Will fish leave if lake gets flooded?

[Handy]

I fish some old gravel pits that for the last few years in a row have flooded badly in the spring with this year being really flooded. These pits are right next to a small river wich I beleive is why it floods so badly. Since the flooding I have noticed the fishing slowly deteriorating every year since I started fishing there about 5-6 years ago. I have always been told that when fish sense current they will swim upstream. These pits used to have largemouth, crappie, pike, carp,channel cats and bluegill. So far all there seems to be is carp, bullhead and a few bluegill. So my question do I give up on my fav place to fish or just hope in a few years it will rebound? Anyone experience anything like this? Thanks.

Paul

[Bassboss]

I don't think the fish the will leave. my dad tells more about when one of his favorite lakes flooded all the way to a dirt road. He would drive out to the edge of the water, get on top of his car and fish!

[swilly78]

Ive had good luck after flooding of one of my fav lakes, it to is close to a river.  Ive heard from the Pike and Walleye guys that their fish seemed to bolt, but I love fishing Bass at high water.  I change up my presentation to fast/flashy like spinners or chatterbaits, and also find that the bass moved to new spots.  Try fishing the most severe points and look for less severe drop-offs than you would normally fish, a couple of feet of water can really change the "landscape".

[Certified Public Angler]

I believe he asking whether the fish will make a jailbreak for the river and say forget this little pond or have a sense of their home enviroment and stick around even when the opportunity to inhabit a new water presents itself.

Are the river and the pit connected currently?

[Glenn]

Bass are homebodies - especially largemouth.  They won't roam far from their stomping grounds, if at all (less than 1/2 mile).  So I doubt they're "leaving".

[Grey Wolf]

If anything , there should be more lmb in the lake after the flood. JMHO

[BigBubbaBassMan]

It sounds like you've had some Katrina like flooding in your area. Down here in New Orleans after Katrina the fish were so shaken up we needed to try an entirely different lure presentation, often slower than usual. You might want to try Texas rigging a worm and working it deep. Try enhancing your lure with some smelly jelly or other fish attractant.

I've always enjoyed fishing quarry lakes, the steep sides allow for a lot of unique lure presentations that I don't often get to use in Southern Louisiana.

[Handy]

The pits are not currently flooded. I did fish them when it was. I waded anywhere I knew that was safe for me to get to, although I caught nothing. The water was about at least 6 foot above normal for normal spring water level. Then ussualy as summer progreses the level drops. The level now is just starting to get near normal mid summer level. Well it wasn't katrina flooding but for my area, north central Iowa is was pretty bad, the river I am reffering to is the winnebago and it's peak floodstage was somewhere around 18ft above normal level(at least that was the official report). The river and pits are not currently connected but they are only about 10ft apart at one low spot. It ussualy floods a tiny bit in the spring but and the water level will go up about 2 foot but this year all 3 pits were connected because of how much flooding there was. I am hoping things will soon return to normal as it is a quite place to go and fish and relax. Thanks for the input guys.

Paul