Muddy water is my Achilles!

[Darth-Baiter]

Totally stymied.  I was making a lure racket.  Spinner baits, squarebilks, chatter…

 

total skunk.  Oh well, at least there was zero wind.  The water was like a smooth glass of choco-milk. It was still a blast to get out again. 

[Bird]

When the water is extremely muddy try fishing tight to the bank, very tight.

[Koz]

After the round of storms last week, the southern part of Lake Oconee where I fish is junk. Tons of debris and diarrhea colored water. I went out on my kayak late afternoon last week and while there were tons of bait fish there were no predators to be found.

 

I spent a lot of time just pedaling around and utilizing my electronics. The stripers probably headed north for clearer water and although I caught two dinks, I never found any decent bass. Nothing on side scan or down scan. This part of the lake is always tough bass fishing, but after storms it's a wasteland.

[galyonj]

1 hour ago, Bird said:

When the water is extremely muddy try fishing tight to the bank, very tight.

 

Yessir. Tight to the bank, tight to cover.

[DaubsNU1]

Lakes around her have visibility between 6-12" max. Pretty standard. 

 

 

[BigAngus752]

1.  Cold water and muddy...stay home.

2.  First couple days of muddy...stay home (unless you have fresh, clearer water coming in somewhere, then go there).

3.  Third or fourth day of muddy with consistent weather for those days go for it.  Throw ON the cover.  I'm talking right up against.  Throw past cover and intentionally smack it as you reel it back.

 

They don't want a moving bait?  Black/blue jig with black/blue big, floppy trailer. 

 

Go to where you think the fish should be depending on the season.  It's not necessarily the bank.  It could be the mouth of a creek.  Find something hard.  Standing timber?  Sea wall? Rip rap?  That's where the fish are.  Throw multiple times. When it's chocolate milk I tell myself that the fish are like me in my basement with the lights off and I'm touching each piece of furniture or wall as I'm trying to make my way to the stairs. 

 

[Columbia Craw]

[geo g]

Muddy water, I slow down, fish with dark colors, use scent on my plastics and jigs, and rattles on jigs.  If that doesn’t help I go home and have a beer!

[Darth-Baiter]

11 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

1.  Cold water and muddy...stay home.

2.  First couple days of muddy...stay home (unless you have fresh, clearer water coming in somewhere, then go there).

3.  Third or fourth day of muddy with consistent weather for those days go for it.  Throw ON the cover.  I'm talking right up against.  Throw past cover and intentionally smack it as you reel it back.

 

They don't want a moving bait?  Black/blue jig with black/blue big, floppy trailer. 

 

Go to where you think the fish should be depending on the season.  It's not necessarily the bank.  It could be the mouth of a creek.  Find something hard.  Standing timber?  Sea wall? Rip rap?  That's where the fish are.  Throw multiple times. When it's chocolate milk I tell myself that the fish are like me in my basement with the lights off and I'm touching each piece of furniture or wall as I'm trying to make my way to the stairs. 

 

Wow. You’re making me want to go try again. Thx. 

[BigAngus752]

12 hours ago, geo g said:

Muddy water, I slow down, fish with dark colors, use scent on my plastics and jigs, and rattles on jigs.  If that doesn’t help I go home and have a beer!

 

2 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Wow. You’re making me want to go try again. Thx. 

Add what @geo gsays also!  I'm a big believer in using a MaxScent plastic or using Megastrike on my plastics and jigs when the bite is tough. 

 

When it's tough is when I really, really get into fishing.  It's the figuring them out.  If it was easy to catch fish I wouldn't even be interested in this sport. 

[Mike L]

13 hours ago, geo g said:

Muddy water, I slow down, fish with dark colors, use scent on my plastics and jigs, and rattles on jigs.  If that doesn’t help I go home and have a beer!

Pretty much cover it!

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Catt]

20 hours ago, geo g said:

Muddy water, I slow down, fish with dark colors, use scent on my plastics and jigs, and rattles on jigs.  If that doesn’t help I go home and have a beer!

 

 Lunker Lure's Gamakatsu Triple Rattleback Jig 3/8 oz

 

Black-n-blue with a Sapphire Blue Rage Craw, cut it down 1".

 

I know everyone is gonna ask why not a Baby Craw...I want the bulk!

 

Ya wanna slow that fall down.

 

 Lunker Lure Triple Rattleback Vibratron Spinnerbait.

 

[ATA]

On 4/1/2023 at 6:02 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

Totally stymied.  I was making a lure racket.  Spinner baits, squarebilks, chatter…

 

total skunk.  Oh well, at least there was zero wind.  The water was like a smooth glass of choco-milk. It was still a blast to get out again. 

I had same condition and I got them on this jig and this under spin

[WRB]

SoCal we rarely have off color let alone muddy color water. This year 2023 we had epic rain with heavy run off creating muddy color water top to bottom, not our tropical wind blown surface mud lines.

Our bass are sight feeders living in clear water, muddy water is a challenge for the bass and us. Lateral line water vibrations become critical to help bass locate prey and your lure.

Black color has the most low light contrast so use it! Rattles help, lures like spinnerbaits that move water help.

The old stand bye was Bumble Bee; black / chartreuse, add rattles and you are good to go!

Tom

PM, email for photo

 

 

[Functional]

I usually just throw a spinner in white, everything else is painful to fish. Like mentioned go close to the shore/ cover and if you can find any feeder creeks where fresh water is flowing in. I'll go fresh clear water spots first and then after that work my way out from them hitting close to shore and cover. If you aren't hitting cover you aren't close enough. 

[Pat Brown]

I agree that when water gets muddy the fish push shallow but they are often what I call 'high alert' and swim away from any disturbances.

 

One cool thing about sunny days and muddy water is the fish will sorta have a halo to them in the shallows and you can usually spot big ones long before you make a cast to them (if they're in 1-3 ft of water and you've got your polarized glasses on).

 

Another cool thing about muddy water is that even though they are on high alert, it's harder for them to see stuff so easier to sneak up on them if you're not super loud on the bank and splashy with your bait entering the water

 

I like a lot of bright color and flash in muddy water.  I'm not a big 'dark color in muddy water' guy.  Give me white or red or pink or something.

 

I like bulk but lighter weight so slower fall and less splashing.

 

Honestly try a 10" Red Bug ribbon tail worm or an 8" lizard on a very light t rig.  Those are muddy water killers.

[N Florida Mike]

We don’t have a lot of muddy water in my area. One lake near me does. It is the hardest lake I fish. I’ve only caught bass on root beer flukes and blue curly tail worms in that lake with any consistency..and not many of them…

The weird thing is that it’s stocked and managed by FWC…

[Captain Phil]

On 4/1/2023 at 9:07 PM, Bird said:

When the water is extremely muddy try fishing tight to the bank, very tight.

 

For years the Harris Chain was the poster child for turbid water.  After the hydrilla purge in the late nineties, the water in the entire chain looked like a latte.  When you fish water like that, you get used to it.  In those conditions bass go shallow and hold close to cover.  The strike zone shrinks to inches.  These are prime conditions for the flipping technique.  Also a good time to hunt for new spots.  Break the lake down into sections and fish the entire parameter.  You will find bass in spots you never thought held fish.  Be patient.  Learning new things takes time.

 

[Munkin]

Flip a black jig as close to any cover as you can. I mean 2" left of a laydown not 12 as they pull tight to cover. A lot of the places I fish are clear to stained and when its muddy the fish are predictable. Actually caught my biggest limit of SM on the Upper Potomac doing this. All the fish were caught within 6" of some cover on a solid black SK Pro model jig which has rattles.

 

Allen

[Glenn]

Ya, I have a few videos on this too!

 

 

 

 

[Bankbeater]

The worst problem I have in muddy water is making sure I don't run the boat into something,  A couple of the lakes I fish have standing timber just below the surface.  One time I broke the prop and another time I sheared the pin in the trolling motor.

[scaleface]

Fishing in one inch of visibility can be tough but fish are sometimes caught . Fish shallow and tight. This in my top producer for chocalate milk colored water.