Bass Fishing Tip of the Week 03/02/09: Lily Pad Fishing Strategies

Lily pads can be the hot ticket to getting a limit of fish. The keys in being successful in catching fish from the pads are varied but some of the more important ones are the time of the year, the soil texture and the surrounding water depth.

Let's take a look at each factor one by one:

1- The time of year or season is a very important factor. Lily pads are most productive during the spring spawn or early in the morning during the summer season. Bass often use their roots and overhead cover as prime bedding habitat during the spring. The early morning summer bites often occur due to an abundance of forage around the pad fields.

2- The soil texture surrounding the lily pad clumps is a key factor during your search for the most productive fields. Hard, sandy bottoms with some silt are great for spawning fish while soft, mucky silt filled bottoms are left abandoned by the largemouth.

3- The surrounding water depth is also important. Pads in 2-3 foot of water are much more likely to harbor a school of fish over those in 1-2 foot. A mixture of pads in grass also adds to the pad appeal.

Working the lily pads often takes a Texas rigged worm or craw imitation like a sweet beaver or brushhog on 1/4 to 3/8 ounce weights. Use a heavier gage hook in a 4/0 to 6/0 size. A heavy pitching outfit or flippin rig is a must to pull the bass out of the cover quickly before the fish wraps around the stems.

Pitch or flip behind the pad clump about 2 to 3 feet. Work the soft plastic right up to and into the root or base of the pad stems. Jig the soft plastic 2 or 3 times before attempting another pitch/flip to the same clump from a different direction. Do this several times to each pad clump prior to moving to the next one. Often the hit in pads is on the descent so be a line watcher for any subtle twitch, line stoppage or sideways movement and set the hook quickly.

Try these strategies and I'm sure you'll be doing more catching with less fishing.

The Largemouth Herald