Fishing the Day After a Heavy Rain Storm

[CrankFate]

Do you do it? Is it worth it? 

[scaleface]

Yes and I fish just like any other day . I pay special attention to culverts and places where water is running in the lake .

[MartinTheFisherman]

1 hour ago, CrankFate said:

Do you do it? Is it worth it? 

I was about to ask this question!

[Drew03cmc]

Man, I catch fish where water runs in, culverts, feeders, etc. I have one small pond that I need to go toss a jig in, but I've been doing well on paddle tails, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits around incoming water.

[CrankFate]

I don’t usually do it, but I’d that is the case, what do you throw?

[scaleface]

Use the same lures as any other days . When tossing up inside a culvert I avoid hard plastic lures like crankbaits or poppers because they will inadvertently get bounced off the concrete and break . Spinnerbaits , buzzbaits , soft plastics and jigs will catch fish in there. A half ounce spinnerbait is perhaps my favorite lure  for culverts because I can do a low trajectory under-hand cast way back up in  there .

[Deleted account]

Oh yeah, one of my favorite times to fish. Of course too much of a good thing can make it bad sometimes. I have this one can't miss bite at this one place I fish, that when a creek that comes into this lake flows like a river (it barely trickles most times) it's lights out on a t-rig craw

[Koz]

I do, but only to get out of the house. I don't expect to catch much of anything.

 

For example, yesterday we had a heavy, cold rain and thunderstorms. Today the temperatures were 15 degrees cooler than yesterday, mostly cloudy skies and the wind was blowing 20-25 mph all afternoon. The wind whipped up waves on the larger lagoons and that kept the gators on the banks instead of in the water.

 

Experience tells me it would be a lousy day to fish, but I went out and walked the banks for 90 minutes. At least I got some exercise. Things warm up a little tomorrow and the winds will be a little calmer, but down here it's usually the third day after a cold front moves in that the fishing gets good again.

 

 

[flyfisher]

It was 80 yesterday and we got a ton of rain.  Slightly cloudy today temps topped out in the high 60s and windy with 15mph steady and gusts over 40.  I went out and did quite well.  

 

[Bluebasser86]

As long as it isn't flash flood type rains, yes I've done really well right after heavy rains. It's usually very fun fishing. I'll fish a spinnerbait, buzzbait, and jig in all the newly flooding vegetation and wood. Fish move up into that stuff looking for an easy meal of something that isn't supposed to be in the water (bugs, terrestrial animals that don't typically spend much time in the water). 

[Oregon Native]

If I get a chance to get on the water......gone gone gone

[roadwarrior]

BEST DAY EVER was after an epic storm at Pickwick.  We had 18" of rain and the lake rose 9' overnight.

78 bass in one day, mostly using a Sworming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad. My partner slayed them on

a Red Eye Shad.

 

[IgotWood]

Yup! I usually target the flooded banks. It amazes me how far back up the banks the fish will go. And as said previously, if you find running water, fish will hold on the seams of the current or in eddies. Usually the water is pretty dirty so I stick with blacks and junebug colors and baits that vibrate are make a lot of noise. 

[Spankey]

Generally that will keep me off the river. I play it safe. 

 

I switch gears and lake fish. Sure lake is affected but not at treacherous. 

[scaleface]

It does depend on the body of water too . Some will rise quickly and turn muddy . Others hardly change at all .

[Dogface]

On 4/21/2019 at 1:08 PM, IgotWood said:

Yup! I usually target the flooded banks. It amazes me how far back up the banks the fish will go. 

A few years ago we were up in Quebec. They had heavy rain before we got there and the lake was much higher than normal. Fishing was not good. There was a lake front home with a big lawn that extended down to the lake. The lawn was under water maybe a foot to a foot and a half deep. The area in front of the lawn had always produced a few bass but nothing that day. 

 

I don't remember why but we tossed a few baits up into the lawn and we started catching bass. I don't remember how many we caught but there was a lot of them and there was a lot of lawn to fish. It made the day for us. 

 

BTW I pass that place often but the water has never been that high since then. 

[flyfisher]

41 minutes ago, Dogface said:

A few years ago we were up in Quebec. They had heavy rain before we got there and the lake was much higher than normal. Fishing was not good. There was a lake front home with a big lawn that extended down to the lake. The lawn was under water maybe a foot to a foot and a half deep. The area in front of the lawn had always produced a few bass but nothing that day. 

 

I don't remember why but we tossed a few baits up into the lawn and we started catching bass. I don't remember how many we caught but there was a lot of them and there was a lot of lawn to fish. It made the day for us. 

 

BTW I pass that place often but the water has never been that high since then. 

I love high water like that on lakes I fish.  The bass move up super shallow to feed on al the stuff that they normally don't see.  I have had some of my best days in those conditions.  One day last summer I caught 16 fish and 3 were citation size here in VA.  All were caught in a foot of water or less.

[IgotWood]

39 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

I love high water like that on lakes I fish.  The bass move up super shallow to feed on al the stuff that they normally don't see.  I have had some of my best days in those conditions.  One day last summer I caught 16 fish and 3 were citation size here in VA.  All were caught in a foot of water or less.

Same. In 2016 we caught the remnants of a hurricane here in VA. I fished a couple days after and the water was still up about 2’. I fished the bushes and trees in the parking lot which are usually nowhere near the water, and caught a bunch of fish.  

[The Bassman]

On 4/20/2019 at 2:19 PM, Drew03cmc said:

Man, I catch fish where water runs in, culverts, feeders, etc. I have one small pond that I need to go toss a jig in, but I've been doing well on paddle tails, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits around incoming water.

We had a lot of rain this past Fri. and Sat. I have one HOA lake in particular with a large stormwater discharge that I love to fish after such these events. Sat. evening in 40* temps and drizzle I caught over 20 in an hour with many over 3 lb. and one easily over 6. Talk about living the dream! That spot will soon become a shallow, algae choked (from fertilizer runoff) unfishable place until the next big rain.

[Drew03cmc]

1 hour ago, The Bassman said:

We had a lot of rain this past Fri. and Sat. I have one HOA lake in particular with a large stormwater discharge that I love to fish after such these events. Sat. evening in 40* temps and drizzle I caught over 20 in an hour with many over 3 lb. and one easily over 6. Talk about living the dream! That spot will soon become a shallow, algae choked (from fertilizer runoff) unfishable place until the next big rain.

You're talking about one of my honey holes. I have a pond that I can drop Trick Worms in pockets all summer and simply clean up. It looks froggy as heck, but doesn't seem to produce for me.

[NHBull]

I do and usually compensate for  stained conditions, but usually have better luck when it is raining.......like my father once said "never miss an opportunity  to wet your worm"  ?

[superkamikazee]

Been raining a lot here lately, Connecticut River appears to be at flood stages, the Oxbow is completely flooded. I'm sticking to smaller lakes and ponds for the moment, still higher than normal levels, and I haven't had good luck. Going out this afternoon, try my luck. Have a jig with a rage craw tied on, wacky rig senko, chatter bait, and a jerkbait. See what happens. Based on info in the thread, I should be beating up the banks, and any brush against the banks.

[CrankFate]

I tried a small pond, but even after lots of rain the water is low. For whatever reason they must be letting water out. I do not know why???

[The Bassman]

Was able to take advantage of a big rain again. My favorite honey hole was just ten minutes from where I was working so I was able to sneak away on a "long lunch". Fished an hour, caught and released 21, grabbed a quick sandwich, and went back and finished painting the living room I started. Now that's what I call being productive.

[CrankFate]

30 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Was able to take advantage of a big rain again. My favorite honey hole was just ten minutes from where I was working so I was able to sneak away on a "long lunch". Fished an hour, caught and released 21, grabbed a quick sandwich, and went back and finished painting the living room I started. Now that's what I call being productive.

Never got anywhere near 20 in one day, but I’ll be fishing after big rains again tomorrow. Now if the poison ivy embedded into scratches on my ankle from walking a mile through rugged poison ivy vine covered terrain last time I was out would go away, everything would be great. Next time, I’ll remember to wear socks that cover my ankle.