Fishing close to water Lilly pads

mikench · Jul 15, 2017

Today I caught most of my fish close to a very thick clump of water lilies in full bloom. I was able to turn them away from the pads for the most part but a few significant takes were into the pads before I could do anything other than strike and I lost them all!

was i too slow , too close, inept or doing something else wrong? I ask because I tend to give lily pads a rhetorical wide berth!

I had one take which went straight into the pads and I lost my hook link. Could I do things differently?

103841 · Jul 15, 2017

I have read, but yet to trial the idea, is to strike into the pads, the theory being the fish will bolt the other way.

mikench · Jul 15, 2017

I find hooks when attached to my finger, trousers, shoes, chair, cool box, bait containers, rod quivers and Lilly pads become as secure as Fort Knox !

however when in a fishes mouth it is an entirely different story

binka · Jul 15, 2017

s63 said:
I have read, but yet to trial the idea, is to strike into the pads, the theory being the fish will bolt the other way.

I like this idea, I too have not tried it but it stands to reason.

I often fished up to pads on an old club water and the only way I found was to scale up my gear and get on the fish quickly, trying not to give it an inch.

It was more a problem with rogue carp when I was tench fishing and I was looking at an old trophy shot only yesterday which had a patch of shredded lily pad still attached to the carp

barbelboi · Jul 15, 2017

If fishing for tench they generally act completely different to carp and if you let the line go slack and wait (it may take up to a couple of minutes or more) for movement in the line you can then tighten up quickly,mug 'em and get them out of the pads before they realise what's happening. Works more often than not.

mikench · Jul 15, 2017

If you are lucky enough to catch a tench in the first place!!!

Philip · Jul 15, 2017

I remember a lake I used to fish as a kid that had lots of lilles and a guy showed us how to catch Tench literally fishing into the middle of the pads. He used to cast his float into the middle of them and inch the float and bait back across the pads till the bait fell through a gap. Often the float (we actually ended up using matchsticks on the line) was not even in the water. Bites where signaled by the float pulling across the top of the pads !

To get the fish out he would literally drag them rapidly upwards then sort of "skip" them across the top of the pads. Difficult to describe with words but it was almost like he slid them across the top of the pads. The trick was to get them up very rapidly before they knew what was happening and keep them moving across the top. If they got their heads down thats when you had trouble.

Admittedly they were not very big Tench but it did work.

S-Kippy · Jul 15, 2017

barbelboi said:
If fishing for tench they generally act completely different to carp and if you let the line go slack and wait (it may take up to a couple of minutes or more) for movement in the line you can then tighten up quickly,mug 'em and get them out of the pads before they realise what's happening. Works more often than not.

That's my experience of tench too. Give em some slack and they will almost always swim out. I remember one water like this where I don't recall ever losing one and you had to fish dead tight to the lilies to get a bite. I don't like dragging fish out of pads on heavy gear and it doesn't always work anyway.

Carp just seem to charge into the lilies and on a slack line just burrow deeper. I don't mind if they get off but a pro longer heave ho doesnt do anybody any good and upsets the tench. I'd rather they came off or out quickly.

maggot_dangler · Jul 15, 2017

Just lillies .

Take a look at this ,
This is my favorite place to fish on my local cut not far from my flat .

Hummm cant show it cus something is scuppered it has uploaded but can i find it heck as like .

Maybe this will work
https://www.fishingmagic.com/forums...er-albums-2017-picture4690-shrunk16-20-48.jpg

PG ...

binka · Jul 15, 2017

maggot_dangler said:
Just lillies .

Take a look at this ,
This is my favorite place to fish on my local cut not far from my flat .

Hummm cant show it cus something is scuppered it has uploaded but can i find it heck as like .

Maybe this will work
https://www.fishingmagic.com/forums...er-albums-2017-picture4690-shrunk16-20-48.jpg

PG ...

Jeez Pete, that's strimmer territory

maggot_dangler · Jul 15, 2017

binka said:
Jeez Pete, that's strimmer territory

I have had some real bostin fish out of there it is not quite as dense as it first looks there are a lot of large pockets in it just hidden by the bent over fronds between 2 and 6 feet deep good fishing you just need to be quick .
Like what i am not always quite quick enough .

PG ...

Tee-Cee · Jul 16, 2017

Ye Gods, that looks in need of a drag and tractor to me! Not too sure how you get a bait down in the water through that lot.. I had imagined a nice clear water with areas of lily pads to which to cast alongside, so I got that wrong! (Sort of Stoke Estate type of thing - Jerry will know what I mean...)

In all seriousness, I can only see such as a 50/50 chance of landing a fish, and probably a lot less than that for anything of half decent size, but that is only IMO

Certainly a challenge!

mikench · Jul 16, 2017

More like JCB territory

I would leave that swim well alone not knowing how to fish it properly or at all!

Peter Jacobs · Jul 16, 2017

s63 said:
I have read, but yet to trial the idea, is to strike into the pads, the theory being the fish will bolt the other way.

I saw Stevie Gardner demonstrate this at Gold Valley years ago.

He fished tight to the island (really tight) and every "strike" was toward the island, and as if on a lead, nearly all of the fish bolted into open water.

I have tried it myself at Woodlands and it certainly does work, but it is sort of against all logic . . . .

Fishing close to water Lilly pads

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