Rising water vs dropping water

[Kirtley Howe]

I keep hearing the pros say that rising water is always better than falling water....and on tidal waters I totally agree. Fish in tidal waters are programmed to eat on a rising tide.  BUT (you knew that was coming)...in non-tidal rivers, and most natural lakes I often find that fishing is better when they are falling or have fallen and have stabilized. My reasoning on this is that falling (or low) water levels concentrate the fish into specific and predictable places where as  rising or high stabile water conditions tend to scatter fish over wider areas, making them harder to locate.  With falling or low water levels, I just look for deep areas within the shallow surroundings. But deep is a relative term. A 16" trough or channel in an area of 6" water is "deep". Likewise, a 10' hole in an area of average depth of 3' is also "deep". Anyway, I just look for deep spots and find the fish. Yes, other things bear on this also. Oxygen levels, baitfish concentrations, cover, structure, etc all play a part, but the low or falling water reduces the necessary search areas.   Your thoughts?

[roadwarrior]

The bite stops around here when the water falls regardless of how high it might have

been before the fall. When the water level stabilizes it takes an hour or two for the fish

to adjust. 

 

Rising water, primarily from dam release, IMMEDIATELY stimulates the bite.

[Kirtley Howe]

2 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

The bite stops around here when the water falls regardless of how high it might have

been before the fall. When the water level stabilizes it takes an hour or two for the fish

to adjust. 

 

Rising water, primarily from dam release, IMMEDIATELY stimulates the bite.

Agreed. but note I said on natural lakes (ie: no dam that releases water). If I have the good fortune to be on a river when the water STARTS rising due to heavy rainfall, I do find that the fishing is usually great, but only for a very short period of time. After that, it turns into a major chore to find the fish. On most of the lakes I fish it takes several days of heavy rain to make much difference in water levels, and that is usually accompanied by cold, muddy water, which is not normally conducive to good fishing. 

[roadwarrior]

1 minute ago, Kirt Howe said:

If I have the good fortune to be on a river when the water STARTS rising due to heavy rainfall, I do find that the fishing is usually great, but only for a very short period of time.

 

Ideally you motor down to stay on the rise. I have a guide on the White River that is VERY

skilled at this, but it is difficult for us mortals. 

[Kirtley Howe]

1 minute ago, roadwarrior said:

 

Ideally you motor down to stay on the rise. I have a guide on the White River that is VERY

skilled at this, but it is difficult for us mortals. 

You got that right. 

[Sphynx]

As a bank angler I happen to prefer rising water as a general rule, they love to feed in the newly submerged areas, the exception to this is when the water rises so much that bank access becomes either difficult or impossible...don't really care for that

[Deleted account]

52 minutes ago, Kirt Howe said:

Your thoughts?

In tidal waters, falling water can be just as productive as rising water, I'd argue more so.  It's specific to the locale and conditions. A lot of folks struggle in tidal waters, I find that they are very predictable, but you do have to put your time in to figure it out.

[Columbia Craw]

I’ll take the dropping tide whenever possible.   On my waters, rising water levels spreads bass out and dropping levels concentrate them.

[cyclops2]

 

  The food has to follow a dropping water level or die.  Rising is NOT A MUST move water condition.

[roadwarrior]

When the water falls I think they react to a "death threat" without concern for feeding.

[RDB]

In non-tidal waters, I would think it would depend on how rapidly the water is rising or falling.  I am no expert on northern lakes but it seems like levels in your waters fluctuate more frequently and dramatically than our waters.  In Texas, bass don’t typically respond well to rapidly falling water.  In lakes that don’t see frequent or dramatic changes, my guess is safety and survival becomes more of a priority in their shrinking environment.  Once stabilized, things return to normal.  Rapidly rising doesn’t seem to bother them as much.  Unfortunately it also open up much more water.

[DitchPanda]

Rising..hands down..no comparison

[TnRiver46]

Well, it depends……….

 

I have no natural lakes. I have rivers with dams and some without .
 

Most dams fish great when they are flowing, especially on main stem of TN river. Conversely, when fishing below some of the highland tributary reservoirs, fishing is almost impossible when the dam is running. You can’t work a bait very effectively when the boat is moving 5 mph. In these scenarios, the fish start biting pretty well once the water starts falling and fish the best when the water is completely turned off. Then when it comes back on, the fish will activate briefly until it’s a raging torrent and they have to tuck in behind something. 
 

In rivers without dams, it’s slightly more complicated. It depends on how rapidly the water is rising. If it rains a medium amount, especially in summer, it can help the bite. If it pours rain, you’re going to have a tidal wave of water the same color as peanut butter. That rising water fishes horribly. But after a day or 3 of muddy water, the fish have to start eating as the river falls back out 

[Basser2021]

5 hours ago, Kirt Howe said:

I keep hearing the pros say that rising water is always better than falling water....and on tidal waters I totally agree. Fish in tidal waters are programmed to eat on a rising tide.  BUT (you knew that was coming)...in non-tidal rivers, and most natural lakes I often find that fishing is better when they are falling or have fallen and have stabilized. My reasoning on this is that falling (or low) water levels concentrate the fish into specific and predictable places where as  rising or high stabile water conditions tend to scatter fish over wider areas, making them harder to locate.  With falling or low water levels, I just look for deep areas within the shallow surroundings. But deep is a relative term. A 16" trough or channel in an area of 6" water is "deep". Likewise, a 10' hole in an area of average depth of 3' is also "deep". Anyway, I just look for deep spots and find the fish. Yes, other things bear on this also. Oxygen levels, baitfish concentrations, cover, structure, etc all play a part, but the low or falling water reduces the necessary search areas.   Your thoughts?

In my personal experience, I have noticed that the bass fishing is better in lower water. Maybe because the lower water is a lot clearer than higher water is?

[soflabasser]

I have learned that there are places that rising water levels improves the fishing and other places lowering water levels improves the fishing. I learned this by putting time on the water which is the best way to learn how to fish.

[WRB]

Tidal bass live with incoming and outgoing flows their entire life a few times a day it’s normal.

Natural lakes don’t rise and fall often and affects fish negatively. 

Reservoirs, depending on the dam function rise and fall seasonally and fish move with rising water levels an pull back during falling water levels. Inflow and outflow choke zones are high % areas do to water flowing current compressing food sources. If the water temps change that affects feeding activity, colder water isn’t good.

Tom