What Would You Do?

[Panthrosan]

Heres the skinny. I have nailed 4-5 pound bass and everything in between at this local pond in the past and have had limited luck recently but it is driving me crazy. It was all smooth sailing until about 2 weeks ago these heavy thick mats of weeds and green gunk have invaded the shoreline. I did ok this afternoon and evening on a buzzfrog and a chatterbait fished between floating mats, but I want to throw something else. Take a look at the picture and let me know what you would do? The water is pretty much open past the mats but every once in awhile it is crowded with loose floating mats.

[fishin spro]

senko near the edge of the grass.
spro frog in the grass.
horny toad in and around the grass.
throw everything...they are bound to like something

[bonsaibp]

Originally Posted by fishin spro

senko near the edge of the grass.
spro frog in the grass.
horny toad in and around the grass.
throw everything...they are bound to like something

that all sounds good. try a weightless trick worm buzzed across the top of the slop as well. also if you use a hollow bodied frog try putting a rattle or two in it to make it easier for them to find. you could also try punching through the mats with a heavy (1-1/12 oz. weight and your favorite flipping bait.

[bamabassman]

find the drain plug and let out some of the water.....wade out there with a dip net.........problem solved. hahahahahhahaha, kidding of course.here is a different way of thinking. try a big spinnerbait along the dam area, also a 8" or 10 " worm in the same area. or the ol pignjig.

[nofearengineer]

You could also try a weedless spoon....old-school bassin.

[bonsaibp]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

You could also try a weedless spoon....old-school bassin.

Oldschool is right. That brings back memories of my grandfather and his Johnson Silver Minnow. Thanks for stirring up the memories

[Willvdh1]

I was gonna say Spro Frog

[tom351]

i sometimes fish a pond that gets the same scum.....

c-r-a-w-l a frog over the thickest patches, and try not to let that first strike scare you....

[carolina-rig-01]

boy that stuff can really choke out a pond and make it almost unfishable when the water warms up. if it were me i would spend most of my time chucking a frog (both horny toad type and bronze eye type frogs). one other thing i have caught a lot of fish on in ponds like that is a fluke, just t-rig it weightless and let it sink slowly in clear pockets and wait for a fish to crush it (give it a few twitches once in a while).

[cassidyta]

one of my ponds has gone through the same thing lately. I have had the best luck with reaction innovations boom boom tubes. I rig them weightless on a 3/0 hook. They will move across the scum like a frog and fall very slowly into the holes. I like the tubes because they can "swim" back out of the holes without getting too much junk on them.\

http://reactioninnovations.com/box/p...products_id=29

[jig fisherman]

I agree on the senko in the open spots but when you are retrieving it back in twitch it over the grass mats. I got a few good hits doing this at a pond recently.

[Panthrosan]

Do you think I should switch to braid because of the heavy mats? I managed to land a 4 pounder yesterday but it was a struggle on 12lb Fluro which I had my senko rigged on since the big guy went straight into the mats. I have 20lb and 30lb Power Pro braid and from 8-20lb fluro for a leader if needed.

[Bassboss]

I cant see the pics, but from the sound of it, it seems like a clone of my place.

Here's what has worked for me!

A spinnerbait near the edges of the grass, a buzz frog around dark, and a weight less curly tail worm on a spinning rod, let it sink to the bottom and just twitch it here and there. a buzzbait has also worked good around dark.

Good luck!

[Panthrosan]

Pictures should be up again. Forgot you can't view ImageShack BassBoss.

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by Panthrosan

Pictures should be up again. Forgot you can't view ImageShack BassBoss.

Thanks Panth! I can see 'em now! Looks like what I've got going on at my place. Do you have a boat or anything to fish it? Forget about the weightless worm, curly tail worm, the line would be over the grass most of the time.... a senko would do fine! But my number 1 choice would be a rage shad aka weedless buzz bait! Next would be a fluke. I'm not sure if a waited worm would well or not, it depends how thick the bottom is with that stuff. If it's too thick the line, the weight, and the hook bend with get caught up with the gunk. You could try a very light weight on there (less than 3/16oz).