The lake I've been fishing this year for IBASS is 115 acres, and probably 30 of it is lily pads, with more and more every year as the lake continues to silt in.
All of those pads, and so little time. So, my tip? Forget about all of those pads. You can never fish them all, at least not efficiently. No way. So what I do is pick a small area, say 100 X 100 feet, and I fish it. Thoroughly. With a variety of techniques and baits, unless you already have a pattern figured out.
By making the lake fish smaller you'll do a better job, You will slow down. And you'll catch more bass.
Lily pads "pattern" like anything else on a lake. If you can figure out what kind of pads they are in, i.e. edges, thick stuff, and depth, then you can target the bass more efficiently. Also, once you have that 100 X 100 foot zone hammered out, you can then pick another one.
Don't try to fish the whole lake. Or even the whole pad field. Break it down, then break out the net.
(https://i.imgur.com/7WnyfiK.jpg)
Dale
Good tip Dale, thanks for sharing ~c~ ~c~
Most of the lakes I fish from the bank are loaded with pad fields. One thing I've noticed, if there is a wind blowing almost all the V's in a pad will face the same direction, and a worm, senko, or fluke will get caught in the V if your fishing the wrong way. I always want the V facing me when dragging a plastic through the pad field. It stops a lot of hang ups.
Also on a body of water, where the pads stop or become less frequent usually means a significant bottom change. On my waters, usually a depth change. I target these areas in the morning and evening when bass loosen up from the shade provided by the pad cover. This area is also good when a cold front moves through and they seek out warmer deep water still close to cover. A sharp edge of pads usually means a rapid depth change. Never pass up these areas deep.
Good advice from "G" and Dale!!! ~c~ ~c~ ~c~
Rodney
Dale, G
Tks for sharing those tips with us.
That's a good tip big G. Another tip is if your bait gets hung up in the V, instead of jerking and trying to dislodge it, just point the rod at the V and pull straight back and most of the time it will come free without issue.
1. I always like an isolated clump separated from the big expanse of pads. This isolated clump will draw fish from the surrounded open area and often hold more than one bass.
2. Then I would pick the pad edges close to a depth change. Bass often hang close to the edge but still have the shade and cover the pads supply. They will move up and down the drop-off depending on conditions.
3. Look for small openings in the massive pad field. These openings even if only a foot across are often caused by bass hangouts. I would swim a weightless swimbait up to the hole and then kill it in the hole. This is a good technique on Okeechobee. The bite usually occurs on the slow fall in the hole.
I never just throw back in a massive pad field. Always look for signs like the pads moving against the wind direction, sounds from the field, even water birds in the pad field will stir up bait fish, bass will take notice.