Fishing In The Pads

[Frostie]

it wont weaken the line, cos the knots are stop knots tied on. Dave Lane was using a Quicksilver shockleader i think with braid stop knots tied on. make sure u use a lead clip cut back alot!

[chesters1]

it all depends on the lillies as well ,shallow water ones tend to be thin wheres i have seen stems 4" thick on "real" lillies, even wire dont cut those

[RUDD]

chesters1:

it all depends on the lillies as well ,shallow water ones tend to be thin wheres i have seen stems 4" thick on "real" lillies, even wire dont cut those

Thats a point I picked up on chesters.

No one seems to have noticed!

[pike hunter]

Jim, in responce to your original post.

Recently, I have been targetting an area of a lake near lilly pads. I have been dropping my bait over the rod tip near the pads, now I say "near". I didnt get a bite for 2 nights. So i changed tactics, I trudged round to the other side of the lack and cast into the lillies, and got a 2 bites withing 15 minutes. I believe that the "semi fixed leger" weight carried the bait further into the pads from the other side and that got me the bites, I used the same bait and same rigs. 10" braid hooklength, and a strong barbless hook. Now i cant give you any advice on super rigs but maybe casting from a different angle may give you the edge. Give it a go and let me know how you get one.

 

Darren

[Little Tinca]

Is this a case of it's greener over the fence. Are the fish in the lillies that much bigger or do they seem much bigger because they are less accessible.

[Alan Taylor]

RUDD:

Thats a point I picked up on chesters.

No one seems to have noticed!

I did Rudd and a very good point it was too.

 

I could not believe it when I saw that people intentionally fish for Carp IN the lilly pads.

 

Stalking Carp just outside the lilly pads with heavy enough gear to stop the fish going into them, yes, I have done it many times myself but have lost a few to the pads and the terminal tackle to boot.

 

When you want to change the direction of a carps run you point the rod tip away from where the fish is heading, now if a fish connects with the stem of a pad the line will be pulling against the mouth of the fish and change its direction so if you can't keep enough pressure on the fish it will go round in circles gathering more stems as it goes. I have seen this happen with a mate of mine, he lost the fish and when he got into a boat to salvage his gear found that the line had gone round the stalks of a few pads about five times.

I hate to think what would have hapened if the mainline had parted with the fish tethered to the lilly pads.

 

My advice for what its worth, stay away from em!

 

Alan (ready to be shot down)(nl)

[Julian]

A little late posting on this one, but it’s a subject that really interests me, so here goes…

 

I think there are a few separate topics contained within all the posts above! In my experience there are many variables when fishing in or near to ‘pads’ and in my experience there’s no simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. In the main, my decision on ‘how’ and ‘if’ to fish into pads is based upon common sense and experience.

 

When faced with fishing into or near pads, the two questions you should *always* ask yourself are; if a fish takes the bait from the spot you have in mind, what are the chances of you landing it with no damage? And, is your set-up up to the job you’re asking it do?

 

Also, as touched on by Chesters and Rudd, what do we mean by ‘pads’? There are many, many, different types growing in many different situations. Also, what time of year are we talking about? - Tackling pads in early May or mid-October is a very different proposition from fishing them June through September.

 

Much of my time on the bank is spent between two waters which are heavily covered in pads; yet the way I tackle each is completely different. When fishing close to pads where big fish are present, set-up is of major importance you have to ensure that if something does take-off; nothings going to let-go. I use about 18-20ft of 45lb Quicksilver as shock-leader, combined with hook-links of over 20lb and safety clips, etc. The long shock leader means that when fishing on the edge of a pad line and the fish goes under, I’ve got plenty of leader still up and out of the water, which can be handled much tougher than just a main line.

 

The club water I help control (Blackwood Pool) has a healthy amount of pads present, yet they are of a strain with fully grown leaves no bigger than an inch or so wide, and stems no more than 5mm think. In the early part of the year as the beds are beginning to establish themselves, I would have no hesitation ‘bagging-up’ and fishing into the pads because I know the set-up will easily hold and the fish not suffer. For me, the key to fishing in or near weed is applying immediate and effective control. I always fish locked up with the baitrunner on minimum or even off altogether, with tight lines and swingers on maximum weight for immediate indication of takes. This way, as soon as it bleeps you can be on it and applying maximum pressure in a hit-and-hold manner. In the vast majority of cases the fish are so shocked by the immediate pressuring away from the pads that they come most of the way in before waking up. It goes without saying that you should always be right on top of your rods!

 

Early pad growth – not a problem

 

Getting the fish up on top is imperative so the depth of the water is always a major factor. As the pads thicken up at Blackwood during the summer I would still be happy fishing into them, as long as I think I can get the fish up on top straight away - As the pad heads are so small and the water is only a few feet deep this is never a problem; it’s when you let them run along the bottom in deeper water wrapping the mainline between countless pads that you’re properly stuffed (as Alan mentions).

 

You also have to ask yourself why you are fishing into the pads? Just because there is a hole that looks tasty, does not necessarily mean it’s the best spot to place a bait. It never fails to amaze me how varied a persons perception of ‘fishing to a pad-line’ can be. In my experience, when fishing a heavily padded water with an average amount of pressure, maybe 70%+ of anglers will look to place baits to a pad-line. So yes, the fish may well be spooky in these areas as they are so used to seeing leads and rigs there. However, how close you get to the pad-line is of prime importance; some are better at casting than others, and often I see people casting to distant pad-lines with the lead falling a good six or ten-foot short of the pads, yet because of the distance they are casting to and the deceptive angle, they are convinced they are ‘bang-on’ the pad line . I would say a *great* number of anglers fall into this trap and as such, I would say that baits placed between 2 and 10 feet off a pad line will more often than not be ignored.

 

Summer – More care is needed; think fish safety first

 

Bearing in mind that pads grow up then out, and that where a lead hits the water is not necessarily where it will end up on the bottom; I always cast the lead within a couple of inches of the pad-line. Clipping-up is the easiest way to achieve this and I would estimate 90% of my fish come from this method . Even better is if the lead just clips the pads on the way down; again you should always ensure your tackle is up to the job when fishing this way.

 

A different package altogether is Capesthorne Top Pool. The pads are like a jungle and the roots can be over six inches wide. I would never think of putting one in the pads at distance, purely because I don’t think I’d be able to exert the necessary pressure to take control of the situation from the off and get the fish in safely. However, I often fish into the pads at close range, as it’s often the only place that’s not rammed top to bottom with Canadian Pondweed!

 

Sometimes the pads are the only option!

 

On the picture above it’s pretty difficult to tell the weed from the pads, so you can imagine how difficult it is to present a bait in the weed. Furthermore, the fish will often take the route of least resistance; thus in the height of summer they stay under the pads much of the time as it’s so hard for them to work their way through the thick weed. As such, I’ll often drop a bait into the margin pads, fished either locked-up (or free-lined / lift-rigged as Gaffer explains in his excellent piece). The picture below shows the result of a bait placed into the pads; still a net packed full of weed, but believe it or not, inside all that is a nice 25lb mirror! :cool:

 

If the carp won’t come to Mohammed…

 

So as I say, I don't think there's any hard and fast rules - At the end of the day you have to think about the safety of the fish *first* then your set-up, and finally your own ability to bank the fish. If your approach is right on all these points, then why not?

 

Julian

[Alan Taylor]

Julian:

A little late posting on this one, but it’s a subject that really interests me, so here goes…

Julian, it is never too late when you come up with gems like this one.

 

I don't think this should be left as a topic, you put too much work into itfor it do vanish. How about posting it as an article so that it is always there for people to refer to or direct others to?

 

Nice one mate

 

Alan(nl)

 

[ 03. September 2003, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Alan Taylor ]

[Julian]

Alan,

 

Thanks for the comments , but just adding my two-penneth really!

 

I'll maybe jig around and pass on to Elton when he's caught up with work. I know he's got an awful lot on at the moment .

 

Cheers,

 

Julian

[Carpinjohn]

quote:

---

Posted on behalf of Jim:

I often fish the edges of lilli pads with good results however, there are clear areas in the lilli pads where the larger carp splash. Given the correct equipment and with carp safety in mind, is there a rig you can recommend for fishing directly into a clear area surrounded by lilli pads?

I have done quite a lot of surface fishing for mid-doubles and twenties in the pads and at distance using a variety of floating baits, rigs and lines and after losing a lot of good fish have come to the following conclusions. I've had fish snap 20lb braid at distance fishing on the surface and must assume the force exerted by a largish carp at the surface is far greater than on the bed, I now use mono which tends to cushion the force and am catcing more. In the pads and at say 20 feet distance I have had more success again with mono, a bubble float which does not usually snag on the pads and chum mixer in a bait band on the hook. I have a suggestion to improve the bait band, if Im allowed to mention Drennan, but cannot locate them, can anyone help? Suggestion is to have a small tab as part of the bait band moulding which allows you to pierce with the hook and it thus stays on the hook longer.

 

edit note - just removed some extra quote marks and such. No change to posted material. Newt

 

[ 13. September 2003, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]