Catch up to 4 times as many fish in lily pads!

Many inexperienced fishermen avoid lily pads like the plague. They either don't know that they are stuffed with fish, or they just don't know how to deal with them.

Experienced fishermen know that lily pads can hold some of the biggest fish in the lake. These fish are relatively untouched because so few fisherman know how to tap this under-exploited resource effectively. We show you how to Up your Catch in lily pads by up to 4 times as many fish!

Lily pads are a Largemouth Bass magnet but are also used by Northern Pike and Muskie occasionally. They offer plenty of room to move around in, lots of shade from which to ambush unsuspecting prey, a safe haven from larger predators, water which is a few degrees cooler and therefore holds oxygen better, and food.

The very best pads have a decent depth of open water beneath them, some weed cover leading into them and nearby access to deeper water. Having said that, we've caught some real donkeys from under pads in a few inches of water!

The real challenge is how to get at these fish effectively. There are several schools of thought regarding fishing pads and each of them work, to some degree;

a) Topwater- The fast and horizontal approach- Fishing topwater baits such as soft-plastic frogs, rats, and plastic weedless spoons will help you to cover water quickly and will draw lots of strikes.

It certainly is an exciting way of fishing as the fish usually explode through the pads to hit the bait. However, the hooking percentage of this approach is very poor. Out of every 10 strikes, you might only hook 1 or 2 fish. Most of the time, those fish will only hit once and your chance is gone.

Disadvantages- Baits used in this type of fishing, often spend too much of their time riding on top of the pads. The fish are positioned underneath, looking up at the bait which is silhouetted against the pad, by the light from the sky. The fish will often hit the pad, trying to knock the bait off it and into open water where the fish can get hold of it. Because the fish cannot get a decent shot at the bait, most of the time, they will miss it altogether and will not come back for a second try. The hooking percentage is therefore, very low.

b) Wormin'- The slow and vertical approach- A slower approach using baits which drop vertically, such as worms , craws, tubes and lizards can be effective. Texas-rigging the baits with nose weights, so that they are weedless, helps them punch through the holes in the pads. You can even use soft-plastic jerkbaits such as slug-type baits and baitfish imitations.

They will certainly catch fish, even fish which are in a neutral to negative feeding mood. You should also use weights which are as light as you can get away with. Nothing plummets like a stone in nature, neither should your worm. What you are looking for is a slow, seductive flutter that will keep the bait in the fish's face longer. Something which is the fishy equivalent of waving a juicy cheeseburger right under his nose.

Disadvantages- By their very nature, wormin'-type baits have to be worked very slowly. I've never seen a worm or lizard swimming at 10 mph, neither have the fish! Because you must work them slowly, you can only cover a limited amount of water. The trade off is that while your hooking percentage is much higher than the topwater approach, you put your bait in front of a lot fewer fish.

If you look at any predatory fish, you will see that their eyes are towards the front and on top of their head. They have binocular vision like us and have evolved to look up at their prey and attack from below. This is their preferred method of hunting. It is a fact that Bass, and other fish, will suck baits up from the bottom but it is very awkward for them to do so. They must spiral down towards the bait while watching it with only one eye. This is exactly the reason why Bass will pick up baits on the drop, after they have been popped off the bottom. Why, you might ask? Because the Bass can see them!

One of the biggest problems with fishing these types of baits in lily pads, is that you have to make some serious compromises. These baits (unless you use weights which are too heavy and cause your offering to plummet) are too light to cast, pitch or flip effectively on heavy tackle. Many fishermen will use spinning rods with a light braided line to gain the casting capability but they lose the backbone needed to haul lunkers out of the pads.

The final, major problem is that very often, your line will get caught in the vee where the stalk meets the pad. Yanking on the rod to free it will either expose the hook and get you firmly caught up in the pad or you will spook every fish within a 20 yard radius or both!

c) The One-Two Combo- Mixing both methods, for better results- Some of the sharper fishermen will use a rod rigged up with a topwater bait to find fish quickly. If a fish strikes and misses, they will immediately pick up a spinning rod rigged with a wormin'-type bait and throw in the spot where the fish struck. Working the bait very slowly or just letting it sit there, will often tease the fish into coming back and eating the bait.

Disadvantages- While this way works better than either of the other two alone, you also inherit the problems associated with each method.