Adjusting to torrential rainfall(?)

[DaubsNU1]

Eastern Nebraska got hammered yesterday...rainfall totals ranging from 4-8 inches(!)

 

My home lake (220 acres) was four to five FEET higher than the day before. NE Game and Parks drained and renovated a 135 acre lake and was in the re-fill stage...it gained over eight feet of water in the past 24 hours(!), and is now full.

 

I checked out a few lakes on the way home from work yesterday. Most boat docks were under water. Lots of muddy water.

 

One of my favorite lakes had been 3-4 feet low for the past two years...I'm told it is full pool as of yesterday.

 

I plan to fish this weekend, if I can get the boat in the water. Suggestions on a plan of attack?

 

 

[gim]

I got some heavy rain out of that same system.  Many locations in Iowa got severe weather including tornadoes.

 

I would use a louder, bright colored lure.  Maybe a big bladed green or white spinnerbait that sends a lot of vibration through the water.

[Functional]

my home lake raises a few inches to a 2-4 feet with nearly every rain and gets muddy and stays that way for days.

 

Best luck I've had is like @gimruis said, loud lures, white/bright. Go into newly flooded areas into the shallows, look for concentrated run off or feeder creeks dumping water into the lake. Often times they hang out eating stuff that gets flushed into the lake. Also look for the clearer water (sometimes this comes from feeder creeks/runoff, other times just further up the lake) which usually holds fish.

 

It can be tough fishing but very rewarding when you find them. 

[Pat Brown]

Fish have been very very shallow and very very tight to the bank and primarily feeding in the dark for the past week since we got 7" of rain.

 

We are expecting more next week so buckle up - it's gonna get soggy!

 

Been doing alright with weightless plastics and topwaters right along the banks.

[casts_by_fly]

find the cleaner water.  With that much rain you usually get a lot of runoff mud at first and the fish don't like that much dirt in the water at first.  If its normally a muddy lake they are better, but if its normally a clear lake the mud will shut them off at first.  Find the clean water coming in or head towards the dam where the particles have had some time to settle in the water column.  If you find a stream running in that's clear then there will be fish there.

[king fisher]

This happens to me every year.  The water level in the lakes I fish drop continuously from Nov. until June.  By the time the rain comes in mid June the water level can be down from 50 feet to 100 feet depending on the lake.

 

When the rain comes the lakes get to full pool in just a couple of weeks.  I have always wanted to fish the lakes when the water is first coming up, but due to work schedule have never got the chance.  I'm sure the bass fishing would be excellent where the dirty incoming water meats the clear lake water far up the canyons.

 

I do get a chance to fish the lakes after they have flooded.  I basically I tie a black buzz bait on and fish the flooded shoreline from July until October.  I concentrate on places where water flows in, and areas with flooded grass.  I have heard that surface baits don't work well in muddy water, but a buzz bait fished over a flooded cow pasture with 6 inches of visibility works well in Mexico.

 

I will flip willow bushes with a 7 inch senko, or punch rig, but only after I run the buzz bait in and around the bush first.

 

When the rain stops, and the water finally starts to clear I can have some of the best fishing of the year.  The buzz bait still gets a lot of playing time, but a rattle trap gets put into the starting line up, along with a spinnerbait, T rig, and giant square bill.

 

I recommend giving a Buzz bait a try. It wont take long to find out if they want it, and if they do you could have one of those days you wont forget.

[Swamp Girl]

@king fisher: So, you rouse them with a buzzbait and then finesse them with a Senko?

[king fisher]

13 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@king fisher: So, you rouse them with a buzzbait and then finesse them with a Senko?

Only in Mexico is a 7 inch Senko finesse.

[TnRiver46]

Torrential downpour is a very normal occurrence here, toss the purple worm at ‘em 

[T-Billy]

Flooded brush and weeds. Flippin rig, spinner bait, grind away all day long. Impossible to get too shallow in those conditions.

[TnRiver46]

We are having a torrential downpour right now, much like yesterday and the day before 😂 . My little hound dog is not a fan of the thunder 

[DaubsNU1]

The little one does not like thunderstorms...chooses to hide under the bed. 

 

When the big-booms happen, the big one keeps looking for ducks / geese falling from the sky : )