High, muddy water

[Drew03cmc]

We have been experiencing a cycle of high, muddy water, falling lakes and then more flooding. What do you normally toss? I got one hit today in an hour on a bladed jig, but tried a single Colorado spinnerbait, Plopper 130, Sammy 115 and lipless crank. I was throwing anything I could to move a lot of water and make a lot of noise. Also, it was very windy and I fished the windblown bank and a relatively calm backwater. 

[Big Rick]

Fish are VERY close to related cover when the water is chocolate milk. So, you have to get right in there with them. The easiest way to do that is with big jigs with trailers that have a ton of movement, like Rage Tails... Color is secondary, but darker color are seen better. 

[primetime]

Sometimes pitching or working a tube or creature bait like the Rage craw tight to the weeds with a rattle can help. Muddy water can be tricky cause they are not always where you would assume. Sometimes they go into the shallow water under weeds etc. so I would use baits that have a decent profile, vibration or sound....They won't always come up for topwater, sometimes a fluke fished quickly and killed will find them along weedlines and structure if you have long stretches to find them...Muddy water is tricky. I never get bit on buzz baits and topwater like you would think for some reason.....Bass will find plastics, especially if you put a bead in between your bullet weight to give it some sound when it hits bottom, or moving it.

[Shimano_1]

Jigs and chatterbaits get the nod for me in muddy water. If the fishing seems tough I flip a black and blue jig with a rage craw or similar trailer.

[deadadrift89]

Black/Blue bladed jig tight to cover along shoreline for me seems to work 

[Drew03cmc]

So it seems I did some stuff right, but didn't toss big jigs and big plastics. 

[Catt]

11 hours ago, Big Rick said:

Fish are VERY close to related cover when the water is chocolate milk. So, you have to get right in there with them. The easiest way to do that is with big jigs with trailers that have a ton of movement, like Rage Tails... Color is secondary, but darker color are seen better. 

 

Exactly ?

 

Bass in off colored water rely on their lateral line to detect food source location.

 

Your lure selection should be lures that move a lot of water.

[OnthePotomac]

At least on the Potomac they will be near the bank, wood, or rocks and I use large bulky, dark plastics.  Sometimes I throw up on the bank and dragging down into the water.

[Bankbeater]

How high is the water? This past April the bass were up in the flooded bushes. They were going after crankbaits running parallel to the flooded bushes. 

[Drew03cmc]

The small lake I fish most, it comes up and goes down very, very quickly. It'll come up 8 feet overnight and be low and clear in 5 days. 

[frogflogger]

short arm colorado bladed spinnerbaits and dark jigs with bulky trailer and strangely enough small plastic ned-type baits in white have all been effective for me in chocolate water

[Titan]

Sounds exactly like my home lake.  Muddy and the water rises and falls easily with a small amount of rain.  We have vegetation around the shoreline and that is the only real cover in the entire lake.  When the water is high, I flip and pitch 3/8 oz, dark colored jigs with a black or blue craw trailer on the outside and inside edge of the weed-lines.  When the water is up, there's a few feet of water between the bank and the weeds.  It will be a foot to a foot and a half deep there.  I've found the bass will move deeper into the weeds or on the inside weed line as the water is rising or high.  They will locate on the outside of the weed-lines during normal water levels.  When the lake is at normal levels, I've caught most of my fish on a black buzzbait fished parallel to the weed-line.  Large, very large, colorado bladed spinnerbaits worked the same way are also productive, but not as productive at the buzzbait ( I don't know why).  Very large, very loud deep crankbaits work for fishing the deeper channels and points.  This lake stays muddy to very stained year round' and the one thing I've found to be the most consistent is the bass ALWAYS stay tight to the available cover.

[scaleface]

Most success I have had in high "muddy" water [I'm talking an inch or two visibility] is a jig and pig . Black and orange , back when  bright orange pork frogs were available . Shallow cover , steep banks .