Bass Fishing Moss Covered Strip Mines Or Ponds

A friend of mine likes to fish strip mines covered in heavy moss and normally does pretty well with them. His normal choice is a plastic worm for bass but there are times they just are not interested in the worms and he asked what other choices he had.

If you have ever fished a pond or strip mine covered in moss you know how hard it is to find open water to work your lures. But you also know that these waters can be very productive. I can understand why he likes these places. They are generally isolated, in most cases you may be the only one there, and they are productive.

With moss covered mines or ponds you have to look for open water or breaks in the moss. You normally do not have a lot of room to work your lures and very rarely can you work them deep especially if you're fishing from the bank.

If the water is almost entirely covered by moss I will try shiners in whatever open water I can find. It is kind of like dropping the bait into a hole. I will begin fishing about three feet deep and gradually increase the depth until I get a hit or my bait is on top of the moss. I have had some very productive days using this approach.

If you can find some breaks where the moss is just below the surface try using buzz baits. They do not snag as much as some of the other top water lures. Buzz baits can be very effective and most times you can actually see a V shape coming after it. If you do don't get to excited and set the hook before he takes it. Unfortunately I have done this a couple of times.

There are other top water lures that may do well including poppers, spitters, prop baits, hard stickbaits, soft stickbaits, etc. My choices for fishing Moss covered strip mines or ponds are plastic worms, buzz baits and shiners.