Lily Pads are the Enemy

Have fun getting your lure out of that!

The fish are in the Lily Pads along with half of my tackle box.I took a small window of opportunity to fishing on my local river,The Blackwater,and I had a great time.The fish also had a wonderful time chewing up lures and wrapping them around lily pad after lily pad until....POP!I have never fished the lily pads like I did today and I have never had so many bites in a short amount of time.I was throwing the right stuff,a non weighted watermelon colored Zero.Just taking my time dragging it from pad to pad until that explosion all bass anglers love when the bass come flying out of the water with your lure.The other great feeling is when you get the bass in the boat,I didn't get that feeling today.It became routine after a few minutes,i would rig up a zero,throw it in the pads,drag it a few feet and bam under the water.Then the drag would go off and the I would get wrapped around the lily pad stems.If you have ever had the pleasure of accidentally hooking a lily pad then you understand this if not then let me try and explain.Lily pad root systems are stronger than the fire of a thousand suns!They will not simply rip out or give way,your line will pop and the fish will laugh at you.I let this happen about a half dozen times before I gave up and went after bluegills.I caught a few but I knew the bass were mocking me and will continue to do so.So how do we solve this problem?

A panfish is better than no fish

It could take a multitude of different things to rectify the situation.I'm opting for hand grenades!That's only legal in Alabama and the southern counties of Mississippi,I kid I kid.I was instructed by old man river,he was an old guy on the river seriously,that I needed braided line.Let's put on the brakes right there,i hate,absolutely hate braided line.Reason being it doesn't stay on spinning reels,it becomes unmanageable and has ruined many a fishing trip back in my younger days.Spider line and other braided line is recommended for baitcasting reels,put on the brakes again.I hate baitcasters,the suck, bottom line.So that's the solution,get a baitcaster with braided line that won't break when wrapped around the lily pads or anything else.Will I go with this and try it,am I an outdoorsman who like a good challenge,yes.Will you all read about it in the next few months and laugh when I cry about how horrible of an experience it was,hell yeah!Now it's time to pack for the road trip to West Virginia trout country.My brother Nutty Professor and I are heading west for the hills and Monongahela National Forest.Neither of us have been there before and we have no idea what we are doing,should be a great time.Stay tuned and get outside!