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Old 07-06-12, 05:02 PM   #1
Whopper Stopper
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Default Bass in the pads

Hello!
I just came across the site about three hours ago. I have been digging and rooting ever since. For the most part I spend my time fishing muskies. However once the water gets to where it is now (80 degrees) I switch rods and boxes and head to my favorite bass haunts.


I fish a little lake which happens to be by my deer shack in Northern Wisconsin. The largest bass we ever caught in the lake weighed about 7 pounds; my wife caught it on a Crawfish jig. What a nice fish. I have over the years spent most of my time in the Lilly pads. The lake offers no decent access so we do all our fishing out of a kayak.


A question I would like some opinions on is this. Do bigger bass hang together or do they each stake out some particular territory? On the lake we fish there are many pockets of Lilly pads in the neighborhood 50 yards by 50 yards. Some are smaller and some 2-3 times as big. When I pull up in my kayak and pitch a Scum Frog out, how thoroughly do should I work the pads? How many bass may inhabit a pad bed?


I find I pitch the frog out in the same area 6-7 times and then move along. When I get a splash and land a bass can I expect more to be in the same area or does the commotion scare them? I know guys fishing under docks will throw a bait under it 4-5 times before going to the next one. I just don’t want to be spreading the frog too thin.


Top water bassing is a lot of fun. Last weekend I caught 8 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. Nothing big, but all in the 15-19 “ range. Anyway, I was just looking for tips and opinions on bass in the pads. Thanks for any responses and also for taking the time to read this post.


WS

Last edited by Whopper Stopper; 07-06-12 at 05:07 PM. Reason: ease of reading
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Old 07-06-12, 07:02 PM   #2
bamabassman
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first of all..........WELCOME TO THE BEST SITE ON THE WEB BUDDY.


man.what would i do with 80 degree weather, lol! it's 104 here if it's readable, hahaha!!


now as for the grass, the frog is excellant for grass. but also try some creature baits and worms and lizzards. texas rigged is my favorite.

another thing is to sling out a spinnerbait along the edge fo the grass if there is a ripple (wind) ont he water.

others will chime in with there best baits and techinques for your area too. be patient, they will answer.

again, wlecome. careful when reading some things here...fluids are NOT recconmended when reading some posts. hasderous to you computer. if oyu know what i mean, lol!!
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Old 07-06-12, 07:06 PM   #3
keithdog
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First off, welcome to the best forums on the net! Glad to have you aboard. You might get differning opinions, but here is my take. From my years of bass fishing, younger bass tend to school together, often in large groups. I've also found that bass often tend to school together in size groups. Small with small, 3 pounders with like size and so on. But as bass age they become more solitary creatures. Especially in shallow water where they stake out their claim. In deeper water, it seems large bass will tend to school together more. But in the pads, I believe large old bass stay to themselves. How many large bass are in one area of pads at one time? Thats hard for me to say. I can tell you this, I found 4 large bass in an area of pads in an area about 2o' X 100" once. I worked that area for about 45 minutes and thats all I could milk out of it. But I have seen times when I got several blowups from several bass in an area of pads about that size. I have no proof of this, but from my experiences, you could find a large bass every 10-20 feet in an area of pads. A lot is going to also be based on the food supply, and the season/weather. Bass often spawn in lilly pads and you'll find them more concentrated them for obvious reason. Here is a tip for you. Surface action is great but when fishing in the pads, try pitching a weighted/pegged creature bait like a Beaver bait into pockets in the pads. You won't believe the results you can get. Also a jig with a craw trailer worked the same way. I know pitchin anything from a yak could be a little tough, but in a yak, you could get very close to most bass without spooking them, so a little flip/pitch is all thats needed. Another thing I'd like to mention. YOu talked about areas of pads that are 50' X 50', maybe larger. Make a point of working those small clumps of pads set away from the main lilly pad field, especially if they are located on the deeper side of the field. THATS often where you will find the biggest bass of the day! Hope that helps.
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Old 07-06-12, 07:52 PM   #4
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Check the bottom of each area of pads.....an uneven undulating bottom will hold more fish than a flat bottom. Often the large one may be hanging in an outer patch of pads sometimes just a grouping of 2 or 3 pads not attached to the main grouping.

If any other weeds are amidst the pads, fish the intruding weed edge carefully as well, even when it's in the pads themselves......frogs are great, but don't forget the lizard....a Texas rigged lizard or a Texposed one can be fished quite slowly with the rod tip up.....it will actually come up on a pad and slide over the top. I like casting to an open pocket then pulling it up on the far edge of the pad an letting it rest half out of the water. After letting it rest there on the edge for a little while, I then twitch it a couple of times simply by grabbing the rod handle suddenly a tad harder, trying NOT to move the rod tip....just evoking a slight tremor to the bait. If nothing happens, move to the next pad and try again.

Sometimes, what Keith and I are saying about isolated clumps or grouping of pads is also true about reeds. I've seen some really nice bass holding on a single reed turned sideways to the sun so the shade of that single reed just perfectly shades the eye of the bass. Some pros have found a pattern for reeds and sometimes pads......some bass will be holding on two pad clumps but never on three or one......sometimes on one, sometimes on three.....and if you don't fish the right number, you just don't catch.

Good Fishing, Mac
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Old 07-06-12, 10:00 PM   #5
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Welcome to forum!

Pads and any kind of floating cover can be overwhelming at times. But if you know how, it's pretty easy to narrow it down.

First thing you should look for is points, bays, pockets, and isolated groups of pads. More often than not, the fish will be here rather then in the center of the pad field. The fish like to use these areas as ambush points for bream (panfish), frogs, and whatever else might come its way. In addition to the listed areas, looks for anything different. Bass will congregate here. It could be a log, big rock or gravel patch.

Now if you're looking for the areas with the biggest potential for big bass, you're gonna want to find a couple things. First deep water. The big girls like to have the option to go up shallow and feed, or drop to deeper, cooler water. If the lake has any hard bottom, fish the areas near them. Big bass love crawdads, and crawdads like hard bottom. If the lake has any big trees that over hang, fish these areas well. First of all, the water's a little cooler, and second, insects and nuts will fall from the trees attracting bream, which in turn attract the bass.

I'd take however many casts it takes for you to thoroughly fish an area. If you catch one fish, their's probably going to be more. so take some time and take a couple cast right back to the same spot. Once you start catching a couple fish around the same areas (for example you catch 10 different fish, on 4 different points,and 2 fish in 5 different bays), you can rule out the other areas and focus on those that have been producing fish.

Also, while frogs are excellent producers in pads, don't rule out other lures. I really like fishing spinnerbaits, and texas rigged plastic around pads too. If your 'yak allows, stand up and start pitching around in and around the pads.

Hope this helps! Good luck, and tight lines.
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Old 07-06-12, 10:25 PM   #6
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Hey WS welcome. All good advice so far, just a couple of thoughts to consider. A 50 x 50 section of pads could be holding zero fish or a couple of dozen at any given time. Just fish them until you're satisfied, since most lilies don't grow in water much deeper than 6-8 ft, and since most fish that shallow are usually feeding fish, it won't normally take long to tell if they're there. Don't limit yourself to just the Scum Frog type, I've had some great pad days by swimming a soft body frog with curly tail legs (like an H&H) through them at a pretty good clip and then killing it at the edge and letting it fall......a weightless senko also kills doing the same thing.

Lot's of times it seems to me that catching a fish or two out of a good patch of pads will actually fire up the rest of the fish instead of make them nervous or spooky like you sometimes see happen in open water. You might just have to show them something different to keep it going like putting down the frog and picking up a buzzbait or hopping a jig or TR close to the bottom.
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Old 07-06-12, 10:44 PM   #7
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Well I like to have more than one kind of frog myself as at times they can be selective,not hitting one yet another,sometimes size and sometimes color and sometimes a different action.Sometimes relating to the edges or thinner spots other times not,yes some large bass will stick in one place and even wallow out a hole,but most when relating to pads are in a pack with some packs having some larger fish in them catch one should catch another,but moving around but each time you do get one great chance at a second one is within grasp.Like any other type of fishing if you fish at certain spots each time you go by there something is underneath holding them log etc.
While at times one can worm or jig its a slow way of doing things to me anyway.
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Old 07-07-12, 06:52 AM   #8
Whopper Stopper
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Wow, thanks for the great replies! I copied and pasted them into a document so I will always have them Great info and excellent tips.

I know the Crawdads are excellent baits. At this point I just have trouble fishing them or the purple worm. I don’t have the technique down. That and the excitement of a top water explosion keeps me throwing the frog.

I will have to start paying closer attention to the makeup of the pad structure. At this point, to me, I have to admit the beds pretty much look the same. If anyone has any pictures showing points, bays or pockets it would give me a much better idea.

I have never fished with a bass guy so everything I do has come from trial and error. One other question would pertain to time of day. I try to get out as early as possible and then again late into the evening. It seems from 9am until 7 pm things are quiet in the pads. At these times are there other areas that I should be concentrating on?

In case it helps, this is a 223 acre lake. It has two basins attached by a pad filled channel. The DNR calls it a clear lake but I am not sure why, to me it has always been very heavily stained. Two foot is about it for seeing. They claim it is made up of 70% sand and 30% muck. It seems where I hang out is predominantly muck. The max depth is 56 feet. The mean depth is 4 foot (whatever that means).

Anyway thanks again! I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate all you help!

WS
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Old 07-07-12, 07:11 AM   #9
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Thanks for the additional info.
b. another name for average [2] See also geometric mean
If 4 ft is indeed the mean then the 56 ft max is likely a very small area in front of the dam. If there are any pads growing adjacent to that....target them.
Of course dusk and dawn are the classic times to fish, but the truth is that pads will often hold fish better after the sun comes up. In low light conditions fish tend to roam around more, but when the sun comes up the combination of shade and cooler water and baitfish and both horizontal/vertical structure that a pad field offers can really pull/hold some good fish.
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Old 07-07-12, 07:17 AM   #10
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Actually my best bite comes between 11 am and 1 pm,as its direct shade,not like most of the lake when best is right after sunup,but also takes fair size patch to effect them like that.Even when solid or appears to be there will be cuts,points,sparse areas all of which on any given day can be important,,notice I said can be doesnt mean it will be.
If they roll on a frog but dont take switch frogs,they want something a tad different.
Notice all the different patterns in what appears to be sollid pads at a distance,my friend Steve Huber ,with a decent bass.

Different bass,but notice same general area

Proof anyone can catch bass

Bass will relate to the muck not sand and pads when they decay make muck,those closest to deeper water can be attractive,yet all those pics the water is but 1 1/2 ft to 2 ft deep.Im wearing rain suit and life vest and yes its hot already,wear one all day in 2 ft of water.

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