Bass Fishing in Lily Pads

Why lily pads hold bass, where to cast in a pad field, hollow-body frogs and how long to wait before the hookset, heavy braid and stiff rods, Texas-rigged worms and spinnerbaits for the edges, following New York DEC and an Outdoor Life frog-fishing guide.

By Fjords Team · May 26, 2026 · Updated Oct 28, 2026

Outdoor Life calls heavy lily pads the classic place to fish a frog for bass, and frog fishing one of the most popular tactics of summer. This guide covers why bass use them, where to cast, frogs and the hookset, and other baits for pads, following New York DEC’s lake fishing and bass pages, Wikipedia, and an Outdoor Life guide to frog fishing by its editors and tournament anglers. The frog tactics are experienced anglers’ methods; we have not tested them ourselves.

Why bass live in pads

DEC explains that insects and other small animals on and around lily pads and floating plants attract baitfish, baitfish attract bigger fish, and big patches of pads also give shade. DEC also says largemouth prefer shallow, weedy water around cover. The pads hold prey such as bluegill, and DEC notes largemouth eat almost anything that fits in their mouths, including frogs. See our largemouth bass profile.

Reading a pad field

Cast into the edges and openings rather than the middle of the mat, so you don’t tangle (DEC).
Look for irregularities: the Outdoor Life guide suggests points, cuts, small pockets, edges, potholes, shade lines and mixed cover, ideally close to deeper water.
Watch the pads: the same guide notes a big bass may flick the pads with its tail on the way to the bait, a sign a strike is coming.

Hollow-body frogs

Outdoor Life calls the hollow-body frog the standard frog bait: a pointed nose and a hollow body for buoyancy, usually with rubber “legs”. The pointed nose helps it slide through lily pads, brush and emergent weeds, and over matted grass. Variations:

Popping frogs with a cupped mouth make more commotion but don’t come through heavy cover as well; better for open water, riprap, docks and laydowns.
Swimming frogs are fished faster on a straight retrieve, like a buzzbait but weedless.

When: early summer mornings and late evenings are prime, and the guide says frogs can work well in fall too. One pro quoted won’t throw one in cold water or when wind and waves keep the fish from seeing it.

Colours: the guide argues bass are often eating bream, shad and other baitfish rather than frogs, and suggests three colours cover most water: white (shad, cloudy days), black (muddy water), and a bluegill colour (clear water, fish near bream beds).

The hookset: wait

Outdoor Life says frog fishing is notorious for missed strikes, and that patience is the key. A bass often grabs the frog and shifts it in its mouth, so wait a full “one Mississippi” after the strike before setting the hook. If a bass hits the frog but misses it, don’t swing; let the frog sit and twitch, and the fish may come back. When you do set, the guide’s pro sets toward 11 or 1 o’clock, never sideways or down, then keeps pressure on and lifts the fish out of cover.

Tackle for pads

From the same guide:

Rod: 7 to 8 feet, heavy to extra-heavy power, fast action, to cast far, drive the hooks and haul fish out of weeds.
Line: heavy braid that cuts through vegetation (40- to 80-pound), tied straight to the frog, with no fluorocarbon leader to create a weak point. A Palomar knot holds on braid, while knots such as the clinch tend to slip.
Reel: a fast gear ratio to pick up slack after a strike.
Tuning: a new frog can be stiff enough to keep the hooks from coming free; the guide suggests a few seconds in boiling water to soften it, and bending the hook points slightly up so they sit even with the frog’s back.

Other baits for pads

Spinnerbait over or along the edge: DEC’s bass rig table suggests a white 1/4-1/2-ounce spinnerbait in shallow water over or along vegetation, reeled fast enough to stay above the weeds with an occasional pause. See how to fish a spinnerbait.
Texas rig in the vegetation: a 1/4-1/2-ounce worm weight, 2/0-4/0 worm hook and a 6-10-inch ribbon-tail worm, dragged slowly or hopped in or around vegetation (DEC). See how to fish a Texas rig.
Other surface lures: our topwater guide covers poppers, walking baits and buzzbaits; more methods are in our techniques section.