Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

Guys- In one of the recent posts I mentioned that I drove past a river that connects with High Rock Lake. (I believe it was the Yadkin or similar sounding name.) It was like coffee with a hint of cream in it.
THe question I pose is this: How do you fish in water that is that stained or colored? (A better word might be "morphed".)
I know what "the Book" says. Rattles, blade baits, buzzbaits, bright colors,etc. I've been lucky enough never to fish in this condition here in the Northeast or when I've been in other sections of the country.
Let's hear what the Pro Staff has to say.
JoeM

Joe, Having had the plesure of dealing with high muddy water, I try to follow two rules (that by the way are not without exceptions). First Muddy water or dirty water means slow down and be precise with your presentation,it also means short range casts repeated to high precentage areas. When I think clear water I think fast long distance. Muddy water has different characturistics, is the water always that color or has the weather or plume of water coming down stream caused the change. If the water is always murky (do to Algae, sediment, and or tannic acid usually stained water) the bass are not thrown into shock. If I am fishing a large resevoir I will try to move upstream or downstream or find clearer pockets of water, in a river I might try to shift to back waters little ponds or oxbows off the main channel, or find these little mud hole ponds that are always dirty becuase their population will not be influenced by the mud plume. Back to the two rules 1.) dirty water slow down, clear water speed up, 2.) rising water fish shallow, falling water fish deep. The worse conditions are muddy cold water especially in the spring, in early spring (on small bodies of water especially) a sudden rain storm will chill the water and muddy the water giving an angler a terrible set of conditions. By the way Joe the water in the Hudson river is as dirty as any I have ever encountered any where. As for conditions I like to use a Black and chartrues 3/8 oz Rat-L-back jig and strikeking BoHawg Sr., I fish the jig very slowly crawling it around and shaking it in place for a long time becuase you are fishing so slow you have to economise on casting distance short pitches and not long throws, if I am pressed I will use a spinnerbait with a large copper single wheel and it is in the 5/8 oz size (except on the Potomac where the fish are conditioned to be wheight shy than I use a june bug 4" power ring worm or 6" version with a 1/32 or 1/64 oz head) and once again fish slowly making short multiple presentations to the same high precentage spots allowing the bait to free fall to to crease or seam of the structure. Good Bassin Dan bass

Well Joe I was raised on fishing muddy water.
I have lived on and fished the Ohio all my life. Muddy water is what I look for when I'm on one of those clear lakes. As far as lure choice that would depend on the season.
Pre-spawn it will be a jig or craw tube in black and chartreuse. After the spawn I'll be throwing alot of spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. As far as rattles,I personal don't use them, it seems the fish on this river don't like them much. Don't be afraid to fish that muddy water especially if the fish are use to it. Just fished a open tourney on Yatesville Lake in Eastern KY the lower end of the lake was very clear I ran up to the upper end where the water was fairly stained. There was one other boat in a mile stretch of this part of the lake.
Had never fished the lake before and by 11am, had six fish that weighed 20 lbs.
These fish were caught on tubes without rattles. See my point. In high muddy water in the spring the key is to fish shallow and as Dan said be precise with your cast. If you look closely at the banks of the lake, they will be a shad lighter than the rest of the lake. This is where the bait fish will head first. You know what follows. Good fishing.

Dan & Brian- You guys have made me itchy. Now I want to find muddy water so that I can work on the techniques you fellas have told me about.
Tell me, is fast water another thing that comes with muddy water, or is there a slow muddy scenario also?
I do understand looking for stained water when the river/lake comes up gin-clear. I read about guys doing that early in the season on the Potomac and other similar river systems. (My experiences with stained water are mostly due to algae blooms or tannic water)
Keep those answers coming. Any of you guys out there just "lurking", come on and get on board.
Good Fishing is a direct result of good information and that's what we have on this board (and on this Website) JoeM

Joe, I have been using rattles and like them , but it is a matter of preferance. I like to think I prefer clear water to muddy but once again as river rat stated it is what you are used to. By the way Candlewood this week end was a brutal lesson in muudy cold spring conditions and I used a tube in melon pepper and 3" senko in the same color. What made conditions harder was the shallow bite was the "pre-full moon spawning fish dropsies" the Smallmouths were in 2' yo 12' of water in rocky areas and would hit the bait (tail Grab) and drop it without getting the hook. Normally I would use a tiny hair jig or 4" power worm cut down to 3" with a 1/4 or 1/8 oz. slider head and catch at least 3/4 of my bites. We found the areas, but any thing small enough to catch them would not be seen ( you would get about 1/2 the bites) and any thing big enough to get bit alot you would only catch about 1 in 10. Once again slow "Canal Crawl" or the "Lake Erie drag" was the key wit the tube. Good Bassin Dan Bass

Joe, just fished a Mid-West qualifier on the river. High muddy conditions, the worst I've fished in a long time. I blanked. So maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Muddy water is total different than high water. The mud I can deal with but add the high water and I get lost on this river. It is so hard to pattern these fish on the river with these conditions, one creek maybe 6 feet up, while one 20 miles down river maybe 2 feet. It makes it difficult. So the answer to your question between muddy and high muddy conditions is that the mud doesn't bother me but high mud does. Now maybe on a lake the high mud might be ok, take ky lake for example, once the water gets up in that buck brush the flipping bite is awesome. I guess it depends on where your at.

Guys- You've covered this subject well. I only hope some of those "lurkers" out there come aboard and give us some additional points to ponder; perhaps even a related question.
Brian, you mentioned flippin' in KY Lake. That got my blood pumping. When the flippin' bite is on, I want to be there.
Dan, I talked with your partner and he described your day in glowing terms. So, it was muddy. Was going to drive to Candlewood, but we had company.
Brian, the guy who doesn't blank once in awhile probably only fishes once in awhile.
Thanks to both of you for taking the time to really dissect the problem and present realistic solutions.
Bass Wishes, JoeM