look for a point that sticks out in the pads of another
kind of weed that intercepts with pads or a laydown with matted vegetation is also really good like tag was saying, you can flip ,and flippin laydowns would be good and go for the thickest part of the laydown first then work out the edges, and frogging around that would be good too.

AARON373V said:

Thanks Tag. When you are fishing a lake with a tonn of weeds, is there anything you look for specifically? What makes one area in the weeds better than another?



Tag Watson said:

In addition to Cody's good suggestions, I would definitely try punching the heavy vegetation. This technique is a great complement to a frog pattern. For your punching set-up, use a 7'6" to 8' flipping stick, 50#-65# braid, two sinker stoppers, a 3/4 oz. to 1-1/4 oz. tungsten flipping sinker (1-3/8 oz. to 1-1/2 oz. may be necessary in the thickest mats), a plastic bead or two and a heavy straight shank hook snelled to the braid. Experiment with a variety of soft plastic baits and sinker weights until you find the magic combination(s).

In the pads that are relatively devoid of milfoil, I would also try a 1 ounce jig/plastic trailer combo. I like punching with a heavy jig where I can get away with it because I don't have to re-adjust my plastic bait periodically or rig up a new soft plastic after each fish. The jig offers more bulk and can also achieve a slightly slower rate of fall once it punches through the pads, which can be an asset at times.

When you get bit, resist the temptation to drop your rod tip before setting the hook on the fish. Just reel quickly and pull back on the rod, applying firm consistent pressure to drive the hook home. Because of the heavy weight, the fish will sometimes spit your bait out the moment you drop your rod tip. Then you have a missed fish and a heavy tungsten weight flying back at you like a bullet. This is an important tip.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Jerry on August 3, 2009 at 10:17pm

I was there on Sunday in my tube. Lots of milfoil mats and the lake is stained with an algae bloom. I got out there late and missed two. One one a worm and a blow up on a frog. I got one that went 5-12 on a purple Culprit worm on Thurs evening. Like the others said..punch the vegetation and fish the edges, and don't be afraid to check the mats in the open water. The lake is shallow, and there is quite a bit of wood in it, and it is very shallow. There are very few pads on that lake. The fish in my avatar came from there. Good luck

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on August 3, 2009 at 11:17pm

Nice, Thanks.

Jerry said:

I was there on Sunday in my tube. Lots of milfoil mats and the lake is stained with an algae bloom. I got out there late and missed two. One one a worm and a blow up on a frog. I got one that went 5-12 on a purple Culprit worm on Thurs evening. Like the others said..punch the vegetation and fish the edges, and don't be afraid to check the mats in the open water. The lake is shallow, and there is quite a bit of wood in it, and it is very shallow. There are very few pads on that lake. The fish in my avatar came from there. Good luck

Permalink Reply by Mark Byrne on August 4, 2009 at 8:38am

Tag is right on the money and I would like to add this, when fishing pads or any heavy vegetation look for that “something different”! I will always really work over any spot that has pads with a piece of wood sticking up out of the water or a downed tree in the pads. Really anything that makes a spot in a field of pads or vegetation a little different. A large field of pads can be a little difficult to get started fishing, look for the “something different” that is how the bass see it from underneath. Think of the pad field as the body of water in its entirety, when you fish new water you look for points, docks and rocks, etc. think of the “lake of pads” as the whole lake and plan you fishing accordingly.
www.huntingandfishingnw.com
Mark

Permalink Reply by Aaron Christel on August 4, 2009 at 11:21am

Thats a good way to look at it Mark. I will try that. I usually do pretty well around pads, it's the milfoil that I usually skip. How important is it to fish milfoil in a lake? Is it worth hitting, or is time usually best spent elsewhere? I know weed edges and such, I'm not a total rookie, but I'm talking thick, heavy weeded flats/points ect.

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on August 4, 2009 at 11:43am

I went there once and now I call it Gay Lake.
Stroller just found himself intrigued.

Permalink Reply by Mike Bess on August 4, 2009 at 1:39pm

Look for the holes in the milfoil and flip them.

AARON373V said:

Thats a good way to look at it Mark. I will try that. I usually do pretty well around pads, it's the milfoil that I usually skip. How important is it to fish milfoil in a lake? Is it worth hitting, or is time usually best spent elsewhere? I know weed edges and such, I'm not a total rookie, but I'm talking thick, heavy weeded flats/points ect.

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