It?s rained a lot lately and will rain more before the summer is over. Fishing water that gets too thick to drink and too thin to plow often seems to nix fishing opportunities. But according to experts, muddy water does not have to be a dirty word. It does require a change of tactics and lures.
Gene Kane, of Laurel, Del., who guides anglers in both Delaware and Maryland, notes that you can use rain ? and muddy water ? to your advantage. In mid-Atlantic ponds and impoundments, feeder streams bring in mud, leaving the lower part of the lake free and clear immediately after rain. Later, the up-lake area clears first, with both situations allowing almost normal fishing tactics and lures. Fishing lake shorelines during rain helps, since banks are often cleaner and stay cleaner than muddy mid-lake areas.
With stained water, Gene notes that warm-water species rely less on vision and more on tactile senses of their lateral line. Thus, switch to noisy lures. Gene suggests Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits with Colorado or Indiana blades for greater “thump” factor and any crankbait with rattles. Bright flash works best in stained water, switching to black lures for greater visual profile better in really muddy stuff.
Chesapeake Bay and freshwater guide Capt. Norman Bartlett echoes Kane?s thoughts, noting that rattle flies and lures come right after scent in attracting fish. For those anglers fishing naturals, he likes cut bait since it constantly “bleeds” odor into the water. As with Kane, Bartlett likes chartreuse best and black for really stained water. He also fishes shallower during stained/muddy water, noting that fish cruise higher in the water column as particulate matter settles out after a rain.
Favorite lures are the same as Kane?s ? Rat-L-Traps, rattle crankbaits, noisy spinnerbaits and rattle flies when casting the long rod.
Brian Shumaker, of New Cumberland, Pa., guides anglers on the Susquehanna River for smallmouth and Roanoke in Virginia for stripers. He likes chartreuse, sometimes even white, but “has no confidence in black.” Hey, experts sometimes differ in opinions.
One Shumaker tip for rising stream and river water is to find eddies, protected pockets and to fish the banks, since fish will not stay in mid-stream where they have to fight the current.
There is no question that extremes in muddy water, rising water and fast current can signal a time to forget fishing. During average rains, mud and rising water can push fish into protected areas where they are concentrated and ganged up. Sometimes this makes for easier fishing than when fish are cruising clear water and scattered all over the lake or river. Having the right noisy lure helps also.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on hunting, fishing and the outdoors, and he has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected].
