Clear Vs Stained Water

[FirstnameLastname]

What do you prefer clear water like what you might find in a resevoir or murky, stained water like a small pond? I prefer clear water as it allows flashy lures to be most effective and I use a lot of flashy lures. How ever I think clear water does have a disadvantage. It allows the fish to better see your line and see you if you are fishing off the shore.

[geo g]

Real clear water doesn't have as much organic matter in it which the bait fish love. Where there are bait fish there are bass.   I like a lite stain in the water, but hate muddy brown water. 

[FirstnameLastname]

That's a good point. There are exceptions to that rule though, just today I was at a small resevoir and the water was very clear but it still had tons of plant, insect life for the bait fish.

[Driftb]

A moderate stain brings out the big girls.  I like when the fish don't have much time to get a real good look at a lure.  The fish typically will be more aggressive with a stain too. Nothing personal, but the gin clear water appeals more to the non angler than the fisherman.

[Bluebasser86]

Stained water is much easier to fish, something with like 4-5 feet of visibility. 

[Lund Explorer]

In the vast majority of lakes I fish, I don't have the choice to fish anything but clear water.  When the "dingy" lake you fish still has 10' of visibility, you learn to adapt your approach.  Fish during periods of low light, going smaller on baits and lighter on line improves your odds.

[Catch and Grease]

Real clear water doesn't have as much organic matter in it which the bait fish love. Where there are bait fish there are bass.   I like a lite stain in the water, but hate muddy brown water.

I fish a lake that's like sink water but has vegetation so thick it looks like you could walk on it.... Don't try using a trolling motor there, break out the paddle!

[Sam]

Bluebasser86, on 08 Sept 2014 - 01:06, said:

Stained water is much easier to fish, something with like 4-5 feet of visibility. 

 

X2.

 

A little stain in the water will be more productive.

 

Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule.  The bass and other species will adapt to clear, stained, heavily stained and muddy water and we have to do the same.

 

On many Virginia waters we like to find the clear water if the water is heavily stained or muddy.  The bass will go to the clearest water they can find.

[Driftb]

The Upper Delaware river that I fish will have clear water with 20' visibility in the summer and low water conditions.  The big fish are much harder to come by in those conditions.  It's pretty common to have 3 or 4 big  smallies chase a bait to the boat, only to turn back when they are eye to eye with anglers in the boat.  They usually won't come back either.  At that point, a smaller bass typically darts out and grabs the lure away from the big ones.  In high stained water, those bets are off.  No more sight fishing, you cast to the bank, and the guys who can cast accurately and respond to reaction strike are going to catch bigger fish than they have ever seen in the river.  Forget the little finesse baits and light line.  1/2 oz spinnerbaits, #10 x-rap, pointer minnow, anything noisy.  I can row from spot to spot and if a guy can cast accurately, point exactly where he should cast. Half  of the hits are reaction strikes as soon as the lure hits the water.  Make sure that if you are right handed, you are using a left hand retrieve, or you will miss a lot of strikes while you are switching hands! Of course there will be other fish in less predictable spots, but if you can read the current, it can become a lot easier to find big fish in stained water.  I would o as far as to say that most of my biggest fish have come out of stained water. 

 

That being said, this summer in some of our local lakes I saw the water get too stained with mud and then suspended algae and the fishing really suffered. Visibility in these lakes is down to 2' or less.  The weed growth was stunted and the water still hasn't cleared up like it usually does. Hopefully it'll turn over soon and change that.

[einscodek]

stained is preferred

clear only if theres alot of weeds

[kikstand454]

The lake I fish the most is a reservoir that in the 27 years I have fished it, I have never seen it clearer than 3' of visibility. Espicially in the main lake. Way, way up the creeks you can find "stained" water. .... but that's about it. Lol.

You better get 17+# in a tourney there, or you're not safe.

[big poppa]

I  love fishing in the chocolate milk. Ive caught more big fish including my PB in water with only inches of visibility. 

[hatrix]

Lots of places I fish are very clear. They are also loaded with weeds. They go hand in hand though since the weeds filter it and make the water super clear.

[fishballer06]

Stained water is much easier to fish, something with like 4-5 feet of visibility. 

 

This.

[Chance_Taker4]

Lots of places I fish are very clear. They are also loaded with weeds. They go hand in hand though since the weeds filter it and make the water super clear.

x2 I don't were in Ohio you live but I live in OH as well. I can say I fish half the time on clear lakes and half in stained. Majority of my stained lake fishing is on Lake Erie. I can produce bigger fish in stain but I love sight fishing and watching that fish take the bait excites the he** out of me.

[RoLo]

Realistically, this topic probably deals more with limnology than opinion.

 

In crystal-clear water, predatory fish can see the flaws in our delivery and tend to be more 'skittish & noncommittal'.

In dark murky water, predators tend to be more aggressive due to sharply comprised vision

but in very dingy water they're highly reliant on 'sound & vibration'. I prefer middling secchi depths,

where a white lure disappears about 4 ft deep (3 to 5 ft).

 

In central Florida, there's a small, deep, gin-clear lake of sinkhole origin (karst).

When the sun is shining you can easily see the bottom in 9 ft of water. The outer weed-line in this lake

averages about 14 ft deep, so if you work along the deep weedlines (edge of photosynthesis)

you'd be keeping your lure in the twilight zone where fishing can be excellent in a clear lake.

 

Roger