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Muddy Water Bob Howell When water is muddy, it inhibits
light penetration and bass have trouble seeing their prey so they tend to
move into thick shallow cover.
After a hard rain, mud washes into the creeks and
upstream areas of the lake. The clearer water will be in the downstream
area. Rather than fish the upstream areas, move downstream and fish small
pockets along the main lake. They are usually the last places to get muddy.
If you have no choice and have to fish muddy water
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Bass will feed in muddy water, but they won't
move far to search for prey. Muddy water is often high in oxygen due to
increased current flow created by run-off and bass will be in a feeding
mode. Instead of moving about searching for prey, they'll locate in shallows where there
is an abundance of forage close by. This includes shallow points, weedlines,
rip rap.
The strike zone is small in muddy water since bass
hold tight to cover, so you must be extremely accurate with casts. You will
have to get your bait into the cover. Most strikes come when the bait bumps
into the cover.
One thing in favor of the angler is, bass are not as
spooky in muddy water making it possible to get closer to cover to fish it.
Short presentations such as flipping and pitching can be very effective and
produce some quality bass.
Larger baits are more effective than small, slender
baits.
Colors that are dark such as black, deep dark blue
and purple and very light such as white and yellow show up best. Also, other
good colors are bright orange and chartreuse.
Noisy baits such as lipless rattling baits,
spinnerbaits with big Colorado blades and rattling jigs gets the bass'
attention.
Bass are often in the shallows in muddy water (3
- 6
feet), short-billed crankbaits and spinnerbaits are effective. A deep diving
crankbait can be very effective also. It creates added noise as it drags
along the bottom. |
