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Our local reservoir of about 5500 acres has received about 18 inches of rain in the last month and the water levels are about 6 ft. above normal. Where do bass generally stay around when waters are this high? In most places the water is over the banks into the wooded areas.

Jason, I would try fishing the shore line up into the trees that arent usually under water. If the water was rising gradually the bass would tend to move up. Ofcourse now you will have a drop off from where the shore should be, or was before all of the rain. try flipping a jig in as tight as you can, and let it fall off the drop. Or you can line your self up so that you can cast along the shoreline. Throw a shallow running suspending bait, slowly. Good luck.

Take a tip from the current FLW at Kentucky Lake and look deep into the bushes that are flooded. There's a ton of food that gets loose in a flood and the fish swarm in to eat. Frogs, salamanders, worms draw smaller fish, which in turn draw the predatory fish into the shallows. Lot's of Flippin' fun in the future for you. There will still be fish out on the shelves but, hey it's a lot of fun shallow. Good luck.

No doubt that this time of year the bass are coming shallow to spawn, the unusually high water will only reinforce that. These bass will bury tight into the shallow cover that the newly flooded water has produced. I wan on Stockton Lake Mo.last fall and the water was down about 15ft from the Spring. I could see how much cover there was and how the water flooded and made some great habitat.

I agree with dennis. My first point of attack would be to pitch jigs as close to the newly flooded cover as possible.

JT Bagwell

Thanks guys for the advice on fishing the flooded reservoir. We've got a tourneyment this Saturday and the water has never been this high in the reservoir's existence.

I'm not sure what the bass are doing right now in youre neck of the woods but if the bass are spawning look for areas that are protected from the wind have a hard bottom and a gently sloping bank. Baitfish are also a big help and will help with bait selection. Start on the outside edge of the new flooded cover 1st targeting irregularities. Points are always a good place to start, more so if they lead in from deeper water such as a channel. Cover a lot of water, and if you catch a fish study the area and try and determine why the bass was there, more than likely there will be more than just that one bass. I would cover water fast with a spinnerbait or crankbait and look for active fish, one that fails move in and pitch plastics or jigs in the flooded cover. Pay close attention to any ditches or flooded roadbeds leading into the flooded timber, these could be hot!

I won a 2 day State tournament this year following a similar plan until I located quality bass. You can bet when there is new flooded cover, the bass will be there, it just takes some time to figure out what type of water they are using. Good luck, I hope you load the boat!

Jason, all of the above is great advice and should help a lot. The only thing I would add is to look for some flooded grass. Flooded grass always holds fish and a spinnerbait is a good selection. The B.A.S.S. Federation Championship in Tuscallosa, Ala. was won this way this weekend. The Florida rep, weighed in 24# in the grass slow rolling spinnerbaits. Good luck, Johnnie

I agree with Johnnie on all that he has said.

Also, if there are any old ponds that may now be flooded, fish these. Many times people forget about these areas, and the fish will be drawn to them like magnets. If there are such spots, try to locate the dam areas, and fish along the tops and drop areas.

Find anything that is like an island, and fish the outer edges. They may not have been islands before, but you still fish them the same as you would any other island. I've caught a lot of fish in these sort of areas, especially if there were any gaps in them.

As the water starts going down, watch for areas that will funnel bait. The larger fish will be waiting on the outside, especially if they have an easy escape route themselves to deeper water.
Dan