River smallmouth in muddy water or at nigh.

[Mr.Jackson]

Looking for some suggestions from

anyone who consistently catches River smallmouth at night or in muddy water.Those seem to be my biggest weakness.I can catch a none or a couple in those conditions but never enough to find a go to bait or pattern.I usually will throw a black/chart 1.5 square bill,a black/blue jig or Texas rugged black blue Rage craw.Thanks in advance.

 

[TnRiver46]

Purple worm behind the rocks! River is too scary for me after dark. When it’s muddy you just aren’t going to

catch as many, still worth trying 

 

[Sphynx]

You might find some success with a bladed jig, same rules apply though, muddy water/bad visibility they usually get up tight to cover, so flipping a Texas rig into wood or rock piles might work too if you have any

[Tatsu Dave]

We fish a couple spots that are so muddy they leave a bathtub ring around the boat  with smallies I like to fish tight on cover(mostly wood) with crime scene, junebug, and trophy hunter( half grn pumpkin and half junebug). I'm a plastic fisherman so 4-5" stickbaits and crawfish imitators are tops on the list. Nothing like a river smallmouth in the current to test the line and drag.......My son with a river smallmouth.

[Scott F]

If the river you are fishing is generally clear but then gets muddy after a rain, it is usually very tough. Smallies sight feed most of the time and the bite will usually shut down if the normally clear water turns to chocolate milk. 

[Tatsu Dave]

Both rivers we fish are dark tannin stained from the evergreens at there best and limit visibility to about 3-4', both also run thru farmland so any runoff turns them to light chocolate milk. We use simple green and dishwashing detergent with a scrub brush to clean the boat ring off each fall, takes about a half hour on each side   Used to really bother me but the fish we catch makes it worth while. I think its one of the reasons the smallmouth are so dark in color. 

[Finessegenics]

If your river is usually clear but is now muddy for whatever reason, the fish will be tight to cover. If you know of any big boulders or sunken logs, I’d target directly behind them. I like to use tiny swimbaits or small worms on light jigheads. If the usual structure isn’t working, I cast upstream and let the current take my bait to present a sort of natural drift. I twitch/jig my bait to avoid getting hung up and to keep the bait moving. A lot of times something will pick it up, you’ll think you’re snagged but nope, fish on!  Any color works for me but I like chartreuse and some green pumpkin orange variation.
 

Another bait that has been doing well for me is a swing head. Run it like a crankbait over the rocks. I use a 3/8 oz head with a 3/0 hook. I usually throw on a craw trailer but a swimbait would work too. 

[Zachh Nute]

depends on how fast the current I running, but I like using the Megabass Okashira Screwhead with a Megabass Hazedong Shad. It has that little bit of flash that the fish cant resist. 

[smalljaw67]

When my river is muddy there is one presentation that has worked extremely well for me. The single Colorado blade spinnerbait, and there are 2 weights and blade sizes that I use. If the water is high and muddy I use a 1/2oz bait with a single #5 Colorado blade. If the water is normal flow and just muddy I'll go with the 3/8oz bait with a single #4 Colorado blade. I use black, black and purple, black and chartreuse, black and orange, and black and red for head and skirt color with a black nickel blade most of the time. They all work to some degree but black and purple and black and chartreuse seem to out produce the others including plain black but it could be just a coincidence. Fish the bait as slow as you can in eddies, current breaks or slack water spots. You want it close to the bottom occasionally ticking it, i've never been skunked using that presentation in muddy conditions.

[Boat Flip Everything]

I typically fish 2-4 days a week weather permitting. (Kayak with basic electronics so I move/cover a small area in comparison to the body of water)

 

The water I fish isn't consistently muddy/cloudy unless we had storms and the creeks are filling up the main water.

 

I don't agree with this.....If the river you are fishing is generally clear but then gets muddy after a rain, it is usually very tough. Smallies sight feed most of the time and the bite will usually shut down if the normally clear water turns to chocolate milk. 

 

In my experience the bigger fish will roam and the smaller ones will stay somewhat in the same areas. (Time of day also plays on this answer, so I think I understand what you're asking here)

 

Stick with the square bill, but maybe try some colors/sizes you might not typically use (citrus or fire tiger for example if you typically use bluegill or shad, I also use SCENT on them, but mix it up) This produces my biggest fish typically... I would also key in on the roamers and try to throw this in areas you might not typically fish.

 

I would also highly recommend throwing some bigger plastic finesse worms Texas style with a pinned sinker. I personally haven't seen a higher percentage using one rigging style vs another in muddy/cloudy water so why worry about snagging if it's not helping your cause. I would also start with solid/natural colors and work from there if they seem to key in on one. (ADD SCENT AND LOTS OF IT!)

 

I'm not fully sold on this theory, but I can say it has produced more numbers/quality fish....

 

If your fishing arsenal allows you to have multiple rods rigged up I would try different sizes/colors/weights and work the same areas using each one until you get some idea on what they want at that moment in time. Sometimes I find that a larger sinker makes the bait stay in one spot a few seconds longer in the current which might give the fish an opportunity to find it. 

[John Diamond]

I have had a lot of luck throwing bone colored(aka, unpainted resin) small crankbaits when the river is muddy after a rain, during daylight.  I've never had much luck at night at all.

[Mbirdsley]

Black and blue flake chigger craws are my go to on the muddy Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers.  The Tittabawassee usually Runs dirty but, more so with the dam failures up stream.  The Tittabawassee avg 5-6 feet where I fish. The holes being 10-14 ft.  The holes hold the bigger fish.  I havnt figured out he crank bite yet but, what success I have had has been flashy cranks with the sun out and brighter colors with cloudy days.

 

like I said above black/blue chigger craw kills it.  Either t-rigged with a 1/2 oz tungsten sinker or as a trailer on 1/2 black and blue jig.  Toss it up stream and work it back.  Most of the time they will either hit it just as it gets to the bottom or first movement. I have also had good luck with pb&j colored jigs 

[Sodaksam]

I fish the upper Mississippi in northern MN. Water is like coffee most of the time.  We have pretty good luck with Rapala Dt-10’s banging them off the boulders. 

[soflabasser]

I have fished flooded northern rivers and have done well with spinnerbaits.