Summer 2023
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and if there are other kinds of vegetation present, pond weed is many times the least preferred by a bass. Why? It usually grows in the mid-depth range (four- to six-feet) of a lake, and it can just over grow an area, making it hard for fisherman to break down. Many times it does not create a clean edge, nor many unique characteristics.
The reason bass will hold in pond weed is that on some lakes this is all that is present, or the areas with pond weed maybe situated on a flat that is located between a shallow water point that the bass feed on during the low light hours of the day, or an offshore structure spot that they bass position on during the day. Thus, making the pond weed flat a transition area.
Since the bass in pond weed will be cruising, I like to cover water and call the bass in to me by fishing a topwater, like a buzzbait. My go-to is a 3/8-ounce War Eagle Buzz Toad, as the added bulk of a soft plastic frog on the back allows me to make longer casts.
Now if the bass won’t come up on your topwater, a great way to fish the pond weed is rip a vibrating jig over the top of it, as the erratic action of the bait when ripped from a strand of pond weed will get a bass to strike.
Go-To Fishing Set Up - Buzzbait: Witch Doctor Tackle Shaman 7’2” MH Casting Rod, High-Speed Casting Reel (7.3:1 or higher), and 40-pound Seaguar SmackDown Braid..
LILY PADS – We’ll save this one for last, as it can be the most fun one to fish for largemouth. Lily pads, whether it is a massive back water slough filled with them on the
Mississippi River, or just section of shoreline a lake, will grow in shallow water (less than five-feet), and holds bass for two primary reasons.
One, the lily pads provide an overhead canopy for a bass to take shelter under from the summer’s sun, and two, lily pads attract an abundance of forage for the bass to eat. Bluegills and sunfish being the main one, but bait fish will hold in the open water pockets, and near shore, small birds, mice, and frogs also will get snacked on by a bass.
Back to the FUN part, the most common and effective way to fish lily pads for bass is to use a hollow-body soft plastic frog, as this bait can be cast way back in the pads and retrieved over them without getting hung up. I like to cast a Snag Proof Bobby’s Perfect Frog, as it slides through and over the pads easily, and then I’ll work it back to the boat, looking for pockets and varying the retrieve as I figure out what is triggering strikes.
If the bass don’t want to come up and strike your topwater frog, you can pitch a jig or Texas-rigged into the open water pockets, or along the edge of the lily pads.
Go-To Fishing Set Up: Witch Doctor Tackle Shaman 6’10” XH Casting Rod, High-Speed Casting Reel (7.3:1 or higher), and 65-pound Seaguar SmackDown Braid.
Fishing vegetation for bass is quite fun, you can usually catch numbers of them, and the quality is there as well. Be mindful of the type of vegetation you are fishing, and you can have a banner day on the water. •
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