fishing after heavy rains and flooding

[booger]

It has rained in my area (Philadelphia) for the past week, causing a lot of flooding. i'm going to a large reservoir tomarrow. Any tips for this condition would be great.

[booger]

thanks i'll let you know how i make out

[Alpster]

If you can find a storm culvert or pipe that dumps into the reservoir, the riffle from the pouring water puts a lot of oxygen into the water. All kinds of good stuff happens here. JMHO

Ronnie

[DR_Bass]

I've found that the bass move up in the shallows when the water floods.  I've had success flipping jigs and throwing spinnerbaits around the newly flood cover.

[slappy]

After a heavy rain I like to head for the places where the rainwater runs off into the lake. This means ditches and washes as apposed to creeks and streams. The reason I like them is because with the water that is running off the land comes bugs and good things for baitfish to eat. With the concentration of bait in the area the bass will soon follow. And that's when I am loading the boat.

[cpvenom]

Also look for mudlines in the flowing water. This provides a good ambush zone for bass

[slappy]

chances are the resv. is going to be one the murky side so I recomend some thing that makes some noise it will bring out some of the inactive bass

[Windknot51]

Last week my area went through a major flood (upstate NY)

I witnessed waters 10-12 feet above highest recorded levels.

At this time I do beleive that which we persue are stressed and need time to relax to normality.

Bass jumping in waters where cars normally travel is not normal! Yes I could have thrown out some plastic and caught my limit. But to me that is not fishing/hunting....... just carpetbagging / taking advantage of a situation.

So I watch and wait for a degree of normalicy before I return to the river and our sport begins again.

1-2-3 weeks..... I will be watching and waiting.

[Peter E.]

Well windknot51 I can understand how you feel. And also I am not trying to change your point of veiw, but if you would think of it in these terms you might find those conditions more agreeable for fishing. Not for the challenge but for the sun. If that person were to keep all of the fish that they were to catch it would be a cardinal sin. But, so long as they follow the creel limits for their state i could not honestly fault someone for taking advantage of a situation that only cames along so often. For a catch and release angler that is just simply good fun. Though it is not the most challenging fishing situation it is still good fun fast fishing. To me we all really love those days where you can seemingly do no wrong on the water. Those moments are rare and can be a wonderland for any angler but especailly a novice. I always try to take any new and begining angler to a place where I am sure that they will walk away saying, wow that was great, and I can't wait to do that again. I have been fishing nearly 15 years and I love those days. There are times i love to go to a privately stocked pond and just catch fish till my thumbs are raw and my arms hurt! Though people like you and I derive our fullest enjoyment from the sport by having those days when conditions are at their worst and still being able to pull a good limit. Some folks have fun simply catching fish.

Booger try the newly flooded cover close to a run off. Personally I would run buzz baits until I found an active school. Then slow down and really work a variety of lures until you can find at least 3 dependable presentaions and soak up the fishing bonanza i personally beleive will await you. Fish fast and cover water in those types of areas until you can establish a pattern for where the most active schools are and i wouldn't bother fishing any where other than those types of enviroments that have held the most active bass.

Have fun,

Peter